God knows the future, but does he control it?

[KingJ]

Atheist scientists used to discount the bible and its made up creator. The accepted view was that the universe had always existed and thus had no creator. As science progressed and a beginning and end became evident they reluctantly were forced to accept the very uncomfortable now mainstream view of a big bang & big freeze. Now the universe needs a cause which is outside of time itself.

As beings inside time we only know the infinitesimal "now". The past has a length but is only a memory. The future has a length but is only a figment of our imagination. A creator outside of time would only have an infinite "now" that includes everything (no past, no future as we understand it).

The bible gains credibility:

When Moses asked who was speaking the answer came "I AM THAT I AM" and "I AM hath sent me". Also "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am". This is an incredibly profound answer that could only come from the cause which is outside of time itself.

How can a sin committed by me today be covered by Christ's sacrifice two millennia ago? How can I be crucified with Him and rise in Him two millennia ago when I only believed in Him in recently? To the creator God there is no difference. The wrath of God poured upon Jesus on the cross and each of my sins all happen at his "now". Abraham and you and I have a "was" but Jesus only has an "I am".

We who are in time must be very careful about logic with time based axioms/assumptions when defining the attributes of God who is the "I AM" outside of time.

I think you are reading too much into the “time” issue. No spirit is outside of time. The demons that spoke to Jesus said, “Why torment us before our time?” They may live forever and not worry about age, but there is a clear biblical sequence of events that dictates time.

God can be outside time, sure. I am not sure how the statement “I am” helps anyone better understand His origin. It is merely a statement of fact. It does not reveal anything about His creation or origin. The only profound thing about that statement is the implication that we are too dumb to comprehend anything else.

 

[NBTT]

please tell me how God was created

False assumption about God being in time. You falsely assume there was a time before God but He told us "I AM THAT I AM".

IE If it can be proven that foreknowledge is evil

False assumption about God being in time. Foreknowledge is not even a concept for God who is outside of time. Everything is a crystal clear "now" to the one "I AM".

His omniscience is therefore limited

Your false assumption about God being in time is causing you to limit His attributes to fix a problem you created. You can't brush off the profoundness of God saying "I AM THAT I AM".

 

[KingJ]

False assumption about God being in time. You falsely assume there was a time before God but He told us "I AM THAT I AM".

False assumption about God being in time. Foreknowledge is not even a concept for God who is outside of time. Everything is a crystal clear "now" to the one "I AM".

Your false assumption about God being in time is causing you to limit His attributes to fix a problem you created. You can't brush off the profoundness of God saying "I AM THAT I AM".

When it comes to understanding how God “came to exist”, the truth is that all we have are assumptions. Both your position and my position could be wrong. None of us actually knows. So when you say my view is a “false assumption”, you are also making an assumption about something none of us fully understands.

You are also assuming that when God says “I AM THAT I AM” that it proves He exists outside of time. But that verse does not actually explain God's relationship to time. It simply shows that He is self-existing and not dependent on anything else.

You are therefore making a very strong claim from a verse that does not clearly say what you think it says.

Your third accusation is also incorrect. When I say that God limits His omniscience, I am not saying that God is weak or that He constrains Himself in some artificial way. I understand why people react to that phrase, because it can sound like we are saying God is less powerful.

That is not the point.

The point is that God’s nature defines what is possible for Him. Scripture tells us what God is like:

God is good (Psalm 136:1)
God is righteous (Psalm 145:17)
God is light (1 John 1:5)
God is impartial (Acts 10:34)

These are not optional qualities. They define His nature. Because of that, they also create metaphysical impossibilities. For example, God cannot lie or act unjustly. He cannot act against His own nature.

In the same way, if knowing certain things in advance would result in partiality or undermine genuine free will, then that knowledge would contradict God's own nature. And since God is impartial, that cannot happen.

So the issue is not that God is limiting Himself. The issue is that God cannot act in ways that contradict His own nature.

 

[Bill]

God can do anything he wants! And I know he is sovereign and can intervene and according to scripture it seems like he does at times.

Today I read in a book that God gives us free will, and I believe this 100%, the way the guy described God ability to know the future but not create it. Like for example Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him, but Jesus did not cause that to happen Judas had a choice.

It is like recording a football game and then watching it with a friend, and you are able to tell him what is going to happen. God see's the future; he exists apart from time and knows the future in a similar way as someone recording a football game and replaying it.

This makes a lot of sense to me.
He put it this way "Prophecy of the future is revealed knowledge, it is not determinative, it does not force anyone" I like this explanation a lot.

But he does also intervene it seems, scripture says God hardened Pharos heart,

One thing I will add Is I believe every word of the bible and do not need to understand everything in it, my trust is in God, not myself

thoughts

May Jesus fill us with his love and wisdom

I know that God knows the future, and that he is in the future as well as the present and past. Because all of these time zones are one for God.

Our future, our past and our present are all God's present.

Remember God created time as well as daylight and gravity and all the other Sciences, God created all of that.

 

[NBTT]

When it comes to understanding how God “came to exist”, the truth is that all we have are assumptions. Both your position and my position could be wrong. None of us actually knows.

Absolutely, I'm often wrong. I can't wait to have Jesus explain to us how He created everything that was created. The bible tells us He did it but says little about the how and the why so we speculate.

The problem with the idea of the God of the bible not being outside of time is that He would need another god to create time itself and create Him inside of time. Having the God of the bible be the creator of time itself allows me to obey the first commandment.

If He had said "i am the one who lives forever" then he is in time and is so forever. I would need to find his creator who created time and worship Him. Fortunately the God of the bible is the one and only almighty "I AM THAT I AM" and I worship Him.