06-16-2015, 03:48 PM
(06-16-2015, 02:51 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I understand what you are saying, but you are attributing the predestination to knowledge. What if God can know, but chooses not to? Are you still predestined? (Predestined may not be the right word as that implies an active participation.) If I have a vision of tomorrow and see you will go to McDonalds have I robbed you of your free will by learning that? It's going to happen whether I know it or not.
I don't mean to attribute the predestination to the knowledge of the future, rather using the knowledge to explain the predestination. In my example if God chose not to know, the dots would still be connected the same and the outcome unchanged. And man would still believe he is exercising free will at every decision point unaware he is connecting the dots in the same manner as if God chose to know. God's plan is responsible for the outcomes, not the knowledge of the plan.
Quote:But we are arguing the Christian God here, and I don't find that to be accurate either. I don't believe in hell and I don't think Heaven is like we hear described. I think God may just be the sum total of us all, but I like to think there is still a central self-aware aspect of God, and we just exist in different planes in different forms. We may come here many times to experience many different things. The reason I mention this is so people know the "free will" thing is a philosophical argument for me, and not necessarily based on how I think things are.
I think similarly. I can't rule out the possibility of a Creator and accept it is possible. I reject the notion a Creator rational enough to create the universe is as irrational as He is depicted in the Bible.
For me, I would be more inclined to accept the God from Life of Pi (it is more important just to believe rather than get caught up in the details and differences of individual religions) than the God of the Bible.
