Subject:
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Re: God and the Devil and forgiveness (was Re: POV-RAY orange color)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 24 Aug 1999 18:01:37 GMT
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Viewed:
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1121 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Steve Bliss writes:
> On Mon, 23 Aug 1999 21:52:16 GMT, "Tom McDonald"
> <radiotitan@spamcake.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > Yeah, what if Satan just suddenly gave up? Admitted he was a jerk and
> > > wrong, and honestly (how could you hide it from God?) asked for
> > > forgiveness?
> >
> > If you believe the axiom that "God knows everything" (and that I know is a
> > muchly overused notion) and that he is all-wise, then it's not hard to • stretch
> > and say that God knows (and has apparently declared) that Satan is
> > incorrigible. It seems the Underworld won't ever be passing out snow parkas.
>
> Augh! Now you're talking about predestination. That's been a theological
> hot button for quite awhile. Does God already know who's going to be
> saved, and who isn't? And how is His knowing different from Him selecting?
> Is there actually free will, or it an illusion of our existence?
I'm talking about knowing how something will react before it happens. For two
examples, it's like saying you know Lego can stand temps up to 104 degrees F
without ever having testing it if you had sufficient knowledge of the plastic.
I can see why you would say that, but I'm talking about future knowledge
exclusively at this point, not with altering destinies.
> That's the kicker for me: if there's no free will, then what's the point?
> I can deal with life having no greater meaning; ie, I'm alright with the
> question being "what is the purpose of life?" and the answer being
> "nothing". But I can't deal with the thought that this is just a big
> preplanned stageplay, and we're helpless meatpuppets.
I don't believe that predestination is a process that shapes and guides us. I
believe predestination has only to do with knowing what shall happen, not
altering or guiding what shall happen. This doesn't mean that it's pre-
planned, just foreknown.
Free will does happen. Everyday. The concept of predestination has been turned
into some neat little package to explain who gets saved and who doesn't, which
is incorrect.
-Tom McD.
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