God is sovereign and omniscient....the Bible is clear.

Jesus is God, therefore, as God, Jesus is omniscient.

But Jesus doesnt know the date of His return.

How can His omniscience as God be reconciled with His own statement that He doesnt know the date of His return?

because He is God and He can do whatever He wants. next question.

Excellent! I deduce it is because He can limit His godly attributes, ala Philipians where "He emptied Himself..."

[This message has been edited by fahraint (edited 1/17/2006 2:35p).]

This may seem like a silly question, but go with me for a minute. Do you know what time you will be going to sleep tonight?

Not being omniscient, I dont know what time Im going to sleep tonight. There is actually alot I dont know...!!

Well think of it this way, God knows when He is coming back. Perhaps not the exact time. He won't decide that until He is ready. Just as you won't decide when you will go to sleep until you are ready. But you know that you will be going to sleep tonight just as he knows He will be coming back.

Good thoughts...! But.....Jesus did distinguish His lack of knowledge about His return from the Father, who does know the date of His return....

so the Father knows, but the Son doesnt in this case

It was Christ's way of saying "Do not ask me, because I won't tell you. After I am gone, only God will know when I will return"

Hmmmm....maybe, then again lets read it directly:

Matt 24:36 "but of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

To me it sounds like Jesus doesnt know, but the Father alone does.

One thing you have to realize that when Christ came to earth, he seperated Himself from God as the one entity. At this time, He was not God, but God's son. Upon His ascension into heaven, that is when He became whole as the Holy Trinity again.

You are correct...

I agree.....that is in line with Philipians 2:7 "He emptied Himself"

Do you think God can change His mind?

Of course God can change his mind.

But He knows beforehand He is going to change His mind.

Well don't you know beforehand when you change your mind about something?

Usually, but not quite that far beforehand.

LOL, that's pre-meditated

According to the Bible, Jesus now sits at the right hand of God. He is still God the Son (alive as a human in heaven). God the Father is the only one that knows when He will send His Son back to earth and He will tell Christ at the appropriate time.

aggiegirl....<Of course God can change his mind.>

I agree with you, I think He can change His mind...but some argue that changing His mind violates His sovereignty since He knows everything in advance.

Hmmmmm,

God is Omnipotent
God is Omni benevolent
Evil Exists

Therefore…

If God is all powerful, can He not prevent Evil from existing?
If God is all good, should he not prevent Evil from existing?
If Evil exists, then either God is not all powerful or not all good.

quote:

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If God is all powerful, can He not prevent Evil from existing?
If God is all good, should he not prevent Evil from existing?
If Evil exists, then either God is not all powerful or not all good.

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yes, no, wrong.

God allows evil for His greater good according to His purposes which we may not understand.

Then God is a JERK

To each his own.

quote:

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Then God is a JERK

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Losman, assume for the sake of argument for a moment that God exists, and that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so His ways are above your ways. Might there be something about His methods that might be lost on you?

IOW, maybe you just overlooked something that would be clear enough once explained...? If so, then maybe, just maybe you would want to reconsider your conclusion above...?

Jesus is claimed to be is one person, but two natures (God and man). So Jesus is considered fully God and fully man, with both natures in hypostatic union with the other, where the full properties of both are in tact. So via his human nature, he is ignorant of some things. Via his divine nature, he knows all things. To say that the one or the other of the two natures over-rides the others, is to go against the Christian notion of a hypostatic union.

[This message has been edited by WHOOO2P!! (edited 1/17/2006 6:42p).]

So, if Jesus is fully man and fully divine, then His divine nature would know the date of His return......

Unless He limited Himself in His knowledge

Losman- You are the jerk.

He also knew only what The Father told Him. Wish I could locate that Scripture. I disagree with WHOOO2P, but only slightly, in that when Our Lord was on the Earth, His human attributes may have superceded His Divine attributes. To say He did not know the time of His return tells me The Father had not told Him. However, after His resurrection, nothing tells me He did not know, for He would have had the full Atributes of The Father.

Now, that is an opinion.

david

[This message has been edited by Orphan (edited 1/17/2006 7:20p).]

Orphan - I agree- The resurrected and ascended Jesus would know everything that is to happen, as He sits at the Father's right hand, and all authority on heaven and earth has been granted Him.

While he was in the flesh, a lot of this knowledge was probably blocked from Him