The Christian Theology Education Thread

[The Moonster]

24 minutes ago, CarrbridgeSaintee said:

OK, I’ll answer your question.

I don’t think what you detail is important.

I could be doing with the second coming of Christ to perform the miracle of drawing blood from your stone. 

[MONKMAN]

Should this thread not be merged with the one where people argue that bigfoot is real?

[Forest_Fifer]

10 hours ago, MONKMAN said:

Should this thread not be merged with the one where people argue that bigfoot is real?

At least there's video 'footage' of  Bigfoot. Yahweh? No way.

[DA Baracus]

12 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I could be doing with the second coming of Christ to perform the miracle of drawing blood from your stone. 

I'm not sure what he's getting from this routine. Even he probably knows no one is fooled by it.

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

16 hours ago, milton75 said:

Cheers, that makes sense to me. It sound obvious, as I can't really see any way an ultimate being / creator of everything could be anything other than all-powerful, but then who knows. The reason it interests me is that I used to debate it with a work colleague who was a Jehovahs Witness.

My position was that God being Omnipresent / Omniscient / Omnipotent means that there's no such thing as Free Will. He said I was talking nonsense as everyone makes their own decisions. I said, and still say, that we perceive that we make our own decisions, but it's not us that's the arbiter and judge at the end of the day, it would be God. And, if God is Omnipresent then my lifespan is nothing to him and he exists outside of linear time anyway.
If he exists outside of linear time then any moral decision I am going to make has actually already been made, at least from his perspective. So while I think I've had free will, what I might do has already been done. 
Equally if he's Omniscient then he already knows every decision that (I perceive) I make before I make it. He knows it before I'm born. And if he's Omnipotent I only have the perceived ability to make choices because he grants me the "free will", albeit knowing already what my decision is.

I don't think any of that truly reflects free will, and I think the concept is non-compatible with those Omnis. But I could be wrong.

I actually had to sit down with a coffee to properly digest this post! ️ 

If I was just to say ‘God works in mysterious ways’, which is a phrase that does my nut in, then it would be a complete cop out.

My probable opinion is that God’s three O’s don’t actually contradict free will.  It would be possible for him to know the past, present and future without him controlling what they are.

Him granting us free will does kinda take the choice of whether to have it out of our hands, which is a bit of a contradiction in terms.

In short, this deep questions can leave me very confused!  I don’t think reaching firm conclusions about such complicated matters should ever stop one from having faith though.  Being a Christian, in my opinion of course, isn’t so much about being able to work these things out, but is about the witness of the Holy Spirit.

Interesting that you were discussing such matters with a Joavie though!  I hope he knocked the door before entering the workplace  

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

14 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I could be doing with the second coming of Christ to perform the miracle of drawing blood from your stone. 

If I’ve missed any of your questions then point them out and I’ll happily try to answer them.
 

Richey saying I had a shitebag mentality was like a dagger to the heart  

Edited 25 minutes ago by CarrbridgeSaintee