he needed someone to betray him. So, was Judas doing this by his own free will or was he coerced (or forced) by God?
If it was free will, God didn't know for sure that Jesus would be betrayed, did he?
But wait ... God is omniscient!
But, but, but ....!?!
2007-11-13 01:51:29 · 5 answers · asked by Brendan G 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The only way to look at it is that an omniscient god by default predestines every thing he creates.Thus judas got a bum deal.
2007-11-13 01:56:29 · answer #1 · answered by Cotton Wool Ninja 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Allow me to answer your question with an analogy.
Let us first suppose that Free Will exists.
I know that Abraham Lincoln eventually appointed Ulysses S. Grant to be the General in Chief of the Union forces during the American Civil War.
Does that mean that Lincoln then didn't have Free Will (keeping in mind that we are assuming Free Will does exist)?
Nope, it just means that I am looking at time from a point in which Lincoln already made his decision. I know what Lincoln did because it is after the fact.
If we assume that God exists as stated in the Christian Bible, then we are also assuming that he created "the heavens and the earth," which is the same as stating that he created space. As time is a function of movement through space, this necessitates that God created time as well. If God created it he must also be apart from it, therefore given the first assumption, we must also assume that God is not restricted to linear time. Thus, God is omniscient not specifically because he knows everything before it happens, but because he also knows everything after it happens (and from his perspective, everything has already happened).
As such, God knew Judas' decision because he could see Judas making that decision (and having made that decision, and before he made the decision).
Omniscience syncs perfectly with free will if that which is omniscient is apart from time. How convenient, then, that as describe in the bible God is apart from time. It is almost like the writers of the bible had some otherworldly knowledge of temporal mechanics.
2007-11-13 10:08:19 · answer #2 · answered by Thought 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Much like I can predict what my child's reaction would be to certain situations, God knows what actions each individual will do even more so. This does not eliminate free will. That means, I don't have to intercept my child's free will in order to know what he would do. I am not omniscient, but just knowing the character of my child makes it easy for me to understand what actions my child would take. There are some things I have interceeded (like predicting he'd run into trafiic when he was a toddler) but for other actions I knew he'd do (like telling a lie) I allowed him to go ahead and do so but with impending consequences.
I hope this clears up your perceptions of free will vs. omniscience.
2007-11-13 13:42:51 · answer #3 · answered by HumanBaby 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Judas wasn't coerced (forced ) by God. Satan entered in and caused this to happen. Jesus knew all along that this was going to happen. Yes, God is omniscient. But he didn't force Judas to do anything. It was the greed of thirty pieces of silver and Satan that caused this. Jesus died for our sins because that was the only way we could seek forgiveness and enter into heaven. God knew that this was going to happen, that is why Jesus told the disciples that one of them was going to betray him. Read your Bible and talk to your pastor and you will get a better understanding of this.
2007-11-13 10:08:09 · answer #4 · answered by Karen K 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You need oxygen, nothing in the membrane.
2007-11-13 09:55:53 · answer #5 · answered by Ace of Spades 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋