Reply to Paidion
Paidion wrote:Again, a fully loving, righteous God would not "create" wicked, hurtful possibilities such as torture . These possibilities arise from our minds. It isn't necessary for God to have "created" these possibilities (whatever "creating possibilities" means). God is omnicient even though He does not know what cannot logically be known in advance—the choices of free will agents. Future choices do not exist, so they cannot be known.
Read Deuteronomy 28. Verses 1-2 state " If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:" and verses 3-14 expand on the blessings. Verse 15 states "However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:" and verses 16-68 enumerate the curses - evil - that the Israelites will receive from God for disobedience. Deuteronomy 30: 11-19 states "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life,"
A fully loving God gives His free will creatures choices which He establishes. If He only gives them evil choices, that would be evil. If they have free will, He MUST give them evil, along with good, choices as these verses illustrate. If God doesn't know our evil choice possibilities, He's not omniscient; If we are not given evil and well as good choices, we don't have free will.
The omniscient God knows all the possible choices of all his free will agents from Creation until the end of time - no surprises or discoveries for God to make.
kenblogton
