Theists: Can God sin, lie, hate, deceive, make mistakes, lose, regret, repent, envy, loath?

Question

WARNING: Saying that God CANNOT do something invalidates and debunks automatically the OMNIPOTENCE ("can-do-all") of God.

This is a simple YES/NO question, but you are encouraged to add reasons.

All of a sudden, everyone in the forum has become a God Scholar!!! WOW.

How do you all know all this about God, that he "chooses not to" or that he "cannot" do this or that???

Many YES and a few NO's. That's what I call "religious coherence".

Gerafalop says: "therefore by definition God cannot sin."

Answergirl says: "God has the capability to entertain all the things you listed"

So, who's right then?

Answer 1

Sorry I'm not a theist, I am in fact an atheist but I'm going to answer anyway.

I've been told that my 18 month old son will go to hell if he dies because I have not Christened him. What God would would do this to him based on my beliefs? He must therefore be a hateful and envious God - mustn't he?

Answer 2

Sir, your observations ignore the proper, formal understanding of the concept of omnipotence.

The philosphical rationale is that a supreme being, God, cannot act in an illogical manner with respect to that being's divine and perfect attributes. Hence, God cannot make a rock so big that He could not move it, nor could God do anything that would be a logical contradiction to His divine nature.

Omnipotence means God can do everything **that is possible** within the boundaries of the divine attributes of a supreme being. Omnipotence doesn’t mean that God can do anything. The concept of omnipotence has to do with power, not ability per se. In fact, there are many things God can’t do, for example,

- God can’t make square circles.

- God cannot lie.

- What God has created in His image, God cannot annihilate (to erase from existence, to destroy completely).

-**God cannot create a morally free creature that couldn’t choose evil or the creature would not be morally free to choose.**

None of these, though, have to do with power. Instead, they are logically contradictory, and therefore contrary to God’s rational nature.

See also:
"Whatever implies being and nonbeing simultaneously is incompatible with the absolute possibility which falls under divine omnipotence. Such a contradiction is not subject to it, not from any impotence in God, but because it simply does not have the nature of being feasible or possible. Whatever, then, does not involve a contradiction is in the realm of the possible with respect to which God is omnipotent. Whatever involves a contradiction is not within the scope of omnipotence because it cannot qualify for possibility. Better, however, to say that it cannot be done, rather than God cannot do it." (T. Aquinas Summa Theologica p. 163-164 , Volume I, ques. 15 ans. 3)

One needs to have a formal knowledge of philosophy and logic to understand the nature of omnipotence. Just claiming Go is all powerful so he can do anything is nonsensical to the trained person.

Here are some references for your further study:

1. Aquinas, T., Summa Theologiae (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1948).
2. Curley, E. M., 1984, “Descartes On the Creation of the Eternal Truths,” Philosophical Review 93, pp. 569-97.
3. Descartes, R., Meditations on First Philosophy, trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).
4. Flint, T. and Freddoso, A., 1983, “Maximal Power,” in The Existence and Nature of God, ed. A. Freddoso (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press), pp. 81-113.
5. Frankfurt, H., 1977, “Descartes on the Creation of the Eternal Truths,” Philosophical Review 86, pp. 36-57.
6. Hoffman, J., 1979, “Can God Do Evil?,” Southern Journal of Philosophy 17, pp. 213-20.
7. Hoffman, J., and Rosenkrantz, G. S., 1988, “Omnipotence Redux,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 49, pp. 283-301.
8. -----, 2002, The Divine Attributes (Oxford: Blackwell).
9. Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, trans. M. Friedlander (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1904).
10. Pike, N., 1969, “Omnipotence and God's Ability to Sin,” American Philosophical Quarterly 6, pp. 208-16.
11. Plantinga, A., 1974, God, Freedom, and Evil (New York: Harper and Row).
12. Rosenkrantz, G. S. and Hoffman, J., 1980, “The Omnipotence Paradox, Modality, and Time,” Southern Journal of Philosophy 18, pp. 473-9.
13. -----, 1980, “What An Omnipotent Agent Can Do,” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 11, pp. 1-19.
14. Wierenga, E., 1989, The Nature of God: An Inquiry into Divine Attributes (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).

Answer 3

From 2 Thessalonians:

2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2:11-12)
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned.

So God according to Bible has caused people to believe lies so that he could damn them to hell.

Futhermore, God according to the Bible hates groups that don't conform.
Leviticus. 20:23, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them."

I could go on with awful God quotes right from the Bible. Either you believe in a God who is petty, hateful, vengeful, etc... or you should find another religion. The God of the Bible is not an all loving and sweet Deity, God of the Bible is not even moral by many people's standards today. In Hosea 13:16 Bible God has the infants of the people who rebelled against him dashed to pieces and the stomachs of the pregnant women ripped open.

Answer 4

What, difference does it make. As for Sin. how would one know if God did or not? What would sin be to God, if god controls it? Can God lie? Even if God did, could you question him. What proof would you have anyway, and how could you verify it? Hate. How would one know if God is being hateful or angry, if they don't know. Deceive. If God was deceiving man. how can you prove it? MIstakes, How would anyone know, if God made one, if they don't even know what he is doing? Lose. Lose what? whats God got to lose, that we don't have? How can God lose, if he is in control? regret, Why Should God regret anything. If God is the one who started it, in the first place. It wouldn't be his fault if someone else messed it up. Repent, who would God repent to? envy, why should God be envy, when God has everything? Or can create anything God wants. Loath. Who would know? what God does is what God does. Who can speak for God ? YOU? who can question God? YOU? And what makes you think you can find the answers anyway? If you want to know,so bad, then why not ask God yourself? As you ask. to those who think they know God. I put that question back to you. Do you know God better then us? Can you answer you own question? And what proof do you have to offer us? That you can give us the answers yourself? If you can then please, by all means pray tell.

Answer 5

No not in the sense you put it here.
He does hate the sin, not the sinner, and he is gealous in the sense that he wants an exclusive realtionship with us.
And it doesn't cancel his omnipotence when I say he can't sin or lie or deceive...etc.. Omnipotence is a loosely used term.
Unfortunately, if you looks for a yes or no answer, you won't really get much penny for your question. Why even ask? Unless you just want to find excuses to continue not believing in God.

Answer 6

While God has the capability to entertain all the things you listed, He does not. This is what makes Him God. He has overcome the temptation to pollute Himself and His energies with these frailities. Omnipotence is defined as an agency or force of unlimited power. God has this power, but He also has power over Himself. He controls Himself. If He did not do this, then He would cease to be God, because He would no longer be in control of unlimited power. He would limit His power if He were to succomb to such trivial emotions.

Answer 7

He does whatever the F*** He wants, what would you do if you had infinite power and ability. And why are you even invoking the possibility of a God, when you say you are atheist. His existence is where you Already stopped when you made the decision, so stop contradicting your own beleifs, at least be something rather than a confused loser.

Answer 8

Since you are trying to be so complete in your thought, God is able to do anything He wants. There is a scripture in the written word of God that states: The secret things belong unto God but that He has given us belong to us and our children.

So with the above thought in mind; he could blink His eye and destroy everything created. Now ask yourself, why would He have gone to all the trouble?

Answer 9

Yes but he doesn't. He is perfect. He has all the power to do whatever he wants but being the Superior Being that he is, he already knows the outcomes of all actions and has the knowledge and maturity and natural predisposition to not do those things. He is more than we can ever imagine. He does not think in the worldly/earthly terms that we are limited to. He is on a totally different intellectual level than we are.

Answer 10

God hates evil
God doesn't lie deceive,lose,
God is a jealous God ,He says so Himself...He wants all of us for Himself
God can do all He wants to do
You are just trying to be a pest.You make me ill




if you are an athiest then why do you care ,you are so letting the author of confusion take over you and if you don't worship God you are working for the devil and are in need of everyones prayers