Is God just teasing us?

by joannadandy 64 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Paradiselost

  Freewill...do you have it, and if you do what is it made up of. Is free will the result of our atomic makeup or is it something that transcends our physical universe. Do you have control over your actions. Either you don't and have no real life, or you do and have something that transcends the physical universe unless of course you believe our atomic structure gives us free will, which is impossible because it would destroy the cause and effect relationship law of nature. If the later is true the implications are huge. It would suggests something more than the physical.

  As far as God knowing or not knowing...the bible clearly teaches he COULD be aware of the future. If he can be aware of it...there must be something to be aware of. Meaning if God COULD see our futures are futures are set. If God cannot see our futures/fate then the Bible appears to be incorrect.
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  joannadandy

  ParadiseLost, I like your name...I also find it interesting you would have that name and choose to comment on this thread...not good or bad, just interesting.

  Ok I have to admit, most of you lost me. But I dig it! I actually started a philosophical thread instead of one about the importance of thongs. GO ME!

  As I said, most of you lost me, but Peacefulpete...THANK YOU! What you said was insightful and makes perfect sense to me!! Can I ask where you got that information? Or are you just one of those smart people that just has a wealth of this kind of knowledge handy...and also, Where the HELL WERE YOU when I started my thread asking if snakes could fly...lol...you could have helped me out with that one! thank you thank you thank you tho...I appreciated your response. I learned something new today! GO ME AGAIN!
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  Paradiselost

  Here's my point...Either we have free will or you don't. No either or fallacy here. If we don't have free will, what's the point of it all. However, I believe I have free will. The question then is where does it come from, the natural or supernatural. IF natural...it must be the result of our atomic makeup...what else is there? If not due to our atomic makeup, it opens the door to the supernatural, unless someone else can explain a different senario.

  I want to point out I'm very cautious when falling back on the supernatural, however, I choose to believe in free will, but then again I understand the paradoxes that result from that position too. If God is not all-knowing, he isn't the God of the Bible. The Bible clearly states he knows the beginning from the end. Questions, questions, and more questions everywhere you look.
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  peacefulpete

  joanadandy A fairly good new book that disusses the origin of various Bible stories and jewish theology is by Tim Callahan of the Skeptic Society. It's entitled :Secret Origins of the Bible. It's available it you go to the Skeptic Society web page. Which is a great organization for people tired of being duped. I hope though you did not interpret my comment as saying that snakes actually had wings, as they are in the fossil record millions of years ago, they undoubted evolved from lizards, some even today having vestigial hind leg bones.
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  peacefulpete

  What the hell I'll through my two sense in on the free will issue. A great book i've just read :The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker is a best seller and deserves to be. He traces the history of the philosphical debate about freewill and human nature. The ood news is that science (social and biological) can tell us more today than ever. Yes it is true that an incredible amount of who we are is a result of our genes and the complex mental systems they have created. But these systems while present do not equally control our behaior. In others words environment, which involves a measure of choice, greatly influences which system takes priority in the mind. Humans can if we work cooperatively gradually emphasize positive social skills rather than the baser drives and in so doing assist all but the psycopathic to become better members of society. We have choices and they affect us and others profoundly.