God, Omniscience and Ethics
March 4, 2007 by TJM Admin
We are taught that the god of the Bible is omniscient (all knowing). This certainly presents some philosophical and ethical problems. Theses are not the type of problems that can easily be explained away by simply yelling, “Freewill!” Even if it was god who endowed us with freewill, he certainly did not wish us to exercise it, as he did not endow us with the knowledge of good and evil (that was imparted to us through Adam and Eve eating a mysterious fruit, oddly enough). Some will say that the ability to disobey is evidence of freewill, but is it? Would Adam and Eve have taken the same actions had they known the difference between good and evil? Or if they had fully understood the consequences of those actions? Let’s also keep in mind one basic fact; god knew the outcome of the experiment before the wheels were put into motion.
Let’s set the scene. God creates the earth and all that is in it. He creates man and woman and sticks them in the Garden of Eden. They have no idea of what “death” is, nor do they understand the difference between good and evil. They are told not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or that in the day that they do, they will surely die.Some will say that this is not a literal death, but a separation from god. However, this cannot be the case. Years later, we find god having conversations with the First Family (Gen. 4), just as he did in the Garden of Eden, but this is a topic for another post.
Even in the New Testament, we have proof that god knew that man would fail before he created him. 1 Peter 1:19-20 says this:
19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
“Foreordained before the foundation of the world…” Knew we would sin, knew he would have to sacrifice his son to appease himself. Seems to me that an omniscient, omnipotent god could have prevented all of this simply by dealing with the whole fall of Lucifer thing before it became an issue. No Lucifer, no fall of Lucifer. No fall of Lucifer, no temptation. No temptation, no sin. No sin, no “sacrificial lamb.”
Was it ethical for god, with all this “fore-knowledge,” to create man? I ask if it was ethical due to all the problems the world has and is experiencing due to “sin.”
Knew He would make a way for us to be more than Conquerors. Knew that He would give us victory over sin. Knew that He would give us abundant life. Knew that He would give us eternal life through Christ.
[Reply]
The point that you seem to be missing, Champ, is the simple ethics involved in this scenario. All the negative that humanity encounters (disease, famine and even death) in the Xtian’s mind is a by-product of sin. God willfully created us knowing that we would sin and be exposed to all of this. Why would I wish to serve a god who supposedly created us knowing the end result? Either god is omniscient and unethical, or ethical with limited knowledge. If you knew for sure that if you had a son he would grow up to be a serial killer, would you procreate with disregard for those future victims?
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