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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
Omniscience is defined as "the state of having total knowledge, the quality of knowing everything." For God to be sovereign over His creation of all things, whether visible or invisible, He has to ...
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Gary Creel
It means that God knows everything that has happened, is happening and will happen, and that every event was known by God when He created the universe. We can take no action, have no thought that God doesn't know we will have.
Al Mari
God is the Creator of all that exists. He is beyond the limits of time and knows before anything happens. That being said, he knows what we are thinking and what we will do. Notice the following: Heb. 4:13, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Ps. 139:7 "I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!" Jer.23:24 "Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?" says the LORD." Omniscience shows his omnipotence and sovereign power. Regarding free will, this emanates from us, using our decision-making process. God does not force anyone although he guides us and shows us a better action we should take. But, it still is on us, by our free will, whether to follow him or not. Notice the attitude of man-Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane: Luke 22:42, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Jesus was obedient and trusted the Father, not his own free will. Yes, even the Son of God with free will followed his Father. However, free will is not absolute and is permitted to a certain limit depending upon God's wisdom. Remember even if the Pharaoh of Egypt wanted to free Israel, yet "he hardened the heart of Pharaoh" for good reason until God finished his plan to him and for Israel (Ex. 9:7,12,28,35; 10:8-11, 24-28;12:31). As to Jonah, he disobeyed God, went away and opposite of Nineveh, but God got him to be swallowed by a "fish" until he repented to fulfill God's will. Not only has God absolute control of the limits of free will. Even on life and its limits, he controls. Notice, even spirit beings like demons, God can send them wherever he wanted and even "imprison" or "chain" them (Lu. 8:33;2 Pet. 2:4;rev.20:2) and rightly so, they were fearful of him. God is sovereign and answerable to nobody (Job 40 & 41).
Jack Gutknecht
Omniscience is an attribute of God alone. It is the quality of having all knowledge (Is. 40:14). Omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience represent the nature of God concerning His relation to the creation. God sees and knows all things. In the Old Testament omniscience is expressed in connection with such words as "seeing" and "hearing," "the eye" and "the ear" occur as figures for the knowledge of God, as "arm," "hand," "finger" serve to express His power. In the New Testament are found ginoskein, gnosis, eidenai, sophia, in the same connections. God sees all things (Proverbs 15:3). He knows the size and scope of the universe (Psalm 147:4). Jesus said that God the Father knows about the animal creation (Matthew 10:29) Our Father knows mankind, Jesus said (Matthew 10:30). He knows our thoughts (Psa. 139:2b; Psa. 44:21), words (Ps. 139:4), and deeds (Psa. 139:2a). God knows our sorrows (Exodus 3:7). He knows our devotions (Genesis 18:17-19; 22:11-12; 2 Chronicles 16:9—whose hearts are perfect towards Him). He knows our frailties (Ps. 103:14). God knows our folly (Ps. 69:5). He knows His own (John 10:14; 2 Tim. 2:19). As hinted at above, God knows the past, present, and future (Acts 15:18 -- "Known to God are all his works from the beginning of the world."). He knows the actual as well as the possible; He knows what might or could have been (Matt. 11:23). To condense things a bit, key verses relating to the doctrine of omniscience are: Psalm 147:4-5 4 He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: pHis understanding is infinite. Proverbs 15:3 3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good. Isaiah 29:15 15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, And their works are in the dark, And they say, Who seeth us? And who knoweth us? Matthew 10:28-30 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Hebrews 4:13 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. See also Pr. 15:3
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