God cannot make decisions of any kind because he has perfect foreknowledge (or “timeless” knowledge) of what he himself will do throughout the entirety of his existence and essence. Further he is totally immutable and cannot “change” anything about himself including his mind. God cannot limit his knowledge because he is his knowledge and to limit it would be to limit himself. This does not mean that he is not omnipotent because the idea of God limiting his own knowledge is intrinsically impossible such that it cannot be done by anyone or anything whatsoever. It isn’t that God couldn’t do it, rather it cannot be done, in itself. At least…these are my opinions and intuitions. Who can know for sure, who can know in a deep way? To know in that way would be to be God, in my opinion.God is all-knowing.
Could he ever decide to not know something though? Limit his knowledge?
And if he couldn’t, wouldn’t that mean he is not all powerful?
Interesting questions!God is all-knowing.
Could he ever decide to not know something though? Limit his knowledge?
And if he couldn’t, wouldn’t that mean he is not all powerful?
Matthew 24:36God is all-knowing.
Could he ever decide to not know something though? Limit his knowledge?
And if he couldn’t, wouldn’t that mean he is not all powerful?
I believe the Church states that Jesus in His human incarnation does not know the time of the Second Coming, but in His divine Person, he does know everything that the Father knows since they have but one nature.Interesting questions!
If you process the logic by definition: God = all-knowing ≠(cannot equal) God=limited-knowledge
HOWEVER, we serve an all-powerful God, that does humanly impossible things. As an example consider the following logic: God is not man, yet our God became man, and our faith knows that man might become God.
Moreover, our faith knows that Jesus, who is God, does not know certain specific things, such as the time of the second coming.
I really like these questions, because I find the solutions to extended questions to be very beneficial, such as: what would be a good reason to choose to limit all-knowing knowledge? How could God logically fulfill this goal?
I look forward to further discussion!
Two comments:I believe the Church states that Jesus in His human incarnation does not know the time of the Second Coming, but in His divine Person, he does know everything that the Father knows since they have but one nature.
Generally speaking, you are correct. However, in this instance, we are talking about one Person who is both divine and human according to Catholic teaching. So the ordinary rules do not apply.Two comments:
- This is difficult to understand since Jesus is one person. Generally speaking one person, would either know or not know the time of a particular event.
- Does God the Holy Spirit know the day or the hour?
But the passages Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 state that only the Father knows.I would assume, since the Holy Spirit is G-d based on Christian dogma, that the Holy Spirit would have all the knowledge that the other two Persons of the Trinity have.
… I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
(from Jeremiah 31:34)
It’s similar to asking, “can God create a weight he cannot lift”…God is all-knowing.
Could he ever decide to not know something though? Limit his knowledge?
And if he couldn’t, wouldn’t that mean he is not all powerful?