taufiqhaque93

 

Your dogma is making you irrational. It isn't about whether you know the answers or not.

 

Let me rephrase and simplify the problem.

 

Tomorrow Mr Smith is either going to save someone's life or kill someone. He hasn't decided yet.

 

According to you God knows what he will do. Let us make sure that God doesn't cheat by making him crave the decision on a block of stone. Imagine he writes "John Smith will decide to kill. (Note to self, make space in Hell)"

 

Now. John Smith has free will. So in the morning he can decide to either save a life or kill someone, yes? There is no restriction. So lets say he decides to save a life. Therefore God was wrong.

 

"Ah!" You say. "God knew he would do that." So what God actually wrote on the tablet was "John Smith will decide to save a life. (Note to self, make space in Heaven)"

 

But. John Smith has free will. So in the morning he can decide to either save a life or kill someone, yes? There is no restriction. So lets say he decides to kill. Therefore God was wrong.

 

You can't have it both ways. Either God is omniscient and knows what we will decide and therefore we have no free will. Or we have free will and he can't know what we will do.

You were heading towards the write direction until the part where you said God writes down what we will do beforehand. It doesn't matter much though, considering we will be making the choice that God knows (not causes, mind you) anyway. Him knowing our every step doesn't mean we don't have free will. Him knowing our choices and him causing them are 2 separate things. The beauty of his mercy is that he doesn't write anything down until and unless we actually do it, with a little exception (see end note).

Everyone here seems to have the idea that if we suddenly change our mind from what we were supposed to do, then God would be wrong. Thing is he knows that we would change our mind in the first place. He didn't cause it, thus we did have our choice to do what we wanted. He knew what we will choose and what we will avoid. And should we change our mind, he would know that as well.

Allah is a timeless being with no before or after. When it comes to creation, he says "be!" and it is. When someone has such infinite power, you cannot be surprised that he knows all the outcomes of all his creations. Even the angels asked him when he created Adam, the first man, what his plan is. His reply would always be, "I know that which you do not". So, who in this puny world are we to question his plan?

We are merely irrational children with more theories than facts of this universe. Really. How did we learn about this universe? Through observation. This and all the laws that it follows is one of the infinite possibilities from which God have created. And he has encouraged us to learn about it. Go ahead and read the Quran, he has actually given us a head start.

The Quran says about Allah's mercy: Do a good deed, Allah will consider it a good deed. Think of doing a good deed but you're stopped in your tracks from doing it, Allah will consider it a good deed. Think of doing a bad deed but you stop yourself from doing it, Allah will consider it a good deed. Do a bad deed, Allah will consider it a bad deed. Repent and ask for forgiveness (and never do it again), and Allah will turn all your earned sins into sawab (reward for good deed).

 

So he doesn't really know because every time I change my mind, he turns out to have been wrong.

 

If he knows in advance all the changes I will make, then I don't have the freedom not to make them.

 

If he knows in advance all the choices I am going to make, but then I make different choices then I show that he is wrong. Which is impossible. Therefore I can't make any choices other than the ones God knows about. Therefore I don't have free will.

 

Or God doesn't know everything. Therefore he is not God.

Did I not say, "God has given us the free will to make our own choices in life. In this case, predestination essentially means that despite giving us the free will, God knows what we will be choosing."?

In essence, God is all-knowing. You change your mind about something then he knows. He didn't cause that change, he just knows. Because him causing that change would mean he is taking away your free will, which is not the case!

clarify then to what extent our lives are predestined. if you mean that the entirety of life is plotted out, birth to death with every event accounted for then this is in direct contradiction with having free will.

 

how can you build something to act one way and expect it to operate in another? seems like god has no idea what he's done.

It is in no way a contradiction. What is free will? The power to do whatever you want. Well, we have that as God has given it to us. Life is not plotted out. From our birth to death, whatever situation we face can be caused by God and his creation, ie, your environment. But what we choose to do in that situation is completely upto us. The fact that God knows what choices we will make throughout our life span in no way means that we don't have free will.

 

Let's make this more concrete. Imagine we get God to write down a list of all the choices (good or bad) I am going to make.

 

Now, can I look at this list and decide that I will make different choices? Yes or No.

 

If "Yes" then God was wrong.

If "No" then I don't have free will.

 

So which is it?

No offence but that kind of sounds ridiculous. This life is merely a multiple (more like infinite) choice test. I'm sure we have all gone to school and we know what an examination is like.

What you're essentially doing is asking God for the answers to all the questions. (which you're actually supposed to do through supplication, not the topic though)

Why would he show you, a human under examination, the list? God is powerful beyond rational thought. But even when thinking rationally, your question doesn't make sense.

Which moves us to your answer, "No". But does that really mean you don't have free will? Taking us back to the examination analogy, if the examiner doesn't tell you the answers to the question paper, does it mean you don't have the free will to try and choose the right answer? Or get the wrong answer? Or give up and leave the classroom? So on?

 

Then we how do we have any choice?

 

I decide to be a saint. God already knows I will be going to heaven.

 

But if I change my mind and go on a killing spree the, either:

 

a) God was wrong. Which is impossible.

b) I can't change my mind (because it would prove God wrong). Therefore I don't have a choice. Therefore I don't have free will.

You decide to be a saint, God knew. Then you decide to go on a killing spree, God also knew. You are free to choose whatever life you lead. God knows all your decisions you will make. That's the whole point.

I got the functions down on each. I can look the info up, it's just that I need some tips to keep them all in long term memory.

Is life and everything that it stands for predestined? If so, what's the point of God granting its existence?

Common questions among atheists actually. It's something they will use to drive the belief that they are predestined to be atheists, so it's not their fault.

Truth: Our lives are predestined. At the same time, it's not predestined. Meaning, God has given us the free will to make our own choices in life. In this case, predestination essentially means that despite giving us the free will, God knows what we will be choosing.

So God ultimately knows well ahead whether we will be going to heaven or hell. It does not necessarily mean he has hand picked favorites among us to grant heaven and throw the rest to hell.

We all have the choice, the free will to choose our paths and God knows what it will be. He is responsible to give us the power to make the right or wrong choices. He is not, however, responsible for choosing our fate during our creation, that "he will go to hell" and "he will go to heaven".

Sincerely,

Biochemistry Graduate

Hi guys

I need help with learning the functions, food sources, deficiency effects, overdose effects for Vitamins A, D. E, K, C, and all B complexes.

Thanks in advance!

deletia

So, do bulls really get mad when they see the color red?

read more: url removed

That isn't what it says. http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2014/08/26.aspx

My statement meant that it's a step forward, not that such a feat was already achieved!

Regeneration like Wolverine may be on the verge of being VERY possible!

What Is DARPA?

Before going on to the project itself, let us look over at DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Formed in 1958, they have been funding many major technological developments for this long time. Though their main aim is to help the military sector of USA, their projects have helped the whole world too. Recently, the American government has invested $73.8 million in a biotechnology research program. This allowed DARPA and its researchers are going to carry on with research.

Project ElectRx

The project’s name is ElectRx...

Read more.

url deleted - rule 2.7

Like and follow our TH Posts website for more.