And if he knew that all along, isn't it all His fault, because what we do is what any lawyer would call "product-liability" ?
2006-12-22 07:10:35 · 22 answers · asked by Thinx 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The way some Christians explain it, it would seem we are all pawns in some game between God and Satan.
Take Job for instance, God and Satan are arguing, and Satan says, "Oh come on God, Job only loves you because you've been good to him." God says, "He does not." Satan says, "Does too."
Finally God decides to torture Job to prove Satan wrong.
With Abraham too. God tells Abraham to kill his own son just to see if he would do it. If God is all knowing, he should have known what Abraham would do.
2006-12-22 07:22:51 · answer #1 · answered by Honest Opinion 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
If god has this perfectly accurate knowledge of every decision, every choice, every action that I make before I make it, then free will is refuted if we assume that god is omniscient.
An omniscient god possesses this perfectly accurate knowledge at all times, including what we perceive to be "in advance" of our making the choice. If I am offered alternatives A, B, and C, and God knows I will choose A, then I cannot possibly choose B or C -I can't even decline to make a choice.
It does have an effect on theism, since as an example, Christians need to pretend that God is a perfect know-it-all, while also insisting that man has free will in order to avoid placing blame on God for anything at all.
Think if it like this:
If god created Hitler with unerring knowledge of what Hitler would do then god is responsible for the Holocaust. God shouldn't be held to a lower standard that human beings. If I designed and built a massive time bomb and programmed it to explode at exactly 10:30 Tuesday morning underneath the Sears Tower then no sane person would hold me guiltless for the ensuing causalities to life and property. There is absolutely no difference between my relationship with the bomb and the alleged relationship between god and Hitler.
2006-12-22 15:28:52 · answer #2 · answered by jaden404 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most parents know before conception,that their offspring will no doubt be troublemakers,often be an embarassment to the family,need bail money,wreck the car, and get a really big guy's daughter pregnant,yet they go for it anyway.
Also most responsible parents try to teach and train their children to walk the straight and narrow path. However,inevitably, the little monsters go astray and recieve the just recompense for their evil ways...the parents are not to blame..
2006-12-22 15:25:52 · answer #3 · answered by bonsai bobby 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why do you want to blame God for your decisions?
God could take away the evil in this world but that would involve taking away free will. Then we'd all be good little robots. That was not what He wanted or had in mind.
You can't blame a gun for shooting a person. It's the person pulling the trigger that is responsible. Stop passing the buck and take responsibility for your actions.
2006-12-22 15:16:09 · answer #4 · answered by Salvation is a gift, Eph 2:8-9 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
God gave us this life on earth as a test for the other life....
He left us the freedom of choice....and ppl chose to do good things and bad things from which we will be punished! and for the good deeds rewarded
2006-12-22 15:49:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anna 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I disagree. The only other option would have been to make us as wind-up dolls, or robots. He couldn't have had a relationship with those.
What is interesting is that God takes these people with a free will, who mess everything up, and transforms some of them into decent people.
2006-12-22 15:13:40 · answer #6 · answered by Mr Ed 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Horrible things??
I disagree. I think the world is beautiful because of its diversity and potential. otherwise god would have been bored easily and destroyed it :)
2006-12-22 15:33:07 · answer #7 · answered by bestofthebestusa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should understand that although God is omnipotent, He has limited power to interact with us, due to the nature of free will. This has been the case since God made man. That is why Adam and Eve had to suffer the consequences of their sin. God could had said well...I think I am going to let you off the hook this time, but one more time...I swear that's it. What kind of God would that be? What kind of parent lets their child dabble with sexual immorality at a young age, or what kind of parent allows their children to drink or do drugs at the tender age of 9. Nature has to run its course. The only thing that can truly change it, would be for man to turn his heart to God. Then the children would starve no more, they would hurt no more. There would be and will be no more suffering in Heaven.
2006-12-22 15:12:57 · answer #8 · answered by brokentogether 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
Rest assured that someday you will stand before the almighty God and He will explain to you just what you want to know. I hope you will be ready for His verdict, which will be a Just One.
2006-12-22 15:24:54 · answer #9 · answered by hillbilly 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes, He knew. That is why He sent His Son to die for you and me. He does know what we are going to do but that is not the same thing as making us do it. We are screwing up by our own free will. Thankfully, through Christ, we are forgiven.
2006-12-22 15:15:24 · answer #10 · answered by gtahvfaith 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋