Intelligent Design and Biological Flaws

Kolibri said:

Lets say you were a parent. You had a healthy boy, but as he reached his teens he started to break not only the house rules but the law of the land too. Perhaps he killed someone and showed no remorse and every intention to keep doing as he pleased with no regard for anyone else. Would you feel regret? yes. Would it be your fault? not necessarily.

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Which is fine, if we were not talking about an all-knowing being. If that were to happen, an all-knowing being would have no regret for his actions, because he knows for a fact that it is not his fault.

Thana said:

I've given you two examples of how regret does not mean mistake.
Have you never regretted something you had to do, But it needed to be done? That undeniably means it wasn't a mistake, You just regret the circumstance which means it saddens/disappoints you.

Just... let it go. Regret does not mean mistake.

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But God knows the future and is omnipotent so why does he regret something that he knew was going to happen? He clearly wanted it to happen this way.

Its like having a mechanic look over a used car, he tells you its a lemon, but you buy it anyways and then you regret buying the car when it breaks down. It makes no sense for a super intelligent being. Its thoroughly illogical.

serp777 said:

That doesn't sound religious really. it just sounds like the wormhole aliens in deep space nine.

Aliens are a lot more likely than a cosmic sadam hussein who cares about what you do with your genitals anyways.

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I always imagined my deity (the deist god) being more like a cosmic George Carlin than anything.

Triumphant_Loser said:

I always imagined my deity (the deist god) being more like a cosmic George Carlin than anything.

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Are you sure he wouldn't be a cosmic Morgan Freeman lol?

I also find several things interesting about your post which tends to crop up in this forum a lot. First of all "my God" implies that this God only exists for you, when in reality if you believe in God you should also believe that its everyone's God. That is, unless your belief is that everyone can have a mutually exclusive personal God depending on mood, ideology, etc.

The personification of God is interesting too since it is trying to assign describable traits to something which is inherently mysterious and indescribable.

serp777 said:

Are you sure he wouldn't be a cosmic Morgan Freeman lol?

I also find several things interesting about your post which tends to crop up in this forum a lot. First of all "my God" implies that this God only exists for you, when in reality if you believe in God you should also believe that its everyone's God.

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Fair point. I should have probably said "my interpretation of God."

serp777 said:

The personification of God is interesting too since it is trying to assign describable traits to something which is inherently mysterious and indescribable.

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Agreed. I was only joking about me believing God looks like George Carlin. Merely a ruse.

Triumphant_Loser said:

Fair point. I should have probably said "my interpretation of God."


Agreed. I was only joking about me believing God looks like George Carlin. Merely a ruse.

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That's fair i was just nit picking extremely minor things.

Triumphant_Loser said:

if we were not talking about an all-knowing being.

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If God chose to see everything then we would not have 'free will'. Just because he has the ability does not mean he uses it indiscriminately. It is called self-control.

Triumphant_Loser said:

If you are absolutely 100% sure that something has to be done, you wouldn't regret doing it. Regret comes from doubt as to whether or not you have done the right thing.

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My goodness mate. Seriously.

Regret -
feel sad, repentant, or disappointed

If you can't even comprehend the meaning of a single word..
I don't think I will continue this with you.
Best of luck

Kolibri said:

If God chose to see everything then we would not have 'free will'. Just because he has the ability does not mean he uses it indiscriminately. It is called self-control.

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God is said to be omniscient.

That is, he knows everything. NOT can know, but does know.

Skwim said:

God is said to be omniscient.

omniscient

adjective
1. having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
​

om·ni·scient
adjective \-shənt\
: knowing everything : having unlimited understanding or knowledge
Full Definition of OMNISCIENT
1: having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight
2: possessed of universal or complete knowledge
(source Merriam-Webster)​

That is, he knows everything, NOT can know, but does know.

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Then it lead you to wonder. Is omniscient as it is defined here a Bible teaching?

Thana said:

My goodness mate. Seriously.

Regret -
feel sad, repentant, or disappointed

If you can't even comprehend the meaning of a single word..
I don't think I will continue this with you.
Best of luck

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Of course I understand the meaning of regret. Also, if God really is omniscient, then couldn't he have foreseen what was going to happen beforehand, and wouldn't he have stopped it before said regret could take place?

Kolibri said:

Then it lead you to wonder. Is omniscient as it is defined here a Bible teaching?

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In whatever our heart condems us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired His understanding is inscrutable.

Kolibri said:

Then it lead you to wonder. Is omniscient as it is defined here a Bible teaching?

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Do you mean, is the word in the Bible? I don't believe so. I think it's inferred from passages such as.
OR, do you mean, is omniscience taught as a Biblical-based character of god? My guess is that many denominations do teach it. From one Christian resource:

Triumphant_Loser said:

Of course I understand the meaning of regret. Also, if God really is omniscient, then couldn't he have foreseen what was going to happen beforehand, and wouldn't he have stopped it before said regret could take place?

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Just because you know something is going to happen doesn't mean you cannot be sad about it. He loves His children and when they disobey He rebukes them, It saddens Him to do so but He does it because He knows the outcome will ultimately be good.

Thana said:

Just because you know something is going to happen doesn't mean you cannot be sad about it.

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Apparently he was not sad enough to actually do something about it, despite having the ability to do such at the blink of an eye.

In actuality the Bible teaches an alternative to predestinarianism, that is the selective or discretionary exercise of God’s powers of foreknowledge. Selective foreknowledge means that God could choose not to foreknow indiscriminately all the future acts of his creatures.

Otherwise how could God be said to be patient, waiting to see how we respond to things? How cruel it would be to offer everlasting life to Adam and Eve if he knew they would fail? Why would he be said to "have come to know [Abraham]" (Gen 18:19) or to say later of him, "for now I know that you are God-fearing." (Ge 22:11,12)

Why would he plead with his people to turn back from their wickedness if he had chosen to know that they would fail? Would that not be giving false hope? (Eze 18:23,30-32; Jer 29:11,12)

God is also All-powerful. That does not mean he has to use all his power at once at all times. Same thing goes with his ability to see.

Triumphant_Loser said:

Apparently he was not sad enough to actually do something about it, despite having the ability to do such at the blink of an eye.

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He knows the outcome of everything, You do not.
Everything has a reason, Every action a reaction that ripples on forever.
If you look at the bigger picture you can see it.

I always thought it was just something that comes with physical existence.

Physical existence is mainly illusion, only the spiritual existence matters, but spiritual existence is abstract. You can't exactly experience abstract things. Our souls (which are actually not separate and part of the same exact world soul) will always be bound to experiencing existence through the flesh unless we decide to let go.

And the physical existence is the most imperfect existence, as is the mind that comes with it.

To put it short: The physical world is how it is, it's set. God has no reason to change it, it can never be perfect and will always be impermanent. These flaws could be seen as bugs in bad programming.

Triumphant_Loser said:

Of course I understand the meaning of regret. Also, if God really is omniscient, then couldn't he have foreseen what was going to happen beforehand, and wouldn't he have stopped it before said regret could take place?

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Not necessarily.
We must understand the reason for God's "regret".
If humans had not sinned in Eden, sentencing all their offspring to the genetic defects that accompany sin, (Rom 5:12) then the actions of wicked men in Noah's day would never have happened. There would have been nothing for God to feel regret about....would there?

If Adam and his wife had rejected satan's temptation, then the rebel who caused the problem in the first place would have been taken out of existence and we would have been none the wiser. But because the first rebel was not human, and he influenced the human race and made them into rebels too, God allowed the one they obeyed to rule over them. It was an object lesson for all of Adam's children and all of the other angels observing the scenario. They would prove to themselves that they cannot direct themselves without the guidance and wisdom of their Creator.

We have never experienced God's rulership without interference from the devil and the shadow of sin hanging over us spoiling everything we do. Whenever men gain power over other humans, corruption follows. Misery comes through humans abusing their free will. We are designed to be ruled by God, not corrupt men influenced by satan. (Jer 10:23; 1John 5:19)

Imagine the life God had planned for us at the beginning, now taken away and misery and death taking its place. When the lesson is over, (soon now) God will bring his rulership back to the earth without rebels messing everything up. They will all be gone. (Psalm 37:8-11, 29; Prov 2:21, 22)

Faybull said:

If I were never to fall, how would I know to pick myself up?

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Watch Batman Begins. Then you'll learn.