In response to what you're saying: I'm not saying those things. God doesn't sin or make us sin.

I do believe that God knows the future exhaustively.

That said, I've read extensively on settledness of the future and predestination. After all, if we are all merely predestined to do one thing or another, then it is not us who have sinned, but God. At that point, why try? If God is fully in exhaustive control of everything, then every last mess you see is His doing. Again, I could see it as very difficult for anyone to follow a God who sits scowling on a cloud throwing lightning bolts. No matter, however, because this is merely some manifestation of Greek mythology, not the God of the Bible manifested to us in the New Testament in Jesus.

Drawing back to the Message paraphrase, John 3:20 states that "God knows more about us than we do ourselves." This by no means states that God knows the future exhaustively. I hold the view that He knows the future partially as an array of possibilities. God is brilliant- he knows our characters, our pasts, our presents. It would not be outside the realm of possibility for God to determine our likely next action.

Look at Job 1:6- God asks Satan where he's been. Satan answers that he's been all throughout the world. Far from controlling and predestining evil, we see that Satan is responsible for it. Pinning these evils on God is fairly dangerous to one's long-term demeanour, I'd estimate.

At any rate, I too have seen the horrible reactions that people have had to the church. I too want nothing more than for that to stop. Forgive me if I hold some passion towards that. However- I am certainly not trying to discourage what you're doing here.

If these things are closed for debate, by all means I will not 'keep coming back.' I would in that case simply hope that your readers are realise that discernment is an individual responsibility.

Here are some thoughts about a couple of things you wrote…

God knows everything (1John3:20)-so there is nothing left unknown. If there is nothing left unknown, then there is nothing to learn. If a person doesn't believe that God is omniscient, then I'm not sure where to go from there because that's a fundamental issue and my area of interest is in the twists after the foundation is secure…

Psalm 139:16 is another verse that talks about how God knows everything. (one of the points of my post.)

'Cherry picking' Romans 3:28: I stand by the integrity of Peterson (and keep mine in tact) as I explain why I chose that verse. The point Paul was trying to make in the scripture is that salvation originates with Jesus. If it were not true, we could 'boast' about how we did it. The point of my post was to give testimony that Jesus was on the throne and we are not. The Truth is our 'glasses' and not our finite understanding. So, in truth, 'God does not respond to what we do, we respond to what He does…' (if it were not so, we could 'boast' about how we did it.)

I put too much time into study and research when I write to be discouraged by challenges to what I write. I use too many scriptures to back up my thoughts that I don't feel alone. I'm not big enough to say some of the stuff I say, so I'm held up (animated) by the scriptures. Your challenges come from refuting the validity of scripture and the integrity of translations. Your hitch is not with me…

God had Adam name the animals, correct? Genesis says he "waited to see what he would name them." Did God not "learn" what Adam would name them?

Also, Psalm 139:16 is translated differently in the KJV- saying all body parts were planned before hand. Regaurdless, the passage is a poem, and I doubt its meaning is to expand on any metaphysical truths regarding foreknowledge, etc.

You also cherry-picked Romans 3:28 out of context from The Message paraphrase. Peterson is a brilliant man, but that paraphrase is pretty distant from the original text…

…I mean, come to think about it, if God created the world fully knowing that it would be sinful, is He not the originator of sin, and thus evil? Is He then not in fact infinitely good, as some part of Him must have been evil in order to bring it about? Was not man set up to fail? It would follow, then, that all the terrible things that happen in this world are not only of God, but *by* God. I find this absolutely ridiculous.

Your message is good, and I don't mean to discourage or hold up healing, but the substance you use to lay out your case is quite questionable.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by SerenaWoods: New blog is up: ‘new glasses’. It’s about what came first: sin or Jesus…