A question about God.?

Question

If God is omnipotent. How can man have free will?

Does he know who will be going to heaven or h**l before they are born?

If your answer is yes, and you are a believer, do you still believe you have free will?

Answer 1

Omnipotent - almighty or infinite in power, as God.

I think that the term that you are looking for is omniscience, as God is considered to be omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient.

Omniscient - Having total knowledge; knowing everything.

Omniscent means that God knows everything, including everything that has happened, that is happening and that is going to happen. This is where most people struggle to understand how we can have free will, if God already knows what we are going to do.

I don't think that these two things contradict each other. Yes, God does know how we are going to exercise our free will but that doesn't take away the fact that it was our choice.

Say that you know a person really well, like a best friend or a partner. You know their likes and dislikes, their personality, their history, their strengths and weaknesses. If you know a person well, you will be able to guess at how they will choose or react in a certain situation. I know that given the choice, my sister will choose to study science over music. I know this because I know her, although I might be wrong because I don't know her fully.

Now think of what we consider God to be. He knows everything and everyone, He knows every second of our lives, He knows what is in our heads and hearts. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Given how much better He knows us, and how much greater his intelligence is, do you really think it is possible for Him to know exactly what we will do in every situation. Given that He also knows everyone around us and His creation perfectly, it makes total sense that He would be omniscient. The choice has not been taken away from us, we are still responsible for the outcome, but He is still omniscient.

As to you question about Heaven and h**l, if He knows everything that is going to happen and how we are going to respond to them, He knows if we are going to turn to Him or not and therefore whether or not we will go to Heaven. However, He still gives everyone the opportunities to turn to Him, He reaches out to us because He longs for us to be with Him, to know His love, and everyone has that choice. He just know what our choice is going to be.

I hope that I have answered your question. If I have assumed any beliefs, that is only because I am a Christian and telling you from a Christian perspective how our beliefs work.

Answer 2

You need to ask silly religious questions of the R&S forum.

To query on the attributes of something you first should prove the existence of that something.

What is your proof of the existence of God?   So far no one has produced one.

Answer 3

god is like this guy who tried this experiment (man), and it worked out. but we arent puppets we make our own choices. even if god isnt real i still pray to him when i am sorry or sad for someone, he is kinda like a hope or for people to feel there is still someone watching over them even when they are lonely. 'you are the writer of your own life-story, you influence it and have all control. you hold the pen, so you can lead yourself to where-ever you decide'. -i heard this from a wise ten year old

Answer 4

I believe when God gave man 'free will,' God gave up His absolute control and authority of/over man. Hence, He may know what the ultimate outcome is for each of us, but He gave each of us the absolute 'free will' to choose. He still has a plan for our lives (His will for us), but it is up to each of us to choose to seek His will an then to choose whether or not to follow it.  Man is not omnipotent nor omniscient, and language is a product of man. Words have limitations, God does not. Therefore, it is possible to ask questions and make statements wherein the words can be put together (language) in such a way as to convey contradictory concepts. That is a weakness of man and his language, not God.  

Answer 5

God does not have to use him omnipotence. The Deists believe God made the world and then let it run itself based on the laws of nature which he put into motion. One of those laws is Free Will, which is a law of the nature of the species of man.

Answer 6

There is no h**l we all go to heaven.

Answer 7

Man acts according to his desires, and God fullfil those desires according to his merit. God knows past present and future, but the freedom of man is that he can choose moment to moment and that changes his future. When God sees a man interested in Him, He helps him to achieve Him. When man doesn't care about God, He lets him do it. That is the free will. God sees the future of everyone, but we got the freedom to change it. Is not like some are destined to h**l and others to heaven.  

Answer 8

Most religious and spiritual teachings teach that there are 'good' choices and 'bad' choices; simply, those that allow one to ascend or descend.  Traditionally it is taught to avoid that which makes one descend.  It is often believed that such teachings are used to control the masses rather than experiential, validatable truth taught as a warning by those who have came before us.  That choosing 'sin' leads one to h**l is not an attempt to control, but more so a spiritual fact known by advance spiritual knowledge not accessible the ordinary.  Thus religion is relied upon to guide the masses to heavenly post-life destinations.

If you notice, Free Will can be used at any moment.  Humans are born with the innate capacity to choose that which serves self-gain, and control over others, or a more benigning  approach that serves the betterment of all mankind.  Choices are made in the prevailing moment not in the past or the future.  Hence, choice has the ability to influence the outcome of the yet to come moment, which is not entirely predictable.

True Free Will is the decision to choose to serve God/Self, one's fellow man, and higher spiritual principles or the ego/self, and that which is worldly.  God gives us the option to even choose to deny his love rather than accept it.  It is not always considered that the choice results in two very different consequence, but instead punishment or reward.  

Not only is God omnipotent, but omniscient and omnipresent, therefore knowing all destinations after physical life is made possible by being what is known.  This is confirmed by Jesus' teaching that "heaven and h**l are with you."  Because of omnipresence how wouldn't God know our post earthly fate?  But to not believe that free will and choice can determine one's fate is to naively presume that one is at the will of situational circumstance without the ability to choose how one sees a so-called event.