lab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (03/09/84)
[Re-post of March 1, since the original vanished at sun.]
A few replies, and a different concept in omni/free will.
Update on my "rights" survey: 3 responses so far, each engendering
questions of its own. BTW, "rights" are not necessarily *human* rights,
but rights in general. My own axiomatic basis, which I could probably
summarize in one word, makes no mention of God or man.
Greg Skinner's question about "the rock" and "the foundation" is found
in Matthew 16:18. Since the original article stated "[Jesus] wanted
people ... not to worship him," I would like explanations of why Jesus
accepted worship in Mt.14:33 and John 9:38, whereas Peter (Acts 10:25-26),
Paul (Acts 14:15) and an angel of God (Rev. 22:9) refused worship.
Also for Greg, about blaming God for breaking my leg (still not 100%
after my ankle broke), He may very well have done it. However, Job
points out the difference in attitude (Job 1:21,22).
Since we seem to be back in the omni/free-will discussion again, let me
reiterate a point made long ago. We are finite beings, trapped in 3
physical dimensions with one-way time. Understanding infinity is beyond
our scope. We can understand a larger version of what we already know,
but the leap to the infinite is something altogether different.
Perhaps to try a different approach, expanding on something Dave barely
touched on: infinite-dimension time/space, viewed from an infinite
perspective. (Disclaimer: this is hardly complete, does not necessarily
represent my views, and does not speak for God.)
Attempt-at-infinite example: God knows all possible events (an infinity
thereof). For any event, He already knows what possible events could
follow after it; He also knows what events will NOT follow after it.
With infinite knowledge, He can see how two apparently unrelated events
could have a definite connection, and would know how either of them
occurring differently would affect that potential connection. He can
also see that a certain event will occur regardless of any intervention
He has planned to take. The entire collage of 4 billion people plus
countless other things is easily within His infinite comprehension.
Now God also has omnipotence, and He can use that to constrain events,
to cause things to happen because a certain event occurred (i.e., He
planned that if a free will did X, He would do Y), or to cause a
certain event to occur regardless of what any free will did (e.g.,
Jesus would be born in Bethlehem).
What does this give us? A God who knows all, can do all, yet who can
respond to man without His hand being forced by man. Since God could see
an event that free will could take that would not transgress God's law,
free will is responsible when it chooses a course that does.
As I said, this is hardly complete. But I hope it begins to give you an
idea of just how complex infinity is, and maybe an idea of how the omni/
free will paradox can begin to be reconciled in finite thinking.
--
The Ice Floe of the Q-Bick
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