Free will vs Omniscience

jar writes:And you don't see how utterly silly that statement is.There is absolutely NOTHING you could do for a real god.

jar writes:my Belief Statement was like a travelog. It was a selection of a few faded snapshots out of a big album. Far more pictures were left in the book then were dragged out for the 'Belief Statement'.Faith made a claim that the story was brainwashing. I find that to be an absolutely amazing claim coming from someone who reads a Bible laced with commentaries. Such books don't even offer the possiblity of the person thinking about what is actually written but instead go straight to telling the reader what they must think.The reality is that I actually did spend a week pretty much agonizing over the question at that time ,and it is one that I constantly question even to this day. It was a direct challenge to what I thought I believed (which was in the statement just before what she did quote), that I was saved because I believed in Jesus. It would be so easy for folk to simply accept the warlord as Master and Savior, to profess or even truly believe. But what does that say about GOD?Another claim that seems to be made pretty regularly is that my Belief System is some soft and fluffy theology. I don't think so. I believe we are all responsible for our own acts. I cannot fall back on the excuse that I have a sinful nature because of some Fall and so I can't help it when I screw up. If I screw up it is because I made bad choices, not because of my Nature.I believe each of us will be judged, judged individually and completely, based on how we behave while here on earth.Another claim that seems to be part of the comments so far is that my theology is not that of the Bible. I think that is both true and false. First, I am not searching for the God of the Bible but for GOD. Second, the Bible, like Aesop's Fables (which also took form around the same time), is an anthology of anthologies, a collection of stories meant to convey the point of view of various peoples about how they saw God, themselves, their relationship with God and His with them, their relationships with their families and clan and with other clans and with all the other critters in the world.The God of the Bible is not GOD. Instead, like another old photo album, in the Bible we see snapshots of how the peoples saw their world and universe at a given moment. God may even be in some of the pictures, fuzzy, out of focus and unidentified in the crowd like a Biblical "Where's Waldo".As to the existance continuation thread, I am thrilled and shocked. Shocked because frankly I did not expect anyone to even read the original. Thrilled because I believe comment and discussions such as this thread so far where the issue of whether or not my learning experience is brainwashing is a powerful tool in its own as we all try to develop and hone critical thinking skills.One area of disappointment though is in the selective nature of the quotemining part so far. Further on in my Belief Statement (and I apologize for the length of the sucker, honestly I did cut out much in an attempt to keep it readable), I continue the discussion about questioning beliefs. Why was that excluded Faith? Why was that not also at least referred to?I honestly believe that there are two types of folk, those that look for Answers to questions and those who look for answers to Question. I believe this is an important distinction.

jar writes:So are you now saying that the god you market is NOT omnicient?

The God you and the Apologists market foreknowing CREATES people who will be damned regardless of what they do.

jar writes:The God you and the Apologists market foreknowingly CREATES people who will be damned regardless of what they do.

If God didn’t want Adam or Eve to eat the Fruit Of the Tree Of Knowledge (FOTOK), why did he put the tree in the garden of eden?

ringo writes:God is in the imagination of humans, along with leprechauns and the Tooth Fairy.

I was about 14 and I'd never heard of evolution or the scientific method. Just accept it, I believed exactly like you, then I didn't. Don't try to spin it, it's a fact.

ringo writes:Again, that's not an argument. It's pretty clear you don't have one.

jar writes:It is impossible for there to be evidence of anything supernatural. Period.There can be unexplained things but even unexplained and unexplainable events are not evidence of anything but that they happened.But the topic of course is free will and omniscience and the ONLY possible conclusion is trying to market an omniscient god that is the creator of all that is, seen and unseen but that also condemns people to hell is that that god is simply evil and unworthy of respect or worship.

tangle writes:I've seen many of those but only in a mental hospital where they belong.

Tangle writes:If those things happened in the church I attended my parents would have had the sense not to take me there - it would be child abuse.