Please read the question carefully before answering it. Give it at least SOME thought instead of gut instinct response.
2006-12-13 09:14:32 · 13 answers · asked by Alucard 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
nondescript, you should write to webster's dictionary since apparently your interpretation of that word is the meaning taken by the average citizen. One is then to wonder why Christians would use words that don't mean what they're trying to say.
2006-12-13 09:21:31 · update #1
God never said He was omniscient. Omniscience is absurd for a God. It is like flipping a coin and knowing the outcome. A perfect parent does not plan their kids lives. They hope for them, that they find their way and reach their potential.
Sorry, but people have said God is omniscient, by mistake. They were trying to define perfection. Predestination is a terrible thing for a God to have, for how can a God then hold us to account.
God does not know the future. We have free will. He knows His plans, like all of us do.
BTW, all said He was is "I am who I am". I am is eternal consciousness that is omnipotent, not omniscient.
Give this some thought. It is profound.
2006-12-13 09:23:42 · answer #1 · answered by Cogito Sum 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Omniscient: 1 : having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight 2 : possessed of universal or complete knowledge
Omnipotence: 1 often capitalized : ALMIGHTY 1; 2 : having virtually unlimited authority or influence
So, since God is all of these, His future mind is the same as his present mind. Time has no meaning to the one who created it. Maybe you should take time to research what you are going to ask before you ask it then think about it.
2006-12-13 09:28:45 · answer #2 · answered by jakethekarr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes...we covered this in a philosophy class I had in college.
Being omnipotent means he is all-powerful and can do anything. Being omniscient means he knows everything. Knowing that he will change his mind in the future doesn't change what he can and cannot do. These two qualities of god can exist.
It's when you throw in the third one, omni-benevolent, that things get confusing. How can god know everything, love everything, and be able to change everything if evil exists in the world? In other words, is god allowing bad things to happen to children (for example) because he does not care (meaning he is not omnibenevolent), because he doesn't know it's going on (meaning he's not omniscient), or because he can't stop it (meaning he's not omnipotent)?
2006-12-13 09:23:52 · answer #3 · answered by Pink Denial 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God doesn't have a "future" mind. He isn't bound to time nor space, both of which He created. God knows the future because he can see all of time playing out before Him. Of course He -could- change His mind. But He already decided the course of human history before He even made the world! Omnipotence, omniscience, yes.
God is omniscient because He is not constrained to time and, well, He's God so of course He would know everything. God is omnipresent because He's not constrained to space.
God cannot be constrained to something He created.
2006-12-13 09:18:54 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You misunderstand the mind of God, which is eternal and unchanging. As St. Augustine says, "ever ancient, ever new." This in itself shows that God's mind is ancient, eternal, and has supreme forethought. Therefore, God does not have a "future mind" or a thought He has not had yet. He has already thought and known all things. Your question tries to equate the mind of God with the change and indecisiveness of man and this cannot be. God's mind does not think in human ways or terms. As Christ said to Peter when Peter was trying to stop Him from going to Jerusalem to die, "You are thinking as man does and not as God does."
Yet, there is something else to consider about the power of God's unchanging and eternal mind. As Soren Kierkeggard (sp?) states, "God does not exist; He is eternal. God does not think; He creates." I love pondering this statement. May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let the light of His face shine upon you.
God's and your beast of burden
Fr. john
2006-12-13 09:30:59 · answer #5 · answered by som 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are just some things that need to be left "un-thought" We will never totally understand God. We are His children and need to have faith like a child. A child doesn't analyze God or his mind. So we (as adults) shouldn't either
2006-12-13 09:22:39 · answer #6 · answered by :)Smile(: 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GOd does not change his mind. He relents or postpones the inevitable outcome.
Many people in the bible thought to change GOD's mind only to see it postponed or brought over to another time.
The only real thing that never changes is GOD's Word. If GOD changes his Word he and we cease to exist.
But GOD has and still does change the mind and heart of man.
2006-12-13 09:21:13 · answer #7 · answered by TROLL BOY 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This question presupposes that God has thoughts and makes decisions in succession. I am not sure there is reason to believe this is true. If God does not have thoughts and make decisions in succession, there is no reason to think they would ever change or need force to have them changed.
Good question.
2006-12-13 09:19:06 · answer #8 · answered by Aspurtaime Dog Sneeze 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes God does change his mind , Read the book of Jonah, The people of Nineveh repented so God didn't destroy them
2006-12-13 09:21:12 · answer #9 · answered by Terry S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If God's mind was constant would the universe be so full of diverisity?
2006-12-13 09:46:53 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋