Hear me out... If God is omnipotent, then he can do anything. He has the ability to do everything, but to prove that he is truly omnipotent, he has to go out and do everything, right? So God has obviously stolen, lied, slept with his neighbor's wife, fed a goat, ate a lemur, hacked into a government website, created the internet, faxed me my memo at noon today, burped the alphabet forward and backward thirty-five times in one burp, worked at McDonald's as a night janitor, paid taxes, charged taxes, bore a son, raised a son, killed a son, etc etc etc. I guess the list is infinite... BUT, if God has done everything, has he written this question before me? Would he know the answer? He is, after all, omniscient, right? Does he know who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell before they are born? Is that not manifest destiny? If this is so, where is our free will if God is just playing with us like puppets? Please answer each question without using the letter "p". Thank you.
2006-12-28 05:49:24 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You're just not getting it, are you? If God is omnipotent, then he definitely has to do things to prove to himself that he is omnipotent. If he cannot prove it, he is not omnipotent and therefore cannot exist in the spiritual universe. So how can we explain this better? If you want to be a pilot, you have to fly a plane at one point or another... So if you want to be omnipotent, you have to do everything at one point or another. It's not a hard concept to grasp, folks, and I asked you to answer ALL my questions, not just one (except that crazy girl who just did random yes's and no's that didn't even add up to the amount of questions I asked. Thanks for wasting my time...)
2006-12-28 06:00:18 · update #1
What's a 'Christian God'? Is god patented?
2006-12-28 05:53:24 · answer #1 · answered by ssss 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Ah, another philosophy 101 student.
God is defined by man as are the qualities within you're argument. No offense, everyone that reads the first few pages in a philosophy book comes up with this. Read further, maybe take some more undergraduate philosophy courses and then come back with a well thought out question that will make interesting discussion.
No offense, this argument was boring the first time I read its like back in 72. Try not to be afraid of things that you don't understand and pursue your own truth while being polite to the truths of others. You will lead a much more enlightened life.
Peace
I can't believe that you're actually getting people to argue with you about this. Right on!
Man defines God, you argue the paradox "If God is omnipotent then can he create a stone he can't lift". I applaud your ability to catch fish.
2006-12-28 13:58:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Being omnipotent and omniscient doesnt mean He HAS to do these things, but very well can if He wants to. He can do them just as easily as He can choose not to do them. Because being omnipotent must include being able to choose for Himself. I have the ability to do a whole lot of things I wont ever do, never doing them doesnt mean I didn't have the ability, but only that I chose not to do them. I am not omnipotant so I can't do everything, but I wont do everything I am able to do either.
Omniscience works the same way, even though God CAN know everything, He can also choose not to know certain things. I could have known everything I got for Christmas if I peeked or if I made everyone buy me certain things, but I chose not to. I do believe that God can do, and know infinitely more than I can, so why would I think anything I can do, He cannot? I personally believe He has chosen not to know everyone who will choose Him or reject Him before they were born or at the beginning of time and allows us to make that choice ourselves.
2006-12-28 14:06:24 · answer #3 · answered by impossble_dream 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You don't have to actually do everything in order to be able to do everything.
That said, an omniscient god knows what he will do in the future. That means he cannot decide to do something differently. That means he is not omnipotent.
From the other side. If god is omnipotent, he can change his mind at any time. But that means he doesn't know what he will do in the future and so is not omniscient.
2006-12-28 14:06:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
See, your question is what has me annoyed with organized religion. God doesn't subscribe to one religion. And, no matter what people think, no religious sect corners the market on God.
Oh and another thing that may or may not blow your mind... If God is omnipotent, and omniscient--couldn't God make all these little sparks of itself, forgetting it is God so it can experience life? Dude...it's not intellectual, it's spiritual... You're thinking too much. Go meditate.
2006-12-28 14:13:13 · answer #5 · answered by sundeevah 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just because I have the ability to learn to fly a plane doesn't mean I have to do so.
Just because I have the ability to sleep with a woman (yuck), doesn't mean I have to do so.
However, with regard to your original question, if God is not Omnipotent and Omniscient (and Omnipresent), then God is irrelevant, because he is then subject to the rules of the universe, just as are we all. Something else can overpower him, something can surprise him, and things can happen without his being aware of them. Therefore, he is either non-existent or just a big bully who is more powerful than us but not as kind.
And since you as asker used the letter "P", I am going by the same rules of the universe that applied to you.
PPPPP on earth.
.
2006-12-28 13:56:30 · answer #6 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I see what you're trying to get at...BUT I feel this question might answer your question...why would a being who is omnnipotent and omniscient and/or even omnipresent...why would they have to or even feel compelled slightly to prove anything to anyone ever?
Do you feel the need to prove to gophers that you can sing?
Do you try to prove to wasps that you can catch a baseball?
Have you done everything and anything that is in your reach/crosses your mind?
No...no you have not done any of the aforementioned because its absolutely rediculous to even consider it....just like your question.sorry man but this question really is ignorant and self-indulgent...naive at best.
Ps.supposedly we're all created in gods image :-X
2013-12-02 02:16:42 · answer #7 · answered by ep 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't agree with your conclusion. Just because God has the ability to "do everything" doesn't require him to do it.
The second part of your question--free will--has been debated for centuries. Some believe that God chooses everything (for example, Calvinist). Yes, even those who are bound for hell and heaven. Others believe that God has created a system in which He "sets aside" His control and allows us to make decisions.
2006-12-28 13:59:50 · answer #8 · answered by Gregory B 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do not confuse the ability to do anything with actually doing everything.
Do not confuse with knowing what we will do with actually controlling you.
~ Eric Putkonen
2006-12-28 13:56:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
um, i don't know. no one can really say God isn't real because no one knows the truth. i believe in God and i am proud of it
2006-12-28 13:52:44 · answer #10 · answered by lauren 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋