(December 2, 2014 at 8:23 am)alpha male Wrote: No, there are messianic prophecies with no contingencies attached. Some regard the crucifixion. By your reasoning, god could not have made such predictions, as he didn't know that people, being free moral agents, would kill Jesus.First off, the messianic prophecies aren’t that specific, not even Isaiah 53. If they had been definitive then the very scripturally literate apostles would have recognized the danger to Jesus long before it happened. Second, a person can know a general outcome going into a situation without knowing the specifics. If Jesus hadn’t been crucified, he’d a-been hung or beheaded. If Pilate hadn’t sentenced Jesus, someone else would have. If one searched hard enough someone could probably find a prophecy for each of those eventualities.
In my opinion, the root of the problem is that people look back into the words of the prophets for historical references when they should be trying to understand the timeless symbolic significance. The words of the prophets speak to our current situations and the human condition in general.
(December 2, 2014 at 8:23 am)alpha male Wrote: Peter's denial wasn't certain when Jesus predicted it? Are you seriously saying that?Yes. But remember as you near a decision point the scope of potential choices gets reduced.
(December 2, 2014 at 8:23 am)alpha male Wrote: … I notice plenty of action by people and by Satan and his crew. Is it your position that those are just guesses at this point, and god doesn't really know what will happen?Again, someone can know what will happen even if they do not know how. Almost certainly, my wife and I will eat dinner tonight. What we actually eat remains to be decided.
