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Sunday, November 11, 2012

The biblical god repents


Genesis 6:6
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Exodus 32:14
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Deuteronomy 32:36
For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants.
1 Samuel 15:11
It repenteth me [God] that I have set up Saul to be king.
1 Samuel 15:35
The Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
2 Samuel 24:16
The Lord repented of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, it is enough: stay now thine hand.
1 Chronicles 21:15
The Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand.
Isaiah 38:1-5
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah ... said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. ... Thus saith the LORD ... I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Jeremiah 15:6
I [God] am weary of repenting.
Jeremaih 18:8
I [God] will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
Jeremaih 26:3
That I [God]may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them.
Jeremiah 26:13
The Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
Jeremiah 26:19
The Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them.
Jeremaih 42:10
For I [God] repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Amos 7:3, 6
The Lord repented for this.
Jonah 3:10
God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them.

How can an all knowing god repent of any action he has done? He knows in advance what the results of his action will be. He is all powerful and capable of doing anything he wants. Repentance is an action that one engages in when one is disappointed with the decision and results of that decision. How is that remotely possible for an all knowing god? 

2 comments:

  1. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines repent as feeling sorrow, changing one's mind and changing providential dealings among other definitions. It depends on context! Each of the above can be explained well in the proper context and understood.

    Let me give you a real good example of God doing something that in his omniscience
    he knew would cause him pain: Jesus his Son is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in Rev 13:8. But why did God the Father let the crucifixion occur? Answer is simple: he loved you and me enough to send his Son to die and pay the death penalty for our sins and then raised Jesus back from the dead and received him back to heaven until he comes to again - to rule this time!

    Do you think it hurt him to see his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased die for our sins? Yes, we could say it "repented him" - an old English way of saying it "sorrowed" him, but I am glad he did not repent "of" it!
    He did redeem us because of love, but in sorrowful knowledge of the cost!

    The point: omniscience does not preclude God from repentance because, in some instances, that would limit his love!

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    Replies
    1. Complete nonsense. The biblical god is supposedly all knowing. He would therefore know that he would allow Jesus to return to life and rule at his side for all eternity. That Jesus would be dead for three days in comparison to all eternity could cause a god, who planned this event, before he created anything, to be in pain, is simply absurd.

      BTW, when Jesus was dead for those three days, was the Trinity reduced to a Duality? If it was not, then just how dead and out of the picture was Jesus when he was killed? And how does one actual kill an eternal, omnipresent god anyway?

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