Re: Divine omniscience is an un-Scriptural heresy.
Brother Bible Student, I'm with you on this. Surely God knows everything, and your Scripture quotations prove that.
Though I highly respect you, Pastor Isaac, I must disagree with you on several points.
Well, then obviously God somehow intended the Fall of Man to happen, didn't He? after all, God creates evil:
Isaiah 45:7:
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
If God creates evil, it is quite obvious that He could have also brought into motion the process of bringing the very first evil into the world.
Well, the Bible doesn't explicitly say here that God created these animals as helpmeets, does It? God brings the animals to Adam to "see what he would call them," not to see if he would choose as a helpmeet from among them.
The Bible then says that Adam didn't find a helpmeet, not that God intended for him to have found one at that point. Adam simply didn't realize that God hadn't yet arrived at the point of creating a helpmeet.
As we all know, Salvation™ is attained by faith and through works. God knew that Abraham had faith, but because of his deed of the attempted sacrifice of Isaac, his faith was officially "shown through his works." After all, faith has to be shown through works:
James 2:20-22:
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
And as we see, this is how Abraham was justified. Therefore, when God said to him "now I know," he meant that Abraham's faith, now that it was shown through his works, was now officially accepted by God ("known" to Him).
Pastor, you might notice that God already says that "the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is very grievous," which shows that He already knows everything about it. The "if not" part simply says that the cities, like Nineveh in later days, still can change their ways, and that God will know it if they do. In short, this only supports His Omniscience!
I'm sorry, Pastor, but I can't see where Scripture says that God "didn't know" that this tower was being built. It only says that He was coming down. Maybe He was just coming down for a nice stroll in His Creation, like He often did in the Garden of Eden. We don't know why He came down, only that He did. There is no reason to assume divine ignorance in this respect.
Well, I disagree with you on this. Of course God can change His Mind: being omnipotent, He can do everything. He can create a rock He cannot lift Himself, He can subsequently lift that rock, and He can change His Mind. The very definition of "omnipotence" requires that He can do all those things.
So, in short, God does change His Mind, and because of His Omniscience, He already knows He is going to change His Mind beforehand. So when God created man, He already knew that He would eventually repent that He had made him.
God's ways are mysterious, and it is not wise to question His Motives. Why did He do that? We can't possibly know with our tiny mortal minds.
Nevertheless, if I might throw a hunch, then maybe God did it to punish the Amalekites, or to punish the Israelites for asking a king in the first place. That might be possible.
In conclusion, I would like to refer again to Brother Bible Student's excellent quotations that prove beyond doubt that God is indeed omniscient. Praise the Lord!
Brother Bible Student, I'm with you on this. Surely God knows everything, and your Scripture quotations prove that.

Though I highly respect you, Pastor Isaac, I must disagree with you on several points.

Originally posted by Pastor Isaac Peters
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Isaiah 45:7:
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
If God creates evil, it is quite obvious that He could have also brought into motion the process of bringing the very first evil into the world.

The presence of Eve in the story brings me to my second point.
Genesis 2:18-22: And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
That is, God had to engage in trial and error to find the help meet for the man whom He had just gotten through creating. Once Help Meet 1.0 turned out to be unsuitable, He had to make Help Meet 2.0.
Genesis 2:18-22: And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
That is, God had to engage in trial and error to find the help meet for the man whom He had just gotten through creating. Once Help Meet 1.0 turned out to be unsuitable, He had to make Help Meet 2.0.
The Bible then says that Adam didn't find a helpmeet, not that God intended for him to have found one at that point. Adam simply didn't realize that God hadn't yet arrived at the point of creating a helpmeet.
God tests us
That is, He actually has to test us. Not especially the words “now I know” in Genesis and “to know whether” in Deuteronomy, hardly consistent with Divine omniscience.
That is, He actually has to test us. Not especially the words “now I know” in Genesis and “to know whether” in Deuteronomy, hardly consistent with Divine omniscience.
James 2:20-22:
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
And as we see, this is how Abraham was justified. Therefore, when God said to him "now I know," he meant that Abraham's faith, now that it was shown through his works, was now officially accepted by God ("known" to Him).
Originally posted by Pastor William Nathaniel Sampson
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Originally posted by Pastor William Nathaniel Sampson
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Originally posted by Lycia The Repentant
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So, in short, God does change His Mind, and because of His Omniscience, He already knows He is going to change His Mind beforehand. So when God created man, He already knew that He would eventually repent that He had made him.

Just another quick aside. If the Lord knew he'd be sorry for making Saul king, why would He do it in the first place if he was omniscient?

Nevertheless, if I might throw a hunch, then maybe God did it to punish the Amalekites, or to punish the Israelites for asking a king in the first place. That might be possible.
In conclusion, I would like to refer again to Brother Bible Student's excellent quotations that prove beyond doubt that God is indeed omniscient. Praise the Lord!

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