Would God have known what it was like to be human without the Incarnation?

[Coder]

To the OP: The question is backwards. God shows us what it is truly like to be human. It is we who need to know who we are and Jesus came to show us.

 

[JohnJFarren]

JMJ / MMM 080524 Saturday
Greetings Ridgerunner and all others –
It is true that God Exists in Eternity and that in God there is no time. It is true that all things are present to God.

But the conclusion you draw from that, at least as you have stated it, is wrong and could cause serious confusion.  You wrote, "Therefore, the suffering of Jesus always was, always will be, and that suffering was present to God, by His own intention."  (What is meant "by His own intention" is not at all clear.  But that's a side point.)

Jesus Resurrected no longer suffers in time, nor does He suffer in Eternity.  God, in Knowing clearly the sufferings of His Christ, Knows them in Eternity AS PAST AND AS NO LONGER HAPPENING. 

Jesus' *members* who are yet in earthly life, certainly do suffer and feel pain .. and continue to "fill up those things that are lacking in the sufferings of Christ."

John (JohnJFarren) Trinity5635@aol.com

 

[KBarn]

This is another hypothetical question. Would God have known what it was like to be human without the Incarnation, assuming that it was never going to take place. I would say yes, because He knows everything. Of course that doesn’t make the Incarnation pointless, because Christ has two natures. The human and the Divine. The Divine nature took part in the suffering with the human, who suffering was new to?

Thoughts?

God, in knowing himself perfectly, knows perfectly all the ways in which his nature could be imitated by finite beings. Since human nature is a particular finite imitation of his infinite being, it follows that God knows perfectly what it is like to be a human being.

 

[Camron]

Keep in mind that the Incarnation is a part of the mysteries of our faith. Having said that, I don’t think this means we can’t use analogies to understand the Incarnation from a limited human perspective, as much as we *need to know *anyway.

I’ve heard others suggest before that God could not have known what it was like to be human without the Incarnation. But I kind of disagree with this. It seems to me that if we were created in God’s image (and this primarily refers to God’s reasoning, His Spirit, and perhaps the emotions He feels), then this would most likely indicate that we only know this because God already felt them and thought them and knew them before He gave us these abilities. In other words, we love because God first loved us, so the things that we have are most likely inherited from God in some sense.

I do believe that it’s possible that God could not truly experience testing and temptation of sin without the Incarnation. But, having said that, because Jesus is true God and true man, and since God is infinite, it seems to be that God always knew what it was like even though we have only experienced His presence in a finite and temporal way. So I would again be cautious before saying that God “did not know” this.

I’ve also heard it said that God cannot look upon sin. But I think this may be taking the hyperbole of Biblical poetry too far. I’m not sure how this is done but I’m quite sure that God does know our sins and how we have separated ourselves from Him due to our sinful actions against Him.

The Bible seems pretty clear on this part…

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in sheol, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:7-10

And also here…

His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step.

There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.

God has no need to examine men further, that they should come before him for judgment.

Job 34:21-23

For the record, I don’t think this last passage should be misinterpreted to mean there is no need for the Judgment of God. There is indeed such a need. But, like the Incarnation, the need is not for God. The need is for us so that we can know right from wrong, which is something that He already knows.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

Addressing the original question only. One of the attributes of God is that he is omniscient. This means that he is all knowing. If he is all knowing… Draw your conclusion.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

 

[jackhf12]

Addressing the original question only. One of the attributes of God is that he is omniscient. This means that he is all knowing. If he is all knowing… Draw your conclusion.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B

But surely our humanity is shaped by the fact the we don’t know everything. No human being knows everything(like God), so we have to go on faith a lot of the time. What makes us human is our acceptance that most of the time we have no clue whats happening or why its happening and we just have to trust that it happens for a good reason. And get ready for the big contradiction. Because god knows everything(omniscient), He can never know what it means to be human because we know nothing. I hope I explained that well enough, it sounded good in my head.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

And get ready for the big contradiction. Because god knows everything(omniscient), He can never know what it means to be human because we know nothing. I hope I explained that well enough, it sounded good in my head.

If you are relying on logic, look at your first premise. You state it as the major premise, which as you state it, is self contradictory, Therefore leading to an incorrect conclusion. Omniscient, has no limit. To say it does, contradicts the very meaning of the word.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B