God punished humankind for original sin, but later changed his mind and decided to allow humans redemption through christ.
Perfection, by definition, can not be made better. If god is perfect, than all the beliefs, thoughts and actions god has ever done or made must also be perfect. Revising or reversing ones beliefs or actions demonstrates that the previous beliefs or actions were not the best they could be (ie. they were imperfect.)
So how can god be perfect if he changed his mind?
For that matter, how can a perfect being create anything that is not perfect, (ie. a fallen son) for the ability to create imperfection would required knowing what imperfection is, and how can a perfect being know imperfection and still be perfect?
2007-02-21 16:52:59 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Sir, your question ignores the fundamentals of the attributes of a supreme being. If God allows those that he has created to choose freely, then God has allowed the potential for evil to exist as a result of our choosing badly.
If God were to 'get involved' and start influencing human actions for the better, then human actions wouldn't be free any longer. Human freedom means that God cannot guarantee human perfection.
This requires that free will be a good in itself, greater than the evil it costs to allow such freedom. Why should it be better for God to respect human freedom? What's so great about free will? The response is that free will is what makes us valuable moral agents, and that, if God were to deny us our freedom, human society would be in a deep sense, like an assemblage of robots: not only incapable of evil, but incapable of moral choice in general. Though value would exist in such a world, the free moral agency possessed by God and actual humans is argued to be far greater. All the cruelty that we humans freely perform is indeed regrettable, but it is the price of freedom.
God does not change His mind as He is immutable.
God exists outside the notion of time and the universe is contingent on God's expression for its existence. God is timeless, in that he sees the passage of temporal time as you or I see a range of mountains far in the distance. At this distance the range of mountains seems to be one continuous line, yet as we get closer we see then mountains separated by miles and miles. God sees everything in the "eternal now". Hence, time does not "pass" for God.
So God knows all that you will do. But that does not mean you don't have Free Will. If I stand atop a building and watch two cars coming around opposite corners and know that they will hit one another, just because they do indeed crash, does not mean that I caused the accident or that the drivers did not act on their own.
Like the observer of the auto crash above, God knows what choices you will ultimately make in a given circumstance. Moreover, God may have acted to bring about these choices just a parent may do by providing a loving environment, shelter, education, counsel, and other of life's opportunities. Just because our parents laid out the tools for us, we are free to choose the paths we will take using these tools. God's behavior here is a form of determinism but not predestination since the predestination term implies that God has actually determined (rather than seen) in advance the destiny of creatures.
In other words, before creation and time existed, God saw what we would do and made provisions for atoning grace through Christ's sinless death. God's mind did not change. As He exists in the "eternal now" outside of time.
As the ultimate moral authority, God certainly is in a position to know what is imperfect. To say that a perfect being cannot conceive of imperfection is a logical non-sequitur.
2007-02-21 17:12:21 · answer #1 · answered by Ask Mr. Religion 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Well, since we are imperfect beings, how is it that we would really know whether or not changing one's mind is really imperfect. We may perceive it to be so because we're basing it on an imperfect thought process. And since the topic in question is about perfection, we only have a definition of what perfection is, so we're basing that on our limited understanding of it. But did God really change His mind? Could it have been part of His plan all along? Could He have anticipated every move to achieve the final outcome He desired? Hmmmm, stay tuned!
2007-02-21 17:13:34 · answer #2 · answered by graphitegirl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God made man perfect. Man was swayed by satan to sin = imperfect. God allowed redemption through Christ because of his love for his fallen children.
"For that matter, how can a perfect being create anything that is not perfect, (ie. a fallen son)", he cant and doesn't.
Cheers!
2007-02-21 17:05:02 · answer #3 · answered by iamwhoiam 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
you are showing your ignorance (that is not a derogatory term, merely a statement of fact - no knowledge). God had the plan of salvation ready before the foundation of the world was ever laid. He did not 'change His mind' as you put it. He knew exactly what He was doing, what satan would do and what mankind would decide. God is all knowledge so of course He knows about imperfection - but He Himself has no imperfection. I may know many things in different fields such as engineering but that does not make me an engineer. God knows what imperfection is but that does not make Him imperfect. It just makes Him knowledgeable.
2007-02-21 17:03:42 · answer #4 · answered by wd 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
God did not change His mind for the punishment He imposed on Adam and Eve-making them leave the Garden of Eden,That they would have to labor-sweat for their food and well being,they would have illnesses and disease and hardships and experience the devastation of wars etc was never taken from them and neither from us ,neither were they and also not us allowed back into the Garden of Eden(which by the way is NOT Heaven)If you read the Old Testament blood sacrifice was always the means used as the Israelites were instructed by God to do to please God,attone for sins and so forth so the blood sacrifice was then used by God to open Heaven to mankind.
2007-02-21 17:02:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Oh, you get to make all the rules on perfection. Where exactly are you getting that God "changed his mind"? God created us with free choice. In the New Testament God decided (because He loves us and hated to see our sin) to send His son to die for us. In other words He had pity on us. He never changed His plan, His plan is for all of us to join Him in Heaven. We are the ones who allow sin to seperate us.
2007-02-21 17:02:35 · answer #6 · answered by Scott B 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Woot I'm perfect
2016-03-29 06:40:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hope you won't mind if I answer this with scripture."For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" 1 Corinthians 1:18.It is what Christ did for me that will one day present me without blame before His Father.I will appear perfect because of His gift to me.If God had created me perfect it would have taken away my freedom of choice that He gives to all of us.And also denied Him of the true love that He receives from those that deny themselves because they love Him with all their heart,mind ,and soul.This makes Him perfect!
2007-02-21 17:13:42 · answer #8 · answered by don_steele54 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
G-d doesnt make mistakes. Everything he does is for a purpose. For example, if G-d caused you to get fired from your job, G-d's purpose could be to allow you to pursue a better job with a higher salary.
2007-02-21 16:57:41 · answer #9 · answered by arzbarz 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
He didn't change his mind. It was a contingency plan. All ninjas have them.
2007-02-21 16:56:49 · answer #10 · answered by Shinigami 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋