Can God see the future? (page 3)

Paralipomenon

As I understand it, God can't see the future as much as he's really really smart.

Look at it this way. The more I know about you, the better I can predict your behavior. So what would happen if I knew every single atom of you, would I be able to predict how you were to react to something? Now what if God knew the precise atomic structure of everything. He would be able to determine everybody's reactions to each other and the environment to 100% accuracy.

So it's not so much that he can see the future, in that we don't have free will, but rather he can "mentally" calculate the events of the world forward to infinity.

That's how it was explained to me. It's much easier to believe that there is not all powerful God.

LtCmd.Lore

As I understand it, God can't see the future as much as he's really really smart.

Look at it this way. The more I know about you, the better I can predict your behavior. So what would happen if I knew every single atom of you, would I be able to predict how you were to react to something? Now what if God knew the precise atomic structure of everything. He would be able to determine everybody's reactions to each other and the environment to 100% accuracy.

So it's not so much that he can see the future, in that we don't have free will, but rather he can "mentally" calculate the events of the world forward to infinity.

That's how it was explained to me. It's much easier to believe that there is not all powerful God.

So in other words, god didn't just KNOW that Adam would sin... Since he created him, and his very atomic structure, God is DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for his actions! Lore

Adolfius

Thanks paralipomenon, that's a brilliant explanation for the way a god (as in the god in the bible) could "see" or predict what humans would do. I've never heard it put that way before. So he/she/it can't see the future but can acurately predict it, right? Is that how it was explained to you by the JWs?

Adolfius

Since he created him, and his very atomic structure, God is DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for his actions!

Just when I think I've got, you have to spoil it for me

frankiespeakin

Pop,

all there is is the present moment unfolding into itself. When is it never "now"? Mind takes "now" and isolates it in memory, creating a "past" and assigns it some sort of meaning based on personal preferences and conditioning. It then takes "past" events from memory (which can only happen 'now') and projects a "future" based on those past events and endows that future with degrees of certainty - this is ALL mental gymnastics occuring within the ever present moment of now............ And as JamesThomas alludes to, these mental gymnastics have a way of covering the pristine moment of "now" as it exists without the contaminating and distorting influence of the mind.

Actually the "now" we experience is the "past" by the time it cycles thru the senses and into our consciousness..

trevor

He already specified that he was talking about the god of the Bible, specifically the JW version.

In that case, perhaps you meant to say, ' The God of the Bible.' The Bible refers to other gods including Satan.

Oooh!

themonster123

This idea never made sense to me-that God can see the future! What I was told as a Witness was he CHOOSES to see the future....

But this idea really doesn't make sense that he'd allow all this to happen..if he could see the future. Apparantly, he's gonna step in...in the future!

moshe

Heisenberg's Principle explains everything. God can't know the future nor can He ever phyically resurrect anyone from the dead back to a human form. I hate to inform JW's that their earthly paradise is an impossibility- all that preaching work for nothing.

zack

I don't know whether God can see the future or not. I am of the mind that there is no future, no set of events that that MUST happen like gazing into a crystal ball. But events WILL happen.

I have often thought that God can "see" the future in the sense that a great chess player can "see" the board 5, 6, 7 moves down the road because he can read his opponent so well

and is able to not just ANTICIPATE his opponent's moves, but MANIPULATE his opponent's moves by his own moves.

So if God designed everything and can manipulate evreything, then in that sense he can see the future because He can CAUSE the events that make up the future.

It is much like fixing a horse race or a boxing match---- you can't really know who will win in a fair contest, but you can FIX who loses in a crooked contest and thus control the outcome.

So prior to the race or the match you "predict" who will "win" and it comes true. You repeat that hundreds of times over many years. Does that make you a prophet, a seer? Ot does

it make you a FIXER, a MANIPULATOR? If God has that power, then He can control who wins by fixing who loses. Israel did not WIN wars, it's enemies LOST them. God fixed

the fight.

nvrgnbk

I think Terry nailed it with his "future" comment.

Also, God appears to me to be non-existent.

So, no, God can't see the future.

Can God see the future?

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