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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: kland]
#127250
09/01/10 09:23 PM
09/01/10 09:23 PM
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Thinking some more about probability having to do with ignorance, from a math standpoint, this isn't true at all. For example, you can ask the question, "What's the probability that a fair coin will turn up heads?" and the answer is 0.5. This isn't in any way dependent upon knowing anything about any specific coin. It's a theoretical question, with a specific answer, not dependent upon any specific coin nor limited by ignorance.
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: vastergotland]
#127265
09/02/10 01:45 PM
09/02/10 01:45 PM
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R: But how can ignorance be called omniscience?
M: And, how can such ignorance elicit adoration and confidence?
V: Except that in a world where the contents of the future are as closed as a tv rerun, concepts such as "elicit" are meaningless. You either adore and are confident in God, or not, based on what the script says, nothing more and nothing less. Reporting the facts after the fact does not alter how things played out in real time. Free will is fully operational. Do you agree?
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: vastergotland]
#127266
09/02/10 01:50 PM
09/02/10 01:50 PM
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M: So, given the content of this thread, is it accurate to say there is nothing illogical about God knowing the future like history, that it in no way alters how things play out in real time, and that it in no way limits or eliminates free will?
V: Not at all. It is accurate and logically sound to either say that God knowing the future like history makes you fully free to chose either of one (1) option for each choice you have. Or you could say that the future contains at least two(2+) possibilities for each choice we arrive at and free will means the ability to pick either of the two or more options available.
Premise 1) The outcome of every choice is known. (Pete is predestined for damnation) Premise 2) Pete gets the gospel presented to him. Deduction = Pete rejects the gospel.
Premise 1) The outcome of every choice is open until the choice is made. (Jesus came to offer salvation for all men; God does not wish that anyone die) Premise 2) Pete gets the gospel presented to him. Deduction = Pete may end up either accepting or rejecting the gospel (at least there is a possibility that he accept it here) You left out the one option that represents my view, namely, God reports the facts after the fact, which leaves free will totally in tact.
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: Tom]
#127267
09/02/10 02:13 PM
09/02/10 02:13 PM
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M: Anyone can say the same thing about the Messianic prophecies that you're saying about Nahum 1:9. Who's to say you're right and they're wrong? That is, why can't they say God knew that none of the possible choices and outcomes involved Jesus failing?
T: Actually, there are many who believe this, that Jesus couldn't fail. Just not Adventists. At least in general. That's because we believe that Jesus Christ was really tempted, and could really have sinned. But not everyone believes that. In the case that Christ could not have sinned, then what you're saying could be the case. I'm not saying Jesus was incapable of failing. He possessed the wherewithal to sin and fail. I'm also saying, using your logic concerning Nahum 1:9, who's to say we cannot apply the same logic to the Messianic prophecies, that is, none of the bazillion possible outcomes involved Jesus failing? T: Why "time and space"? Also, you left out logic. My previous answer (which you cut off) addressed the logic part of the question. If the future really consists of only things that must happen, but of which we are ignorant (but God knows), as opposed to including possibilities, and being such that we can impact it, then I'm wrong about that.
M: I include time and space because it speaks to God's ability to know the future like history.
T: It's not a question of God's ability, but of what reality is. It's God's reality. He has the supernatural power to know the future like history without eliminating free will or altering how things play out in real time. M: If God possesses the supernatural ability to know the future like history it would not alter how things play out in real time.
T: No, of course not. It doesn't alter anything, it just means that we are powerless (as is God) to change anything about how things will play out. How things play out in real time includes the part Jesus played to ensure everything unfolds properly. M: Again, in the same way reading history books does not alter the outcome or eliminate free will, so too, God knowing the facts after the fact does not in the least alter how things play out in real time and nor does it eliminate free will.
T: Again, the issue is not one of things be altered, but of not being able to effect change. That is, we cannot change the past. But can we change the future? If God views it like history, then we can't. It includes everything Jesus did as things unfolded. Saying this view means Jesus cannot change how things play out in real time assumes things didn't play out properly and that He wishes He could go back and change things. Jesus is perfect. He is managing the GC perfectly. He does not wish He could go back and change things. M: The fact you disagree with this logic baffles me.
T: I'm not disagreeing with the logic. The logic you mentioned isn't speaking to the point. I'm never suggested, and, to the contrary, have made clear on dozens of occasions, that I'm not asserting that God's knowledge of an event changes anything. It doesn't cause anything to happen. It doesn't alter what people do. It has logical implications in regards to what the future is like; namely, that it is fixed. So the time for Christ's coming is a fixed date, and anything that happens in the future is as fixed as anything that happened in the past. This has implications regarding free will, and other points that I've raised. But you are divorcing the supernatural aspect. That is, God possesses the supernatural ability to know the future like history without altering reality or the nature of time and space. Which is how God can know the precise date Jesus will return without altering reality or free will. It's also how He knew Jesus wouldn't fail, and how He knows affliction will not rise up the second time.
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: kland]
#127268
09/02/10 02:20 PM
09/02/10 02:20 PM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
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M: Does this count as an answer?
K: Not really. But maybe you are dismissing it by saying it's a mystery that you don't know. Or maybe you are saying that Tom concluded correctly which would mean you believe God preferred a universe that had sin in it to one that didn't. (Which, at first, I read it meaning God preferred having a universe where He preferred it didn't have sin to one that actually didn't have sin) And that is why God created evil. In the quotes below the blue highlights say God knew from eternity past which angels and humans would be destroyed in the lake of fire and which humans would embrace salvation and live eternally. The red highlights explain why God chose to create angels and humans even though He knew some would sin and die. The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of "the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal." Rom. 16:25, R. V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God's throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. {DA 22.2} The purpose and plan of grace existed from all eternity. Before the foundation of the world it was according to the determinate counsel of God that man should be created, endowed with power to do the divine will. But the defection of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent, and yet it did not deter Him from carrying out His eternal purpose; for the Lord would establish His throne in righteousness. God knows the end from the beginning. {AG 129.2} The fall of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent. Redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam, but an eternal purpose, suffered to be wrought out for the blessing not only of this atom of a world, but for the good of all the worlds that God had created. {ST, December 15, 1914 par. 3}
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: Tom]
#127269
09/02/10 02:28 PM
09/02/10 02:28 PM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 22,256
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Thinking some more about probability having to do with ignorance, from a math standpoint, this isn't true at all. For example, you can ask the question, "What's the probability that a fair coin will turn up heads?" and the answer is 0.5. This isn't in any way dependent upon knowing anything about any specific coin. It's a theoretical question, with a specific answer, not dependent upon any specific coin nor limited by ignorance. But the rules change if the guy who flipped the coin has looked already and knows which side is facing up. From his perspective there is no chance he is uncertain. But his knowledge does not rob others of free will.
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: Mountain Man]
#127271
09/02/10 02:58 PM
09/02/10 02:58 PM
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Active Member 2011
3500+ Member
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,965
Sweden
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R: But how can ignorance be called omniscience?
M: And, how can such ignorance elicit adoration and confidence?
V: Except that in a world where the contents of the future are as closed as a tv rerun, concepts such as "elicit" are meaningless. You either adore and are confident in God, or not, based on what the script says, nothing more and nothing less. Reporting the facts after the fact does not alter how things played out in real time. Free will is fully operational. Do you agree? For reporting yesterdays facts today, what you say is correct. For reporting next years "facts" as if it was "after the fact", tis no longer so.
Galatians 2 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
It is so hazardous to take here a little and there a little. If you put the right little's together you can make the bible teach anything you wish. //Graham Maxwell
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: Mountain Man]
#127272
09/02/10 03:00 PM
09/02/10 03:00 PM
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Active Member 2011
3500+ Member
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,965
Sweden
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M: So, given the content of this thread, is it accurate to say there is nothing illogical about God knowing the future like history, that it in no way alters how things play out in real time, and that it in no way limits or eliminates free will?
V: Not at all. It is accurate and logically sound to either say that God knowing the future like history makes you fully free to chose either of one (1) option for each choice you have. Or you could say that the future contains at least two(2+) possibilities for each choice we arrive at and free will means the ability to pick either of the two or more options available.
Premise 1) The outcome of every choice is known. (Pete is predestined for damnation) Premise 2) Pete gets the gospel presented to him. Deduction = Pete rejects the gospel.
Premise 1) The outcome of every choice is open until the choice is made. (Jesus came to offer salvation for all men; God does not wish that anyone die) Premise 2) Pete gets the gospel presented to him. Deduction = Pete may end up either accepting or rejecting the gospel (at least there is a possibility that he accept it here) You left out the one option that represents my view, namely, God reports the facts after the fact, which leaves free will totally in tact. Considering that your view has God reporting as "fact after the fact" things which have not yet occurred, I fail to see any real difference between it and the first example.
Galatians 2 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
It is so hazardous to take here a little and there a little. If you put the right little's together you can make the bible teach anything you wish. //Graham Maxwell
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: Mountain Man]
#127273
09/02/10 03:16 PM
09/02/10 03:16 PM
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Active Member 2011
3500+ Member
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,965
Sweden
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In the quotes below the blue highlights say God knew from eternity past which angels and humans would be destroyed in the lake of fire and which humans would embrace salvation and live eternally. The red highlights explain why God chose to create angels and humans even though He knew some would sin and die.
Thus Unconditional election. The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of "the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal." Rom. 16:25, R. V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God's throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. {DA 22.2}
The purpose and plan of grace existed from all eternity. Before the foundation of the world it was according to the determinate counsel of God that man should be created, endowed with power to do the divine will. But the defection of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent, and yet it did not deter Him from carrying out His eternal purpose; for the Lord would establish His throne in righteousness. God knows the end from the beginning. {AG 129.2}
The fall of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent. Redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam, but an eternal purpose, suffered to be wrought out for the blessing not only of this atom of a world, but for the good of all the worlds that God had created. {ST, December 15, 1914 par. 3}
Galatians 2 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
It is so hazardous to take here a little and there a little. If you put the right little's together you can make the bible teach anything you wish. //Graham Maxwell
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Re: How Can a Person Know if a Prophecy is Conditional or Unconditional? - Part 2
[Re: vastergotland]
#127275
09/02/10 04:47 PM
09/02/10 04:47 PM
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OP
Active Member 2012
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,795
Lawrence, Kansas
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M: Anyone can say the same thing about the Messianic prophecies that you're saying about Nahum 1:9. Who's to say you're right and they're wrong? That is, why can't they say God knew that none of the possible choices and outcomes involved Jesus failing?
T: Actually, there are many who believe this, that Jesus couldn't fail. Just not Adventists. At least in general. That's because we believe that Jesus Christ was really tempted, and could really have sinned. But not everyone believes that. In the case that Christ could not have sinned, then what you're saying could be the case.
M:I'm not saying Jesus was incapable of failing. I didn't say that either. I said that "Christ could not have sinned," which is consistent with what you have said. That is, you believe there was no chance Christ would fail, which is the same thing as saying that Christ could not have sinned, because they only way He could fail was by sinning. He possessed the wherewithal to sin and fail. Noone has been discussing this. I'm also saying, using your logic concerning Nahum 1:9, who's to say we cannot apply the same logic to the Messianic prophecies, that is, none of the bazillion possible outcomes involved Jesus failing? There's two problems with this. One is, in order for temptation to be temptation, there has to be a chance of failure. A second problem are the SOP quotes which tell us that heaven was imperiled, etc. T: Why "time and space"? Also, you left out logic. My previous answer (which you cut off) addressed the logic part of the question. If the future really consists of only things that must happen, but of which we are ignorant (but God knows), as opposed to including possibilities, and being such that we can impact it, then I'm wrong about that.
M: I include time and space because it speaks to God's ability to know the future like history.
T: It's not a question of God's ability, but of what reality is.
M:It's God's reality. There's no difference between reality and "God's reality." He has the supernatural power to know the future like history without eliminating free will or altering how things play out in real time. It's not a question of altering things. I guess this is a mental block. M: If God possesses the supernatural ability to know the future like history it would not alter how things play out in real time.
T: No, of course not. It doesn't alter anything, it just means that we are powerless (as is God) to change anything about how things will play out.
M:How things play out in real time includes the part Jesus played to ensure everything unfolds properly. This doesn't seem to be addressing what I wrote. At least, I don't see the connection. M: Again, in the same way reading history books does not alter the outcome or eliminate free will, so too, God knowing the facts after the fact does not in the least alter how things play out in real time and nor does it eliminate free will.
T: Again, the issue is not one of things be altered, but of not being able to effect change. That is, we cannot change the past. But can we change the future? If God views it like history, then we can't.
M:It includes everything Jesus did as things unfolded. Saying this view means Jesus cannot change how things play out in real time assumes things didn't play out properly and that He wishes He could go back and change things. Jesus is perfect. He is managing the GC perfectly. He does not wish He could go back and change things. This looks to be completely non-responsive to what I wrote. M: The fact you disagree with this logic baffles me.
T: I'm not disagreeing with the logic. The logic you mentioned isn't speaking to the point. I'm never suggested, and, to the contrary, have made clear on dozens of occasions, that I'm not asserting that God's knowledge of an event changes anything. It doesn't cause anything to happen. It doesn't alter what people do. It has logical implications in regards to what the future is like; namely, that it is fixed. So the time for Christ's coming is a fixed date, and anything that happens in the future is as fixed as anything that happened in the past. This has implications regarding free will, and other points that I've raised.
M:But you are divorcing the supernatural aspect. That's irrelevant. That is, God possesses the supernatural ability to know the future like history without altering reality or the nature of time and space. It's not a question of altering things. I explained this above. Perhaps you could re-read that. Which is how God can know the precise date Jesus will return without altering reality or free will. It's not a question of altering. I explained this, but you keep repeating this. You either skipped over what I wrote, or didn't understand it, it appears to me. At least, you're not responding to what I wrote. Please read the explanation about how it's not a question of altering things. This isn't an issue. It's also how He knew Jesus wouldn't fail, and how He knows affliction will not rise up the second time. I addressed this. It's not necessary for the future to be single-threaded for God to know these things.
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.
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Here is the link to this week's Sabbath School Lesson Study and Discussion Material: Click Here
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