ARCHIVE: Open Theism part 1

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Lon

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OK, already, alright. I said it isn't the axsent. It's the existential awareness that you are there and I am not.

:execute:

She lives in Algood (about 70miles east from Nashville). Beautiful area. I'd move there in a heartbeat (her letters read about like you've typed here though, so you weren't far off).
 

patman

Active member
Through reasoning. God cannot be in time as time is potential of division into hours, days, minutes etc.
God cannot have any potentiality because absolutely speaking potentiality is posterior to act.

Hang on, hang on. You know what God is like by your reasoning, and yet you spout out a sentence like "God cannot have any potentiality because absolutely speaking potentiality is posterior to act?" Do you see the irony?

Here's the thing. You have your reasoning, the guy next to you has his, his wife has hers, their friends have theirs, and at one point no one knows the same God if all they do is use their reasoning.

That is why he put it down in a book, for us to read about it.

It is easier to tell who you are talking to when you address the person by name, btw.
 

baloney

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Pat, there are thousands of subjective interpretations of Scripture so whether there are words in a book, the Protestants and fundamentalists interpret any way they want.

That why the protestants and evangelists have different denominations in the thousands now from what I understand.
 

patman

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Pat, there are thousands of subjective interpretations of Scripture so whether there are words in a book, the Protestants and fundamentalists interpret any way they want.

That why the protestants and evangelists have different denominations in the thousands now from what I understand.

At the very least they look to the Bible. What do you have as a standard that I can place my faith in? I think God is able to designate a Book for his people and preserve it enough that we can find out about him.

Sorry to be grim, but your reasonings will be nothing but dust in the ground in 100 years. The Bible will last forever.
 

baloney

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My reasonings has survived for two thousand years, including the entire collapse of a civilization. Not to mention the Catholics were the ones who wrote the new Testament.

How long do you think open theism will survive along with young earth creationists?
 

Lon

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Hello Patman

Hello Patman

No, thank you for the bump. This board has moved over the past few days, so bumps are greatly appreciated

Well, God is the one making a conditional promise, or prophecy. Not man.

Conditional = God says B will happen if A happens. Otherwise C will happen.

The problem for the S.V. is that God knows A is never-ever-ever-ever-ever (I thought this was a link for a second) going to happen. Did he really make a prophecy, did he really make a promise if he knew he would break it?God never breaks unconditional prophecies.
Conditional prophecies or promise, are seen as accepting terms. Regardless of whether you see nonOV as having a logic problem (If he knows, it must be insincere) the conditional is a prompt for response and effects a change regardless.
I see them as interjections to turn man or teach a truth to those who will change.


I agree, but what I'm driving at here is that you see Jonah's message as unconditional prophecy, and I see it as either conditional or promise.

Isn't that a form of a lie, to say something will happen (conditional or not) when you know it won't? Isn't that God leading his people on?
No. I believe even though I know which meals my kids like and will pick, that there is value in giving choices. I am not insincere in my offer at all. I could just make the dinner. More importantly however, is that God has an agenda to accomplish. His Words do not return void. He accomplishes what He desires. It is not always as clear what that purpose was, but I have no doubts.
And before your answer like other S.V.ers, should God do evil that good may come of it?

Have you ever seen me answer that way?
 

Philetus

New member
I moved to New Zealand so you don't have to deal with that any more:)

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, New Zealand for real? Closest I ever got to that was Zealand, Michigan.

Now I'm really jealous. I hear you can't live there if you can't pronounce that in five syllables or less.

Thanks TOL, My quest for knowledge has been satisfied with that one.
 

DFT_Dave

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Dave, do you agree that God is the first uncaused cause?

For Aristotle, the world, orderly movement, change, and time are eternal. He argues, “It is impossible for movement either to come into being or to perish, since it has always existed. Nor can time do either of these things, since there could not be anything ‘prior’ (before) or ‘posterior’ (after) if there were no time; and movement is as continues as time, since time is either the same thing as movement or is an affection of it. There is something that is always being moved (by) something that moves things without being moved; this will be something eternal...it will be an actuality ”

In other words, the unmoved mover (first or uncaused cause), must always have something, (the world) to move or else there would have to be a "time" when the unmoved mover would have started to move things which would be impossible because then it would not be the unmoved mover.
 
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baloney

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Now you on the right track here!

Agreed, as you said Aristotle believed that the cosmos and time were eternal. His idea was of eternal thought. He only dealt with these questions to a certain point of practicality. In today's terms just looking at physics.

Aquinas being a Christian and being confronted with the rediscovery of Aristotle and the threat it had on Christian thinking had to defend Christian thinking against Aristotle. Aquinas looked at being as being or ontology and defended Christianity of its understanding of God being immutable all knowing and all powerful.

Your whole argument that it was Plato or Aristotle who brought about this idea of an immutable God has just been rejected by your own statement.

It was always the view of Christians, ancient Hebrews and Jews that God was immutable, eternal (created time) all knowing.

Open theism, God being movable and in time is closer to Aristotle as your statement reveals!
 

godrulz

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My reasonings has survived for two thousand years, including the entire collapse of a civilization. Not to mention the Catholics were the ones who wrote the new Testament.

How long do you think open theism will survive along with young earth creationists?


YOUR reasonings? What are your beliefs? Which group or leader holds to them? Your beliefs do not seem to be mainstream. Are you Christian or something else?
 

baloney

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One more comment on Aristotle. His view of unmove mover was etrnal thought similar to Brahma in Hinduism. Aquinas defended Christianity against this thinking. That's why open theism is nothing more than modern gnosticm.

godrulz, I'm Catholic.
 

DFT_Dave

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Posted by Lonster
Yes, I agree. Good correction. The dichotomy is interesting. The same problematic interpretations are levelled at both, would you agree?

I.E. God repented (1Sa 15:11,1Sa 15:35), God does not repent (1Sa 15:29)


Posted by Dave
Now we just have to look at the context of these scriptures to see what God repents of and what he does not repent of.


It "repented" God that he made Saul king, God would "not repent" (change not) of his decision to remove Saul from being king.
 

godrulz

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One more comment on Aristotle. His view of unmove mover was etrnal thought similar to Brahma in Hinduism. Aquinas defended Christianity against this thinking. That's why open theism is nothing more than modern gnosticm.

godrulz, I'm Catholic.


Thanks. There seems to be a variety of Catholic beliefs. Are you conservative or liberal Catholic?

Would you say you know and love Jesus or are simply religious and practice rote ritual?

Does Molinism ring a bell? ('middle knowledge' alternative to Open Theism).

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10437a.htm

Opinion? (William Lane Craig is a non-Catholic who believes in middle knowledge).
 

Nathon Detroit

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Has anyone noticed how slow this thread has become? Not slow as in boring but slow as in literal performance. Sometimes when thread gets REALLY long it causes the database to struggle to move to the correct point in the data and therefore slows down the performance of the thread. I think this thread might need to be closed and we could open up a new one and start from scratch.
 

DFT_Dave

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Now you on the right track here!

Agreed, as you said Aristotle believed that the cosmos and time were eternal. His idea was of eternal thought. He only dealt with these questions to a certain point of practicality. In today's terms just looking at physics.

Aquinas being a Christian and being confronted with the rediscovery of Aristotle and the threat it had on Christian thinking had to defend Christian thinking against Aristotle. Aquinas looked at being as being or ontology and defended Christianity of its understanding of God being immutable all knowing and all powerful.

Your whole argument that it was Plato or Aristotle who brought about this idea of an immutable God has just been rejected by your own statement.

It was always the view of Christians, ancient Hebrews and Jews that God was immutable, eternal (created time) all knowing.

Open theism, God being movable and in time is closer to Aristotle as your statement reveals!

Why do I try? :bang:
 

baloney

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Try what? You do realize that this mutability of God is what the Council of Nicea ruled against and that the Arian movement supported.
 

godrulz

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godrulz, I do know of molinism and will read the article over. Are you saying you agree with molinism.


I was wondering if it is widely accepted by Catholics.

I find Molinism confusing, problematic, and not adequate to resolve the issues of foreknowledge/free will. "Middle knowledge" still seems to undermine contingencies and freedom.

I still find Open Theism to be closer to the truth (2 motifs: God predestines, settles, knows some of the future; God leaves much of the future unsettled and known as possible vs certain in advance).
 
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