madscientist wrote: If temptation doesn't come from God (just like evil doesn't), but God is the One who made things as they are, isn't He the one who made the absolute "rule" of what is and what isn't temptation? It does not come from him - but he allows it, like evil.
And about the theory of temptation I had in my previous post... does it look okay to explain it? I mean, there are many unexplainable things, and ppl just make stuff to explain something, an analogy or something - an like 1 month ago I had this idea. So does it look OK as a way to explain why we are tempted, and what free will requires us to do and why we're different from animals?
If I am understanding you correctly from your prior post you stated -
madscientist wrote: God made it so - temptation is something that needed to be created, because, if not, wouldn't everyone end up in heaven? The thing is, that even if you know consciously that you are doing evil, you may still say "ya but at least i get some fun here..." and similar thoughts.... and not care about the eternal. But if it were easier to do good than evil, no1 would need to overcome temptation, because temptation is something we want but it rather impure or evil in nature. SO in my opinion, God had to make temptation and our instinct to go for it, but our FREE WILL to have the ability to say "No, i don't want to just follow my instincts, but rather to overcome them". Because humans without free will are like animals, just following instincts for pleasure and needs.
Then yes, what you are saying makes sense regarding God allowing and permitting temptation and evil, to exist within his created beings designed with reasoning intelligence. Note what Ezekiel 28:15 says:
Ezekiel 28:14-15, “Thou wast the far-covering cherub; and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness [iniquity] was found in thee.” JPS
Here are three different translations from
Ecclesiastes 7:29 that helps uncover more on this subject:
Ecc 7:29, “
I did learn one thing: We were completely honest when God created us, but now we have twisted minds.” CEV
Ecc 7:29, “
This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” GNB
Ecc 7:29, “
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” KJV
Question as to why this design — why God made humanity and the angels in such a manner as to permit 'free will' as you so termed.
The answer is found in a clue from a verse found in
Revelations 4:11. Here are two translations:
Revelations 4:11, "
You are worthy, our Lord and God, the Holy [One], to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because _You_ created [all] the [things], and because of Your will they are [fig., exist] and were created!" ALT
Revelations 4:11, "
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." KJV
For God's pleasure, his will, is to receive glory and honor and power from what he created. In others words, God proves himself as having all power, all honor, all glory. To deny the exercise of free will would in essence be a denial of having him having all power and using it all knowingly, all wisely, all lovingly, all righteously, all perfectly, all justly, etc and etc.
All power means just that — all powerful. To control free minded beings by allowing and permitting choices proves God is all powerful and is more than able to control all things in such manner that displays a 'wisdom' and 'ethic' way beyond what our mortal minds can fully comprehend.
Never define how God controls things as how we would. When we think of control we define it according to our standards and definitions of control and transpose this unto God. You cannot do this with how God controls simply because God's ways are not our ways,
Isaiah 55:8, as to do so leads to a great error about the Lord Almighty.
Now, for God to deny all things, including free will, is not being in reality all powerful is it? You see, God gets renown/Glory demonstrating that he is God, all knowing, all wise, all powerful, all loving, all righteous, all perfect, all just, etc and etc. Working through all things, all circumstances, because he can — He proves himself true first to himself and then to his entire creation — which is life giving
.
God created all things to demonstrate who and what he is and is like. Here is how Albert Barnes explains it in his Notes on the Bible for this very verse regarding the phrase — and for thy pleasure:
“And for thy pleasure they are - They exist by thy will - διὰ τὸ θέλημά dia to thelēma. The meaning is, that they owe their existence to the will of God, and therefore their creation lays the foundation for praise. He “spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” He said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” There is no other reason why the universe exists at all than that such was the will of God; there is nothing else that is to be adduced as explaining the fact that anything has now a being. The putting forth of that will explains all; and, consequently, whatever wisdom, power, goodness, is manifested in the universe, is to be traced to God, and is the expression of what was in him from eternity. It is proper, then, to “look up through nature to nature's God,” and wherever we see greatness or goodness in the works of creation, to regard them as the faint expression of what exists essentially in the Creator.”
Hope this helps…
God Bless
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