Is God Omniscient?

Use this forum to discuss the June 2020 Book of the month, "Killing Abel" by Michael Tieman.
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Anna Dougherty
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Is God Omniscient?

Post by Anna Dougherty »

I believe that God is omniscient, meaning that he knows all things that happened in the past, are currently happening, and will happen in the future. In Killing Able God is seemingly unaware of some of the effects of the curses he bestowed on Adam and Eve. He seems surprised that the curses did not do exactly what he had in mind. How could this happen if he is God? I think it is interesting that the author chose to portray God in this way.
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Post by ohlendorfbe »

I agree with you that the author of this book does not really portray God as omniscient, because he is surprised by the acts of men. The omniscient God that I believe in is all-knowing. I think the author made the Trinity with too many fallible characteristics.
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Post by Yaksha Shetty »

Yes God is Omniscient. And that is why everything around us works the way it works.
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Post by Palfree »

Yes, I believe God is omniscient. I was surprised that the author portrayed God as surprised by some of the things that happened on earth.
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Post by Brenda Creech »

Anna Dougherty wrote: 25 Jun 2020, 12:45 I believe that God is omniscient, meaning that he knows all things that happened in the past, are currently happening, and will happen in the future. In Killing Able God is seemingly unaware of some of the effects of the curses he bestowed on Adam and Eve. He seems surprised that the curses did not do exactly what he had in mind. How could this happen if he is God? I think it is interesting that the author chose to portray God in this way.
Yes, that is one thing I disliked about the book. God has no weaknesses and makes no mistakes! So, He is never surprised by anything. Yes, God is omniscient.
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Post by Topsey »

B Creech wrote: 27 Jun 2020, 09:54
Anna Dougherty wrote: 25 Jun 2020, 12:45 I believe that God is omniscient, meaning that he knows all things that happened in the past, are currently happening, and will happen in the future. In Killing Able God is seemingly unaware of some of the effects of the curses he bestowed on Adam and Eve. He seems surprised that the curses did not do exactly what he had in mind. How could this happen if he is God? I think it is interesting that the author chose to portray God in this way.
Yes, that is one thing I disliked about the book. God has no weaknesses and makes no mistakes! So, He is never surprised by anything. Yes, God is omniscient.
I agree! The author suggests that God could make mistakes as He is unaware of the consequences He caused. There is no support for this in the bible and so while I enjoyed the other theories the author used to embellish the stories, this seemed to be a strange decision.
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Post by Elvis Best »

In the book, I think what the author tried to do was to humanise God. God was portrayed as a being who could also make mistakes. But this goes contrary to our believe that God is omniscient.

It's a different way to look at God, and I think what the author was trying to do was to challenge our former theology about God.
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Post by Brenda Creech »

Topsey wrote: 27 Jun 2020, 13:00
B Creech wrote: 27 Jun 2020, 09:54
Anna Dougherty wrote: 25 Jun 2020, 12:45 I believe that God is omniscient, meaning that he knows all things that happened in the past, are currently happening, and will happen in the future. In Killing Able God is seemingly unaware of some of the effects of the curses he bestowed on Adam and Eve. He seems surprised that the curses did not do exactly what he had in mind. How could this happen if he is God? I think it is interesting that the author chose to portray God in this way.
Yes, that is one thing I disliked about the book. God has no weaknesses and makes no mistakes! So, He is never surprised by anything. Yes, God is omniscient.
I agree! The author suggests that God could make mistakes as He is unaware of the consequences He caused. There is no support for this in the bible and so while I enjoyed the other theories the author used to embellish the stories, this seemed to be a strange decision.
I think so too, it was a strange decision!
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Post by yosek123 »

I saw this portrayal as a variation on the "Problem of Evil," a paradox presented by Epicurus and David Hume. Hume postulates: "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then from whence comes evil?" In this book, God does not seem to be omniscient, since he is surprised by some of the actions. He is not, however, malevolent as the quote may suggest since he does govern.
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Post by victoriasimons »

Yes, I've always viewed God in this way too. It helps with the Christian belief that we should have faith in His plan as he knows best, regardless of how bad current situations might be. However, some Bible stories conflict this too. In "Killing Abel", God seems surprised by human actions in a similar way to God's anger in the story of Adam and Eve when He is shocked and disappointed that they both disobey Him and eat the apple. I wonder if these stories are simply intended to help humans explore the concept of God, as opposed to portraying Him completely accurately?
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Post by do20 »

I believe that God is omniscient, he knows everything about the past, the present and the future. God was not surprised but rather angry because human being had disobeyed him.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

If you don't control the whole situation then you have to be ready for surprises. Adam and Eve had free will, so everything could not have been foreseeable
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Post by Vic Chimezie »

Ever pondered on this topic too? Well, I still believe that God is omniscient. I like how the author portrayed God's surprise. I think the freedom of 'will' comes with unpredictable consequences. Man had free will. The rest makes this book exciting.
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Post by kdstrack »

Elvis Best wrote: 27 Jun 2020, 13:19 In the book, I think what the author tried to do was to humanise God. God was portrayed as a being who could also make mistakes. But this goes contrary to our believe that God is omniscient.

It's a different way to look at God, and I think what the author was trying to do was to challenge our former theology about God.
I agree that this portrayal of God felt like a challenge to former theology. It is hard for us to imagine what omniscience would really look like. All of our "super-heroes" have weaknesses (Superman, Captain America, etc.) Our comfort comes from believing that God is so much more than we could ever imagine. Making him human, someone who sins and makes mistakes, just makes God "another one of us"!!
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Post by onepiece2 »

Yes, I believe that God is omniscient and all-knowing. I found it interesting that the author chose to portray God in such an uncommon way. However, I like that the author chose this portrayal because it challenged me to view God from a different perspective.
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