Does God Make Mistakes?

by Undecided 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Undecided

  Hi All,

  I was thinking about some of the comments in the bible where God had regrets. Gen. 6:6 Does this mean he felt it was a mistake to make humans?

  When he decreed that Nineveh would be destroyed and then changed his mind after they repented, would it have been a mistake if he had destroyed them before they had time to repent?

  When Moses pointed out that it would be a mistake to kill the Israelites when they made the golden calf and God "began to feel regret over the evil he had spoken of doing to his people."Ex.32:14

  It seems God goes onto a rage like humans and later regrets his actions. It seems the bible makes God almost human at times.

  Just thinking again.

  Ken P.
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  Jang

  The hebrew NACHAM means to 'repent' about 40 times and 'comfort' about 65 times in the OT. It can mean a change of heart, change of disposition, change of mind, change of purpose, or an emphasis on a change of one's conduct.

  When he 'repented' or 'regretted' that he had made man he was does not mean that he made a mistake. He was regretting what had happened and what had to happen.

  JanG
  CAIC Website: http://caic.org.au/zjws.htm
  Personal Webpage: http://uq.net.au/~zzjgroen/
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  ozziepost

  To which could be added "...in human terms."

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading."
  TERTULLIAN, Adversus Valentinianos
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  Francois

  Seems that there's an awful lot of "changing" going on in the mind of a god who is changeless.

  Also implicit is the idea that God, having made man, is surprised at the things that man began to do. I don't really think that God is ever surprised about anything at all, least of all anything man can do.

  Again, Jehovah is a primitive god, made by man in man's image.

  My $0.02

  Francois
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  Michael3000

  Of course - we have Fred Hall, don't we?

  --Michael
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  God_knows

  Ken, bless you dearest one.

  God made the heavens and the earth already knowing the end of the book to begin with. He knew EVERYTHINg down to the finest detail already, right from the moment He decided to create.

  My point here? God made the earth already knowing the things that would happen, such as what you mentioned. So God does not make mistakes.

  Otherwise He would not have created us to begin with.
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  Joseph Joachim

  It seems the bible makes God almost human at times.

  Exactly, this is always the case with "J", one of the five writers (or schools of writers) of the Penthateuch. Gen 6:6 was written by J, as chapter 2 of Gen was (where you can see Yahweh walking in the Garden of Eden). J makes God much more anthropomorphic than the other writers.

  I'd suggest you take a look at the book "Who wrote the Bible" by Friedman.

  JJ
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  AGuest

  Dear JJ... may you have peace!

  I find you post 'intriguing. Why? Because my Lord revealed to me some time ago (and yes, I posted it on H20), that Joseph had actually wrote the book of Genesis... while in prison in Egypt. Just as JAH revealed to him the meaning of his dreams, the baker and cupbearer's and Pharaoh's, so, too, JAH gave him this, by means of holy spirit through Christ... and told him to 'write'.

  Joseph was a METICULUS recordkeeper, as seen by his ability to manage Pharaoh's grain... for FOURTEEN years - seven 'plenty' years during which he oversaw the harvest and storing it, and seven years of properly distributing it, so that NO ONE starved during the famine.

  Revelation 1:19

  I have not read the book you refer to, but that is what I 'heard'.

  A slave of Christ,

  SJ