Alright,this has been a really hot topic in my Philosophy class and like I'm kinda lost, especially in going on, and listening to the class discussion
Okay, so GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING.
but, MEN have free choice.
so, God knows all our actions, all our plans, and all the stuff that we are going to do.
But He gave men FREE CHOICE, so like if He doesn't know what we are going to do because we have free choice, that doesn't necessarily mean that He knows everything...
Okay, so like let's say, there's a flower, and I would either step or not step on the flower, GOd knows my actions, but he has given me free will to either step or not to step on the flower...
How is it that God is omniscient
In class, we came up to like, God chooses NOT to know whether I will or not step on the flower, but He restricts his knowledge of knowing wheter I'll step or not step on the flower.
And if He knows everything,why did He let Hitler kill Jews, even though hes Benevolent?
ANSWER&10Pts!
2007-10-01 11:45:42 · 10 answers · asked by Cholorophyll 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
1. Where in the Bible does God explicitly claim to know everything? I'm not saying that prophecy and dicticates have not been handed down but until I come across the scripture where God claims to be all knowing, I would truly doubt that power.
There is evidence in the Bible that I have seen that supports that God can:
Read minds (or speak with the dead)
Create the Universe
Become physically tangible
Is immortal
And Can affect natural laws
The story of the Garden of Eden and the subsequent Flood, however, make me seriously doubt that God is all powerful and all knowing.
2. If I know in a sparring match in martial arts what my opponent is going to do I can choose to react to it, but their choice I cannot influence. Knowing what someone will do and doing something about it are two different things. If God is all knowing then God may choose not to react, or cannot.
3. While I am with you that God is benevolent, for the sake of your argument lets ask this question... God supposedly sanctioned wars and ridiculously harsh punishments in many books of the Bible. This makes God benevolent? Look at the Book of Job, God smote Job because of a bet! Another thought, and one that was addressed earlier, is that God does grant free will and has already forgiven us, but will not clean up our mess.
If God is an ultimate being then God does not need anything from us, however, if we are to stand as God's equals then God wants us to learn responsibility for our own actions. So then, why allow the Holocaust to happen? Because it is a learning experience. What is the quickest way a child learns the stove is hot? By putting their hand on the burner.
A similar argument would be, why does God in ultimate benevolence and power that God is, not grant us the power that God has? The answer is that we are not ready for it, we have to become as compassionate and merciful as God before we are ready for that responsibility and power.
Of course you could just say God does not exist and the whole argument becomes a moot point.
2007-10-01 12:30:26 · answer #1 · answered by nwyvre 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your answer lies within your question. God may have given us free will (which is debatable), yet he still knows what we will do. Due to his omniscience, he already knows the seemingly "free" choice we shall make. What you don't realize is that God being all knowing is aware that our decision is not truly free, because he already knows what it is, and gave us the choice, it is not truly free. Why did he let Hitler kill Jews? Benevolent would denote a conscience, which God cannot have because he is a) not human, and b) if he knows all actions previous to their occurence, he let them happen, thusly God had no "qualms" about allowing the Holocaust to happen. Now whether or not God would do such a thing poses both an ethical and religious dilemma, I'll let you decide such things. Furthermore, you are not truly a philosopher by asking this question. Although I was kind enough to help a fellow philosopher since we are a dying breed, a true philosopher would think about such a question, and not worry about his class to dictate his philosophical thought.
2007-10-01 12:00:57 · answer #2 · answered by Ben W 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
god is you you hear yourself speaking you've got many personality's in you like everybody does and have ,.. when you strong enough you accept all those personality's,.. why else would you listen to them? its not scary ( well it is at first )they want you to be scary to controll you... but they cant.. . you see? the thing is to be real be true be you! you are unique I dont know how old you are you sound young.you just starting so dont be so hard for youreselve theres plenty time... I am a bit older so I hope in all you re confusion you hear me I am not saying you have to believe me its up to you FREE will be relaxed you will get there I'm sure you sound very confident we all a bit older people bloody hell that sounds old ha ha ..went trough that dont listen to the mooning people the depressed peop[le the attacked people they are scary for life they are the scary once ,they are still looking and hopeless and naive and not capable to do anyhting evan when they are an adult ...but don't worry you will see you on the right path,.. bless you you get youre answers soon enough and dont be afraid theres not such a thing there really isnt.. its a make believe.. just use youre brains and you have plenty of them,..follow youre hart X
2016-04-06 23:16:37 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is one of the great ironies and contradictions found in the bible because it's been 'doctored' by too many different people with too many different points of views and agendas
who provided the words we call the scriptures.
Think about it this way:
If God knows everything, the past, present and future, then God already knows what choices we're going to make and which of us supposedly will burn in hell or go to heaven.
If God already knows the future then our actions have already been pre-determined. If our future is already pre-determined then WE DO NOT HAVE FREE WILL.
Because I never bought into that crapola I say we have free will and the outcome is not pre-determined.
2007-10-01 12:08:44 · answer #4 · answered by Doc Watson 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Soul exists because God loves it. We are Soul, a spark of God Itself. There is nothing that is not God. As we choose, learn and grow, God expands also. We as Soul DO have free will, and since Soul is not separate from God, God knows our hearts and our choices. Soul is eternal, it's only the body that dies. Soul comes around again in another body. It's all lessons in learing to Love God. Some say that Hitler was an Atlantian and that ancient civilization perished through misuse of power. We all come around multiple times, some learn and move on, others seem to need the same lessons over and over again. We're all going the same direction, Home to God, just depends on how long we take to get there, how aware we are of the trip, and how ready we are to just go Home.
2007-10-01 12:27:54 · answer #5 · answered by shine_radiantstar 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Hummm...
If one chooses to step on a flower or to simply stop and smell it, does either action become an act of intention or pre-destined?
Let's put this another way, Does God's Foreknowledge have any bearing on whether you choose to step on a flower or smell it?
Good Luck and Hoped I helped...
2007-10-01 12:31:45 · answer #6 · answered by reverendlovejoy75 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mm. Loophole there: But He gave men FREE CHOICE, so like if He doesn't know what we are going to do because we have free choice, that doesn't necessarily mean that He knows everything...
Just because we have Free choice/Free will doesn't equal to him not knowing what we would do about that.
He leaves it up to us to make our own choices. Simple as that.
And he didn't "let" Hitler kill Jews. Hitler chose to kill.
And God doesn't restrict his knowledge. That part simply doesn't make sense. He knows what you will do with your foot with that flower. However, the choice is up to you.
2007-10-01 13:05:34 · answer #7 · answered by ficklefeather 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's not that God knows everything that you are going to do.
God simply knows the outcome of every possible choice that you have available to you.
You still do the choosing.
Love and blessings Don
2007-10-01 13:08:34 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The reality is, God doesn't judge, so, he really doesn't care if you step on the flower or not. The choice to do so or not is still yours.
2007-10-01 11:56:50 · answer #9 · answered by Pink 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hitler was an evil man. There is no god... do as you please.
2007-10-01 12:52:23 · answer #10 · answered by MY truth will set you free... 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋