I’ve been gone and have missed too much, so I apologize if you’ve already answered this.IDK, I tend to think that we’d all eventually do what Adam & Eve did. Only the BV has the capability of fulfilling all that a human could possibly desire-and A & E didn’t yet have it in Eden. They were being asked there already to want it, to choose it, in a sense, to choose God.
I agree with all of the above. But I’d appreciate a better explanation of the B.V.Adam hadn’t yet attained his perfection in Eden- he hadn’t yet reached or fulfilled his intended end or purpose. The whole point of the story-and of our faith-is that man’s will is involved, man has to decide, for life or death, good or evil, heaven or hell, God or no God. As this occurs, as man’s will unites with God’s, he tends towards the perfection that God has in store for him, with the ultimate goal being complete union with God via the Beatific Vision in heaven.
Good. Hence the timeless God is fallacious as it was discussed.I favor timeless.
Feature of our experience of reality is the result of our interaction with objective feature of reality. Hence, now should exists as an objective feature of reality.It works when now is a feature of our experience of reality rather than an objective feature of reality.
The BV is “simply” the direct, intuitive knowledge of God, it’s the end goal, the purpose of man’s existence. It’s not attainable by man via his own faculties; it’s a gift. Nothing else can be desired; the BV is the source of absolute, unending, peace, well-being, and happiness for man. Glimpses of this vision are given to humans here on earth at times I’m sure, for God’s purposes. St Teresa of Avila would be one who was so privileged, I believe. In fact, union with God is the purpose of contemplative prayer, even if the union is only temporary in this life.I agree with all of the above. But I’d appreciate a better explanation of the B.V.
I never use the expression like you do and I usually agree with you.
Do you mean like the 7 (?) rooms of the castle of St. Teresa of Avila?
Please don’t give the CCC explanation - I know that one well. We sometimes understand the CCC differently; a pet peeve of mine.
God bless
I don’t know what you mean by hence …Good. Hence the timeless God is fallacious as it was discussed.
Feature of our experience of reality is the result of our interaction with objective feature of reality. Hence, now should exists as an objective feature of reality.
It is the vision (intuitive knowledge of God) enjoyed by the angels, and possessed by Christ in his human nature.I agree with all of the above. But I’d appreciate a better explanation of the B.V.
I never use the expression like you do and I usually agree with you.
Do you mean like the 7 (?) rooms of the castle of St. Teresa of Avila?
Please don’t give the CCC explanation - I know that one well. We sometimes understand the CCC differently; a pet peeve of mine.
God bless
Still catching up. Sorry.The next question that comes up, though, is to ask whether or not it was worthwhile for God to create at all-with the gift of free will included in the mix-knowing that much evil would result. God, knowing the beginning from the end, and planning to bring an even greater good out of the evil that would ensue, obviously deemed it worthwhile. And I think we each have to answer that same question for ourselves. Is existence worth it, even in this messed up world, or not? Do I prefer-perhaps even cherish- my continued existence, especially with the hope and faith that it will all be good in the end? All who do have this preference, whether conscious of it or not, and whether they even believe in God or not, at the very least tacitly agree with God that its all worth it.
Gosh Rohzek, let me be happy! I got my answer for the next 10 years. It came from Fhansen and Charlemagne. God is perfect and if He had made perfect creatures they’d be little gods! Let’s leave it at that.It isn’t a problem at all, as I have tried to make clear. Evil is not substantial. It is merely an abstract concept.
Let’s start with God. Why is God good? What makes him good? Is he good because he knows what is good? That cannot be it, since it presupposes a higher authority than God, which thus means that God is neither the originator of all things or omnipotent. So again, what makes God good? The only answer left is this: God is good because he is omnipotent & the creator of all things, and therefore is of the highest authority. Whatever God wills, is therefore good.
Now let’s take angels and mankind, both of whom have consciousness, individuality, and their own wills. How then does evil come from them? The answer is simple, they have their own will. They don’t have to agree with God. This isn’t a defect. God wants a relationship with beings similar to him, in that these beings have wills of their own just like him. However, he wants their wills to work in conjunction with his. He wants a harmonious relationship. Evil isn’t substantial. Evil is merely having your will be contrary to God’s will.
Does God permit people and angels to have a contrary will to his? Evidently he does. So in some sense, yes God does will evil in the sense of permitting it. But that’s not the ultimate goal of his. His ultimate goal is to have an honest relationship with all of his creations that have consciousness, individuality, and free will. By its very nature, the set-up God has made will always permit others to go against him. If he wanted to make evil impossible, he would have to strip from each one of his angels and humans their free will. At which point, it wouldn’t be much of a relationship because we would all be like robots, and probably devoid of any creativity.