Vanguard

I haven't been here in a week and this is still going? I said I wasn't going to argue about it, and I am not. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It's just that some of those literal, word for word opinions happen to be WRONG, especially when they don't understand the Hebrew or the Greek, and quickly forget that they are reading a translation that is biased, based on the positions of the authors. Want to know how the verse actually reads in Hebrew? "In the beginning God created the sky and the earth." I'll check back in a week or so, lol.

Yes, that is all well and good, but it still does not change the fact that the Bible never says the heavens and earth were created on day 1, merely in the beginning. People "assume" it's all wrapped up in day 1. Personally, I believe in the Time Gap Theory. You can't refute the TGT biblically, as Genesis does not provide adequate information to the contrary. The only thing created on day 1 was light, but not in the sense of a light emitting object. The Hebrew is actually referring to illumination/enlightenment, and God is the source of it. The sun/moon were not created until day 4. I won't be arguing about this. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I used to be an old hard line, die hard, KJV only Southern Baptist...then God opened my eyes.

This is where I specialize (and what my theology/divinity studies are geared for). Biblical interpretation, and the application of hermeneutics. There is one, crucial thing that people are overlooking... No where does it say that the heavens and the earth were created on the first day. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The time lapse between "in the beginning" and the start of creation on earth as we interpret it, could be an infinite amount of time. The Bible does not say. It is called the Time Gap Theory. It also shoots holes in the Young Earth Theory. Just something to think about.

Is God omniscient (all knowing)... To say that He is omniscient does not mean that He knows everything. His knowledge may be infinite, He may know what is in your heart, but your mind and the choices you will make are a different story. I firmly believe that we were given free will, as a gift from God. Allow me to elaborate and support it biblically. In the OT God was testing Abraham when he demanded that he sacrifice his son, Isaac. Right as Abraham was about to kill Isaac with his knife, an angel of God stopped him. Then God spoke to him and said, (NASB) "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." From that passage alone, God was unsure of Abraham's choice, but after seeing that Abraham would obey, He stopped him from killing his son, and allowed Abraham to sacrifice a ram instead. In the NT, the Book of Revelation talks about the resurrection of the dead, and their judgment before the throne of God (Rev. 20:11-15). They are to be judged according to their deeds (actions, choices). If God is in control of everything and we do not have free will, why would God judge us based off of our choices, since He would be judging Himself? The only logical answer is that we have free will, and we will be judged based off what we chose to do in life. So, to answer the question, yes we can safely believe that God is omniscient, but He does not know the choices that we will make, because it is He that gave us free will to begin with. Ultimately He wants us to choose to follow Him, but neither does He want automatons.