|
Is God Omnipotent? I am having problems with the idea that my God is omnipotent. In fact I am having problems understanding his relationship with most of the omni's. If he is omnipotent, why does he let bad things happen to his children; especially the young, weak and defenseless? As a father, I can understand allowing the mature to be responsible for themselves, but what loving father would not defend his defenseless child? If he is not a respecter of persons, where is the manna? If he is omnipresent, why does he not always answer my prayers? If he is omniscient, why do I even have to pray? If he is omnicompetent, why give the devil jurisdiction over his greatest creation? If he is omnific, why even create evil? If the religionists are correct about his attributes, then he cannot be omnifaceted Ok, I can accept that he may be an omnivore. So back to the first question , is god omnipotent? On first examination, a Christian must answer yes to this question. If we use faith as a means to come to that conclusion; both of the two common definitions of faith accepted by the religious community will suffice. 1. Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. (Alma 32:21) 2. As a matter of faith I have to reply that we accept it as useful for the multitudes, and that we admittedly teach those who cannot abandon everything and pursue a study of rational argument to believe without thinking out their reasons. (Origen) Here the concept of faith has shifted from being a state of openness to revelation to one of being ready to accept what is authoritatively decreed by church hierarchy. (Charles Freeman) Upon closer examination, the answer becomes less positive. How or why would an omnipotent god allow man to thwart his plans? The Old Testament is rife with examples where mortal man caused god to re-plot the course of history. If god is a loving father with unlimited power, God committing a single soul to hell would signify defeat. His goal of returning his children to heaven would be thwarted by a mere human being, something inconceivable if god was truly all powerful. If any of you learned brothers or sisters can set my mind at ease, please do so. cd-editor
|
comments
Clif, Are you testing us or have you forgot your bishop bag of tricks? There are fairly common Sunday school answers for these questions. Omnipotent, why does he let bad things happen to his children:
God lets life run its course to give human kind the chance to fix his own problems and grow from the experience. In “reality†life on this world is but a twinkle of an eye, and all the suffering will be insignificant compared to the glory we will receive if we are faithful. The innocent will be compensated for their troubles. If he is omnipresent, why does he not always answer my prayers?:
God answers our prayers on his timeline, not ours. After our trial of faith, then we will receive an answer, if we are faithful. If we received an answer as soon as we asked it, there would be no faith needed. If he is omniscient, why do I even have to pray?:
God does know what we want, even better than we do. Praying is a way for us to learn what we really want. If we really humble ourselves and want to know, we will pray for an answer, and if we do this with full faith, God will not leave us hanging forever. If he is omnicompetent, why give the devil jurisdiction over his greatest creation?:
The devil is part of the plan. He is the weights in the exercise machine that makes us strong. Without resistance, there would be no trial, and no growth. We would spiritually atrophy without the help of the devil. Plus Halloween would be boring. If he is omnific, why even create evil?:
Same as above. Without free agency there would be no growth. Without evil, there would be no choice. How or why would an omnipotent god allow man to thwart his plans?:
Free agency is messy. God’s ultimate plan can never be thwarted. Man must be allowed to make mistakes in order to grow. These mistakes can be compensated for in the long run. God does not mind making a correction down the road using a willing servant. In fact, he is banking on it. (i.e. lost BOM manuscript) All will turn out the way it is suppose to. God has seen it. Laura was a little surprised when I fed a Sunday school answer in Gospel Essentials this week. They were talking about the second coming and how missionaries need to be in every country before that happens. I told them that some say this missionary work may happen behind the veil, so not to wait for that list item to happen. The problem is, I know all the Sunday school answers. I also know that most of them will only hold up in a vacuum, and that is what the church is trying to provide. pk Posted by Paulk, on Tuesday, 31 October 2006 at 04:10
Ah Paul, you are an answer to my prayers and it came so quick.
Now we will see if anyone can open these canned answers. Posted by cd, on Tuesday, 31 October 2006 at 06:05
How does the following statement relate to God's omnipotence?
If God MUST respect laws, there is no omnipotence.
If there are NO laws, there is NO God. Posted by cd, on Wednesday, 01 November 2006 at 01:10
Playing God’s advocate, one would say that the first statement is faults. “If God MUST respect laws, there is no omnipotence.†You need to define omnipotence as being all powerful within the eternal rules which have always been. God does not have the power to sin because that is against the rules and he would cease to be God. In fact, knowing the rules, or being omniscient, allows God to be omnipotent. If a baseball player knows how to hold the bat and how to swing, he is more able to belt the ball out of the park. The better he knows the rules, the more effective, or powerful he will be. pk Posted by Paulk, on Wednesday, 01 November 2006 at 01:56
So are you saying that the definition of omnipotence is limited by laws? Does this include the laws of nature? Posted by cd, on Wednesday, 01 November 2006 at 02:37
That is exactly what I am saying, and yes it does include the laws of nature. But God’s knowledge of those laws is so much more advanced than man’s knowledge that his work within those laws looks like magic to us. God is not omnipotent in the sense of being able to create a rock bigger than he can lift. It’s just that within the laws he can do anything, and when you know the laws, they are not a defeating obstacle.
This brings memories of when I was a deacon and priest. Posted by Paulk, on Wednesday, 01 November 2006 at 03:03
All this concern with omnipotence. Don't you guys know that Pfizer developed a little blue pill that can take care of this problem. Take that and you will feel like God. Posted by Tom Daniels, on Thursday, 02 November 2006 at 11:00
Posted by cd, on Saturday, 04 November 2006 at 06:50
Paul, sorry for taking so long to reply. I have been at deer camp.
Off topic - As I was sitting in the deer blind this morning before the sun came up, I thought that my blood was beginning to freeze in my veins. At the time of near hypothermic death the sun come over the top of the hill and I then understood why the ancients worshipped the Sun God.
Back to task - I guess the question in my mind is do I want to worship a god that has a plan with standards (those you recite from priesthood class) that I find immoral. If god is truly an Omni God, can I condone all the evil, death, destruction,pain uncertainty and heartache his plan encompasses? It would appear by definition, he has a choice.
Is he what I expect from a loving father? Does he love us or not?
It appears to me that we become pawns in his great plan; to show his power, grace and condescension.
A few personal miracles do not atone for the mass destruction and evil allowed under his guidance. In fact, miracles as described in the scriptures cheapen his image by appearing to mimic the Egyptain magicians.(See Exodus 7:11)
I want a father figure that gives rational unconditional love. If I am going to make-up a God, why not make him an asset, rather than a liability.
The Sun God this morning was a transformational event and I gave praise. Posted by cd, on Saturday, 04 November 2006 at 07:10
You bring up a couple of interesting points. The relationship between a religion and subsequent religions is suspect: The Greeks with their demi gods, the Egyptians with their life after death, the pagans with their Christmas trees, and lest I forget, the Freemasons with their temple ceremonies. A deeper study of history will either prove there are an infinite number of astounding coincidences between other false religions and the only true church, or that religious beliefs evolve as much as a creature of evolution does. Those beliefs that cannot survive the current credulity of society die off and are replaced with beliefs more adaptable to the current social climates. Is the concept of god tomorrow’s dinosaur? If so, what will cause its destruction, and what will replace it? Next, I think a sign of good parenting is consistency. It’s not so much how strict a parent is, but if they maintain the same strictness from day to day. That way a child knows where the line is. I know a parent that will fly off the handle at times and give their kids a good wallop for almost no reason at all. Then other days they let their kids walk all over them. The kids end up searching for “the line†to know where they stand. In this case it is a moving target. With God I get the same feeling. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yet at times he will command the destruction of many peoples. Complete annihilation—man woman, child and animals, for seemingly no reason except, my other kids need this place. Other times he will let whole nations go astray without so much as a talking to. If a priest holds out a hand to steady an Ark, he is stricken dead. If he holds out a hand to steady an alter boy—nothing. Posted by Paulk, on Sunday, 05 November 2006 at 13:43
I have a few other problems with god having control of natural laws.
I would presume that god would live by the laws of conservation of effort. If god is omnipotent why would he waste so much effort on laws that appear to be contradictory.
Examples:
The fact that 1/3 to 1/2 of all pregnancies end with spontaneous abortion. If the purpose is to populate the earth, this seems wasteful.
Why allow the death of millions of children before they reach the age of accountability?
God's failure to provide an efficient means of communication with his children on earth makes for a confused family.
I believe that we do not have a firm grasp, probably not even a weak grasp, of the nature of god. Posted by cd, on Monday, 06 November 2006 at 05:05
After reading my comments, I have decided that it probably is not wise for us to try to understand the nature of god. One cannot put a face on the metaphysical. Posted by cd, on Monday, 06 November 2006 at 07:05
Did you just turn Catholic? Posted by Paulk, on Monday, 06 November 2006 at 08:28
When spelled with a little c. Posted by cd, on Monday, 06 November 2006 at 09:37
Paul your statement that religious beliefs evolve is the most astute statement make on this subject. Posted by cd, on Monday, 06 November 2006 at 23:33 |
1 Page 1 of 1 ( 15 comments )
You are not authorized to leave comments - please login. |
|
Who's Online
We have 3 guests online
|
