Is God Open?

Use this forum to discuss the June 2020 Book of the month, "Killing Abel" by Michael Tieman.
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Rodel Barnachea
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Re: Is God Open?

Post by Rodel Barnachea »

tieman55 wrote: 16 Jul 2020, 13:02
aaurba wrote: 08 Jul 2020, 22:21 I think it depends on a person's perspective and point of view. For me, I do think that God is open.
The belief that God is not open is one that is widely held and as long as you give God the "choice" to be open or not, you are not limiting God and perhaps you might be right, as it is God's decision and His decision alone.

I would ask you a question, which God is more powerful, an open God or not open God?
To me it is a far more powerful God who is dynamic and can adjust to events. And the God that portrayed in the Bible, who often adjust to the events on earth.
I think that an open God is more powerful since this could mean that God is flexible.
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Post by ankushavhad »

Limit? No. I guess there no such word in God’s dictionary. The Almighty is limitless, in terms of love, grace, favor and protecting mankind. In the context of Killing Abel, God is the belief and the story doesn’t really pinpoint to the physical form of any protector, rather the openness of blessings; that’s for me God’s power.
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Post by Marvin85 »

God is all powerful, what he does is that he gives man free-will
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Post by Haywhyre7 »

I have always struggled with this topic whether God can be all knowing and all benevolent at the same time. With all that goes on in the world I have really doubted the all benevolent part as it seems God seems to pick his battles but yet is all powerful to win all battles
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Post by LuciusM »

God is all powerful. Nevertheless, He limits Himself by giving us the freewill to do what we want and not interrupting our course. After showing His prowess after the great flood, He promised Noah that He would never flood the earth again.
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Post by Chikom »

This issue is quite debatable. Some might argue that God is open because He revealed Himself to Moses through the burning bush!. Others might argue that God has concealed Himself hence not really open.
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Post by Chikom »

All in all, God is powerful and mighty!
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Post by Kola+wole »

God is what each individual believe Him to be. God is everything we know about Him and more. The only limitation God has is the one we, as individuals place on Him.
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Post by Suzer6440 xyz »

I think God is powerful. However my belief is also that everyone thinks of God differently. He is Almighty and answers all our prayers
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Post by Tangerinehippie1 »

Since the Adam and Eve eating the apple and getting kicked out of the garden we need to use the free will He gave us in order to get close to Him again. Life is all about learning and loving.
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Post by plnjimenez »

LiLj wrote: 22 Jun 2020, 12:31 I think that god chooses to limit himself, he knew when he created Adam and Eve that they would betray him, even with that knowledge he didn’t stop them from eating the fruit.
Until now, I cannot decide if God did have that knowledge. Because if he did, why would he allow that to happen?
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Post by Patrick Maina1 »

God is not limited to our understanding.He doesn't need man.Rather man needs Him.
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Post by Damis Seres Rodriguez »

I agree. God being God, can't go against what he decided himself. In other words, he respects his own law and acts accordingly to his own decisions. If He decided to give us free will, it was because he was going lo let us make our own choices, whatever consequences they ultimately brought upon us (which is pretty much what I think happened). Interfering with our choices would be, going against himself.
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Post by David_Kariuki »

tieman55 wrote: 19 Jun 2020, 11:57 Killing Abel has an Open view of God. Maybe you should as well, just think about it . . .

Can God decide to limit Himself?

If your answer is no, then you and you alone are limiting God.

Does God have the creative abilities and or powers to create beings who are, to some degree, unpredictable?

If your answer is yes, then you must consider whether or not God did just that.

When God decided to become a loving parent of a free will being, He and He alone limited Himself to their free will. WOW, that was one big decision! Becoming a parent always is.

Many readers of Killing Abel object to my open portrayal of God. God’s nature in Killing Abel is, admittedly, much different than much of Christian thought. Most Christians, whether they know it or not, have a Calvinist/ classic Greek view of God. I do not. Greek classical theism believes that God is immutable. I do not. Becoming a parent is a change, and the Son humbling Himself to become a man . . . WOW that is one giant change!
This is interesting.
1. What exactly do you mean by God limiting Himself?
I believe God has no limits, but can he limit Himself? Yes He has the ability to do so.
2. Does God have the creative abilities and or powers to create beings who are, to some degree, unpredictable?
Human beings are unpredictable to themselves and maybe the devil....God created us with free will, to do anything, even sometimes against Him. Nonetheless, God is all-knowing, so I don't think we are unpredictable to Him. If He couldn't predict us....He wouldn't be God.
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Post by David_Kariuki »

Sally_Heart wrote: 22 Jun 2020, 13:58 I believe that God is so complex we can not really define all aspects of Him. It's true that He has given us free will but it's also true that He is omniscient and despite everything, He also knows all the decisions you have taken and will take. No human is unpredictable cause He already knows every inflexion in your heart. He already knows the change even before you notice that you have changed. So is God open? I can't really tell. Can He limit Himself? He doesn't need to do it cause everything is already within His viewpoint.
Perfectly presented!!!
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