Scott comments: The “seemingly” was superfluous and unnecesary. I absolutely do believe what I wrote.
Very well. The statement then reads: “To deny G-d’s absolute knowledge and control of history is to deny his omnipotence.” Only it isn’t. Look up the definition of omnipotence. And it is denying his ability to leave history to work itself out that is to actually deny his omnipotence. Power is capability, not action. Does George Bush not have the power to unleash nuiclear war because he has not done so? As I have stated many times, omnipotence + omniscience does not equal omniderigence. This does not mean omniderigence is necessarily precluded, only that it is not inherently implied either.
To know all and to have the unlimited power with which to act is not synonymous with actively using such power over all participants in all situations. I don’t doubt that God has a Plan for humanity, I do doubt that it a) requires the direct involvement of every single human in all of history in order to come to pass and b) is utterly inflexible. I further doubt that we are nothing more than puppets being used to stage a show for the benefit of the angels, divine and fallen, as I heard in a sermon at a large church today. I don’t believe Jesus Christ came primarily for the edification of supernatural beings, I believe he came as a lifeline for those who very much wish to be rescued from a ship sinking of its own accord. I readily admit that I could be wrong, but “could” and “are” are two very different things.
Furthermore, I am perfectly capable of denying God’s omnipotence if I meant to do so. Obviously, I don’t and haven’t. Childlike faith, good. Childlike inability to understand well-defined concepts, not so good.
Maybe this “girl” (I don’t know her age, because I’ve only read your comment on her statement) expressed her sentiment on a very deep issue in a simplistic manner. So what? Most people don’t give much thought to the issue and express their belief in a simple way.
Which, of course, was my original point. Most people believe stupid and simple things in all aspects of their life because they’ve never devoted much thought to anything. I believed the crust was the best part of the bread for the better part of three decades, not because I’m incredibly stupid, but because my mother told me that when I was very young and I had literally never thought about it. When Space Bunny laughed and asked me why the crust was the best part, I thought about it for the first time – which took all of ten milleseconds – and realized how absurd the notion was.
The best part was when she then asked my brother about it, who looked surprised, and then angry. He left the room a moment later, shouting “Mom!”