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Achilles6129
Guest
Hi,
If it’s speaking in anthropomorphic terms then it should indicate to us that it is. It doesn’t. Thus there is no choice but to believe that God was truly and genuinely sorry that he made man.
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If it’s speaking in anthropomorphic terms then it should indicate to us that it is. It doesn’t. Thus there is no choice but to believe that God was truly and genuinely sorry that he made man.
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ready
Guest
Did you read my post with the Haydock Commentary explanation? I’ll go by that; you can go by what you want – but I advise you to go by the Haydock Commentary. God bless you.
J
juliamajor
Guest
If God is pure Spirit then how can he have emotions, senses etc.?
We humanize Him because it is impossible to grasp the infinite. We put into our meager words that which we can relate to. We are body mind spirit.God is spirit-Holy Spirit is spirit. Only Jesus had form, mind and spirit.
In Hebrew scripture did anyone really see (in a physical sense)God?Or did the see Him
in a visionary sense?
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Achilles6129
Guest
Why couldn’t a Spirit repent he did something? Why would it be impossible to grasp the infinite?
Your final question is a good one. God says no man can see me and live, yet in the OT we are given scenarios where people do seem to have a vision of God. I would suppose that they would have had to see him in a theophanic sense then, not in his true glory. But that leads to another good question: Why can no-one see God and live?
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cfauster
Guest
Both Scripture’s image of God’s outward actions, as well as Scripture’s (and our own) image of God’s inner thoughts, often use anthropomorphic language. Pope Francis, for example, reflected on this question (God’s response to human sin) in his beautiful statement at a Holocaust memorial earlier this year:
news.va/en/news/pope-francis-honors-victims-of-holocaust-at-yad-va
I don’t know how Pope Francis would answer a technical, metaphysical question about God’s foreknowledge of the depth of human sin in the 20th century. I do know that both the Bible, and the Pope, speak as if they imagine God with changeable feelings and thoughts. But elsewhere in the Bible, other verses imply that God doesn’t change at all. Both views are found in the Bible. Likewise, some Greek philosophers thought the top god in their pantheon of gods could not possibly be surprised or affected or changed by events on Earth. I guess one should expect multiple perspectives within the Bible, and also among the many diverse Greek philosophers. And, I guess one should not expect the writings of one group as a whole (ancient Hebrews) to match the writings of another group as a whole (ancient Greek philosophers). In any case, the Church has sought to incorporate the best from both ancient Hebrew and ancient Greek perspectives.
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Aloysium
Guest
Perhaps God is eternally surprised, delighted, and horrified by us, reflecting His relationship with us as creatures in time.
What is a mystery cannot be grasped by our intellect trying to find analogies in the transient and mundane.
What is a mystery cannot be grasped by our intellect trying to find analogies in the transient and mundane.
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Achilles6129
Guest
Again, I would have to say that it’s not that complicated. God just simply means what he says. God can be trusted to be honest, can’t he? So when he says he was sorry that he ever made man, that’s the simple truth.
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PJM
Guest
HE’s NOT!
He IS HOWEVER deeply distressed about man sinning, even though this is the necessary price of a “FREEWILL” Gen. 1: 26-27
And God GAVE us a FREEWILL because He desires perfect love be returned to Him fornthe PERFECT Love He gives to us.
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Achilles6129
Guest
So are you saying that God’s not omnipotent/omniscient?HE’s NOT!
He IS HOWEVER deeply distressed about man sinning, even though this is the necessary price of a “FREEWILL” Gen. 1: 26-27
And God GAVE us a FREEWILL because He desires perfect love be returned to Him fornthe PERFECT Love He gives to us.
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Vico
Guest
Genesis 6:
5 And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,*
6 It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,
7 He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Haydock Commentary
Ver. 5.
*At all times. *Hebrew: only evil continually. They had no relish for any thing else: as we may say of a glutton, he thinks of nothing but his belly. Yet some good thoughts would occur occasionally, and we may grant that they did some things which were not sinful. (Menochius)
— If we follow corrupt nature, and live among sinners, we find a law within us warring against the spirit; and a very powerful grace is necessary to rescue us from such a dangerous situation. (Calmet)
— Though the expressions in this place seem general, they must be understood with some limitations. (Worthington)
**Ver. 6. **
*It repented him, &c. *God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of repentance, grief, or any other passion. But these expressions are used to declare the enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as to determine their Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before he had so much favoured. (Challoner)
— God acted outwardly as a man would do who repented. (Haydock)
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juliamajor
Guest
Does freewill negate omniscience ?
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ready
Guest
God’s omniscience means that He knows EVERYTHING each one of us will choose with our free will even BEFORE we choose it with our free will. Persons who refuse to believe that the language in Gen 6:5-7 is anthropomorphic need to speak with a holy and learned priest, for they do not understand that God, being omniscient, is aware of EVERYTHING before it happens. His “repenting” of something He deliberately willed to create is clearly anthropomorphic language, for God already KNEW what would happen to each of His creatures before He made them and before they reached the age of reason and before they made culpable choices with their free will. God bless you.
J
juliamajor
Guest
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PJM
Guest
Not at all
Is Christ God? Of COURSE He is.
Perhaps you recall the bible account where He wept over Jerusalem [for its sins and NOT accepting the promised Messiah in there midst?" Or the fact that He wept over the death of Lazarus prior to raising him form the dead.
God is “every Good thing Perfected.” Certainly He can [and does] harbor grief over the sinful choices of His Created humanity. Over 50 MILLION abortions worldwide annually, a 50& divorce rate, Contraception practiced by an estimated 90% of married couple [EVEN CAtholics], and so on
READ Isia 43: verse 7 & 21 to see WHY we were Created by God.
God Bless you,
Patrick
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cfauster
Guest
If one is interested in philosophical reasoning as a complement to the Scriptural texts that deal with these issues, there are a couple of currently active threads going in the Philosophy sub-forum within this Apologetics forum. Lots of scholarship within the RC Church on these issues, of course.
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ready
Guest
Yeah, I really do know what omniscience
the question is meant as a question.
Sorry, I read too hastily!
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BellsMom
Guest
So when people say god “desires” us to be in heaven with him, thats not true? If he doesn’t have emotions then he can’t desire anything or need or want.
What about love? How can god love if he doesn’t “feel” anything?
What about love? How can god love if he doesn’t “feel” anything?
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Achilles6129
Guest
No, why would it?
How do you know that?
Radically different love type, as should be obvious by reading various passages in Scripture.
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ready
Guest
Actually, I knew that you were just asking your question rhetorically. Now I remember that my response to your post was not meant for you, but to help the person who would have a problem with the subject of free will vs. God’s omniscience. God bless you.Yeah, I really do know what omniscience
the question is meant as a question.
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cfauster
Guest
Besides the useful threads on Catholic Answers Forum on this paradox, here’s another:
newapologetics.com/omniscience-omnipotence-paradox
newapologetics.com/omniscience-omnipotence-paradox
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