CONTRADICTIONS? Does God Really Know Everything?
Among the most familiar and important claims of the Bible is that God is sovereign, omniscient, omni-competent and omni-present. He knows everything all the time, including the number of hairs on the head of every person ever born.
Not only that, He knows what I did on the 87th day of my 21st year on this earth and what I will do on 203rd day of my 74th year (assuming I last that long!). In other words, He knows every detail and everything about past, present and future, for all of us.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
As Eric Lyons points out in Volume Two of his superb three-volume “The Anvil Rings” analysis and refutation of the countless contradictions critics of the Bible have claimed throughout the millenniums to have found in “the Good Book,” Scripture leaves no doubt that God knows it all, all the time, and all the time, He knows it all.
“Numerous passages of Scripture clearly teach that God is omniscient. The Bible declares that the Lord ‘knows the secrets of the heart (Psalm 44:21), that His eyes ‘are in every place (Proverbs 15:3) and that ‘His understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:5),” Lyons writes.
See also I John 3:20 that tells us that God “knows all things, Hebrews 4:13, which says “no creature is hidden from His sight,” and Acts 15:18 where we are told God knows past, present and future.
But, if God knows everything, why are there passages in Scripture that suggest there are in fact some things God doesn’t know, at least at one time?
“Why was it that God questioned Cain regarding the whereabouts of his brother, Abel, if He already knew where he was (Genesis 4:9)? Why did the Lord and two of His angels ask Abraham about the location of his wife if He is omniscient (Genesis 18:9),” Lyons asks.
“And if God knows all and sees all, why did He say to Abraham concerning Sodom and Gomorrah: ‘I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against that has come to me, and if not, I will know,” (Genesis 22:12)?” Lyons observes.
“The Burning of Sodom” by Camille Corot, 1857.
In answer to such questions, Lyons notes first that questions are often asked, not merely to obtain information, but for other purposes such as reminding the person questioned of a fact he or she has forgotten or ignored.
An example would be the question God addressed to Job, saying “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?”(Job 38:4). God certainly knew where Job was — not yet created — when He created the Earth but the purpose of addressing that query was to remind Job that he wasn’t even around at the time and thus has limited knowledge.
Lyons notes that Jesus also used questions not to obtain information He lacked, but to help listeners grasp the point He was making. An example here would be when Jesus asked the Herodians and the Pharisees whose inscription was on a Roman coin (Matthew 22:15-22).
Lyons further observes that Scripture not infrequently uses what is called “accommodative” or “anthropomorphic” language, that is, ascribing to God a characteristic such as “coming down to see the city and the tower” of Babel (Genesis 11:5).
“Anthropomorphic expressions such as these are not meant to suggest that God is not fully aware of everything. Rather, as in the case of Babel, such wording was used to show that He was” taking stock of the situation in the sense of judicial consideration,” Lyons writes.
In other words, critics frequently are too quick to jump to a conclusion about the meaning of passages in the Bible and/or too eager to make a case that in fact is based on their own misunderstanding.
PREVIOUSLY ON HILLFAITH:
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? Jesus Was Just a Great Moral Teacher?
CONTRADICTIONS? One or Two Angels at Jesus’ Tomb on Easter Morning?
MYTH-BUSTERS: No, Neither MEST nor PBC Can Explain Human Consciousness
If God knows everything then why anything? If Got knows all outcomes and solutions he knows who will go to Heaven and who will go to Hell. He knew that Satan would rebel and that Adam and Eve would eat the apple. So why get upset about it?
Christianity does not support predetermined outcomes and supports free will. But if God knows everything then he knows what the outcome to all decisions will be. Major contradiction.
Old joke. Why did God create humans? In the hopes of one day being surprised.
Question for you: Is there anything God knows that you don’t?
Herb, since God knows what He knows but you and I don’t, then there is at least one thing you and I don’t know. Thus, unless God tells us something specifically, we ought to be honest enough to admit that our knowledge is by definition incomplete and therefore at best tentative. This is a fundamental reason why the Bible is the most essential book of all time because, as Paul tells us, “all scripture is God-breathed …” This is especially important regarding questions like why are we here, do we have a purpose and what happens to us after we die?
Haver no idea since I don’t know what God knows. You tell me everything that God knows and I’ll let you know. Also tell me how you’ve come to know what God knows.