The following is by no means a religious treatise but an honest effort to understand the meaning of these two words

A Christian writer maintains, “God...omnipotent and omniscient... has all knowledge knows exactly what we will do.” But how can that be? For if She knows precisely what is going to happen, then our future must be completely predetermined down to the last detail, and therefore we have absolutely no control over it. But this assertion is contradicted by the Christian idea that She has given us Free Will. Or do I misunderstand what's meant by "free"

Besides, if She knows unerringly how the future will unfold, why should She have bothered programming it in the first place

Furthermore, if She is omnipotent how can the future be predetermined? If She becomes unsatisfied at some point along the way and therefore decides to change it, then it could not have been preset in advance

But it’s also unlikely She be omnipotent, for if "omni" means everything, and if that were true She could perform the impossible. But the impossible--most miracles, we can assume-–often if not always entail contradictions of some sort. For example, if She can do the impossible, then She can make us–or even Herself–both exist and not exist simultaneously; just as She apparently has bestowed upon us Free Will but at the same time refuses it. Or do I not grasp the meaning of "exist"

Yet the foregoing notions gainsay another tenet of Christian doctrine, which is, as the Pope has recently confirmed, that everything about God and her works is perfectly logical. Thus Papal Decrees notwithstanding, the doctrine that the Universe both is and isn’t laid out in advance; that we both do and don’t have Free Will; and that She can yet can’t do the impossible, accord more exactly with the Muslim assertion that Her Works don’t necessarily conform to Reason

Sorry, Ben

So if I'm simply not comprehending their usu definitions, what else should I understand by those two terms, and what is it concerning the Pope's understanding about the word "logic" that I cannot seem to grasp

Note to admin: The above is by no means intended as frivolous or blasphemous though I have inserted a bit of persiflage. But if you find it offensive in any way, please feel free to delete it as the last thing I want is to trample anyone's sensibilities

Last edited by dalehileman; 01/14/07 01:47 PM.
dalehileman