Is the Christian God really all-knowing?

I got a question for the Christians here...

If God is all-knowing, what is the point of heaven and hell? I remember they would tell us in church that God knows what you are going to do before you even do it. So, he knows whether you will be a Christian and be "saved" or not, right?

So, isn't it a bit pointless for God to want people to repent or whatever when he knows the people who won't won't? How can he give you a chance to be saved when he knows your future already?

It doesn't make sense to me...

Originally posted by truthseeka
So, isn't it a bit pointless for God to want people to repent or whatever when he knows the people who won't won't? How can he give you a chance to be saved when he knows your future already?

It doesn't make sense to me...

I'm just trying to see what you're asking here, is it:

1. If God already knows the choices I'm going to make, what is the point of choosing?

OR

2. If God already knows the choices I'm going to make, what is the point of repenting?

Is God really All knowing = NO
Paradoxes occur when you rationalise what an all knowing God is able to do.


G

Originally posted by shihulud
Is God really All knowing = NO
Paradoxes occur when you rationalise what an all knowing God is able to do.

Could you please share one of these paradoxes with us?

And remember we are talking Omnicient here, not Omnipotent (all powerful).

OK maybe not paradoxical but the point is that if God is omniscient then the whole universe and everything in it is pointless. I mean would you build a house knowing that as soon as you had finished an ready to move in it burns to the ground. But then again if by omniscient you mean the ability to know what CAN be known then thats a different matter.
Then again who decides how omniscient Gods abilities are, I dont remember the Bible stating how omniscient God is. Therefore its in the eye of the beholder to the omniscience/omnipresence and omnipotency of God.
I.e god might know what you'll do only when the choices come up.


G

Ok, good stuff so far...

I have no problem saying that the Christian God is omnipotent. However, when you say omniscient, that's a tall order to live up to. I think it's more power than knowledge; I mean knowledge of the content of human minds, not knowledge of the universe.

Take Adam and Eve. By convention, God knew what they would do before he even made them; so, what's the point of damning all of humanity for something he knew those two would do?

Originally posted by truthseeka
Take Adam and Eve. By convention, God knew what they would do before he even made them; so, what's the point of damning all of humanity for something he knew those two would do?

I've made that point numerous times in this thread, it has been avoided every time I present it though. (Last post, first page)

This is a very interesting topic, I'd like to see what others have to say about it.

[edit on 27/10/2005 by AkashicWanderer]

Another problem with an omniscient god is the premise that he has a supposed plan for mankind (revelations). To have a plan requires the plan to have been thought out, why would god think out a plan if he already knows the answer.
Its not just the point of Adam and Eve damning humanity there are a whole lot of 'no pointers' when it come to what god does i.e the flood - why go to the point of megatotal destruction of the Earth when god (who can do anything remember) could kill all the evil instantly himself without a flood and would have knew about it anyway so why didn't he stop it before it started?



G

Originally posted by truthseeka
I got a question for the Christians here...

If God is all-knowing, what is the point of heaven and hell? I remember they would tell us in church that God knows what you are going to do before you even do it. So, he knows whether you will be a Christian and be "saved" or not, right?

So, isn't it a bit pointless for God to want people to repent or whatever when he knows the people who won't won't? How can he give you a chance to be saved when he knows your future already?

It doesn't make sense to me...

Yes God knows everything.

Hell was created for the devil and his angels, there is no redemption for them. There is a verse in the Bible that says hell has enlarged itself. People who reject the offer of Christ for the forgiveness of sins will spend eternity there.

Yes God knows who will end up there. A person chooses to spend eternity in Hell for rejecting the removal of sins found by accepting Christ as Savior. God.

God wants noone to perish, that point is brought out in the Bible several times, so what can we deduce from that. That God is at work to bring the knowledge of salvation to everyone. So if someone chooses to not believe, and reject it then that is not God's fault, that is a choice people make.

He gives chances to be saved because He doesn't want anyone to go there. If He didn't give you chances to hear the gospel then you have a right to complain. With these chances come responsibility on our part. God didn't make us to be mindless robots.

Omniscience is often argued to be incompatible with free will. Since the concept of free will is more fundamental, many will concede on the omniscience to some degree.

But a point that's often neglected is that the eternal nature of god is also incompatible with free will. If it is possible for god to sit outside time in an eternal state, then all of time, past and future, exists from his perspective, meaning that he is privy to all that will happen.

But, if he is privy to all that will happen, then from his perspective, every choice we will make has already been made - i.e., it's determined, and there goes free will yet again.

But, the concept of free will is incoherent in its own right anyway, which is the fundamental problem from a salvation theology perspective.

Is God really All knowing = NO
Paradoxes occur when you rationalise what an all knowing God is able to do.

I would have to vehemently disagree. The energy that runs thru everything in this universe keeps this place up and running. It is the energy that keeps atoms spinning, molecules packed, we typing, the earth spinning, the universe expanding. It is ALL THE SAME energy. This energy, of course, is propelled by GOD.

So, of course, GOD knows everything that is going on for he is inside everything, and keeps things up and running.

A certain set of scientists are now in the process of building this huge machine that would isolate the "GOD particle". I certainly hope they don't succeed for if isolated they might try to extract. Then we may all be in danger of just becoming a big mash of mush.

My question is why did you use the term "Christian" GOD? There is only one, and 99% of the "religions" point to him/her/it.



[edit on 2-11-2005 by madmanacrosswater]