Love me or else (Part Two) (Where is it now?)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Thursday, December 20, 2012, 20:39 (4357 days ago) @ BBella

Bella: A question I asked myself back then, and now ask you: Why would God, who has created all things and knows every hair on every head, and knows our thoughts even before we think them, would have to test Abraham to find out if he would be faithful to Him? Some say it wasn't done to prove to God but to Abraham, and/or to the future followers and readers the extent of Abrahams faithfulness. But Abraham would have proven his faithfulness to God no matter what, eventually, anyway, as he was faithful to God, and his life, that was to be recorder in the scriptures, would have proven that out, even without this incident. And, God could have at any point at any time declared his blessings to him and his offspring before his death. 
> 
> I believe God was out to prove that Abraham would obey his "voice" and nothing more. But why did God not already know this?-In short, free will. -Abraham had a choice. YHWH may know your thoughts as you think them, and your intentions as you form them, but you still have a choice and the potential to make the wrong choice. That is actually a parallel theme throughout the Bible, running alongside the issue of Universal Sovereignty. -So, yes, YHWH was testing whether or not Abraham would obey, which was, in and of itself, a test of faith. YHWH had promised long before the time of Isaac that his seed would become many and powerful. If Abraham trusted in that promise, had faith in it, then he could do what was asked of him without hesitation. If he did not trust it, then he would have hesitated, or even balked at the command. It was explicitly stated as being a test, a test that Abraham would hold nothing back from YHWH, as YHWH held nothing back from his people. After all, he did not ask Abraham to do anything that he was not willing to do himself.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.