12
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
There are lots of complexities around prayer, but this is not one of them.
It's true that many of the things involved in you getting bread to eat involve your own decisions, but many do not. For ...
- 32.3k
5
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
Here's an example of how God can bring something about that is part of his plan, without violating anyone's free will.
Let's take a guy named Bob. God, being omniscient, knows everything about Bob, ...
- 1,658
5
votes
What is the biblical counter-argument to the expression "the Universe provides"?
To treat of the creation as if it was a person capable of communication and able to answer a request for provision is idolatry :
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the ...
- 26.3k
4
votes
Accepted
How are emendations to the Masoretic Text viewed within the doctrine of inerrancy?
Inerrantists do not view the Masoretic text as inerrant in itself, but they consider it highly reliable. John Wenham, in Christ and the Bible (170ff.), outlines a variety of evidence for its faithful ...
- 42.6k
4
votes
What is the biblical counter-argument to the expression "the Universe provides"?
You could start with "Evey good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" James ch1 v17, ...
- 1,870
4
votes
Accepted
What is the biblical counter-argument to the expression "the Universe provides"?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? - Matthew 6:26
We do not know for ...
- 19k
4
votes
What is the biblical counter-argument to the expression "the Universe provides"?
The Lillies of the Field (Luke 12:22-31; Matthew 6:24-34, KJV)
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ...
- 3,950
3
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
(My answer has gotten so long and unwieldy that I have no idea if it's even coherent anymore. I hope it will be useful to you in parts, even if it doesn't hang together as a whole.)
You really have ...
- 171
3
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
There are a few points in favor of "petitioning the Lord" in our prayers:
For every commandment given, there are blessings conditional upon obedience to that law (see Deuteronomy 11:26-27, ...
- 161
2
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
If Alice asks Bob for a cup of sugar, and Bob hands her a cup of sugar, how does that violate Alice's free will? The free will is in asking for help.
Scripture speaks, at various times, of people ...
- 10.1k
2
votes
Souls being immortal vs all of existence needing to be continually and actively maintained by God
The New Testament explicitly states that only God is immortal.1 And yet, elsewhere in the New Testament, Christians are said to become immortal.2 Even Jesus told those who believed in him that they ...
- 549
2
votes
Accepted
According to Catholic scholars, are the terms "God's Plan" and "God's Will" one and the same?
Catholic Douay-Rheims:
Ps. 106:11:
Because they had exasperated the words of God: and provoked the counsel (consilium) of the most High:
Micheas 2:3:
Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I devise ...
- 41k
2
votes
Accepted
According to soul sleep adherents, why would God allow people to be massively misled by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31)?
Why would God allow people to be misled by an ambiguous verse of scripture?
God's people must have free will, they must exercise that free will based on knowledge, and that knowledge must be based on ...
- 9,822
2
votes
What is the Arminian view of God's providence?
General backround
I am going to quote from one prominent Arminian theology advocate, Roger E. Olson, a well-published professor of theology and ethics. One of his books is the 2006 Arminian Theology:...
- 24.5k
2
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
The matter of "free will" for humans is invariably looked at from the (limited) point of view of the humans who already believe they have free will. The matter of God's free will can only be ...
- 33.8k
2
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
The short answer is no.
Sometimes one has to be tenacious in prayer to get a response. Like a good Father, God desires to ...
- 73.9k
1
vote
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
GOD RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL AND DOESN'T INTERFERE WITH OUR DECISIONS - Free will is certainly one aspect of Divine theology, but so is Divine Providence, where God deems it necessary to intervene in ...
- 2,568
1
vote
Souls being immortal vs all of existence needing to be continually and actively maintained by God
You've resolved the apparent conflict yourself, by offering a particular understanding of what "souls are immortal" means.
The soul could be immortal by virtue of its nature (i.e. God created souls ...
- 373
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