Jonah and the Whale.. a question.

Just came across this discussion and thought that some clarification is needed.The account in the Bible states that God prepared a great fish, not a whale. If you believe as I do that God created the universe, then it is reasonable to believe that God could alter or create a great fish to accomodate one man.This account emphasizes God's willingness to forgive those who repent and turn to Him.

No, God can only do the things that are consistent with His nature.
He can not break His word or lie, for instance.

I should have said that God will not lie. Being the source of good, He will not do anything which is contrary to His nature. God is the one who defines morality. Without a standard of morality, everyone does what they deem to be right for themselves.This message has been edited by xevolutionist, 02-15-2005 12:07 AM

If Jonah had no free will he would have willingly gone to Nineveh.

Perhaps I don't know what you are trying to say. As I understand solipsism, an individual can not know for sure that anything external is real, and therefore that individual determines his own reality.When an individual believes that an external power is the ultimate determiner of reality , that would seem to me to be the opposite of solipsism.

The way it seems to be working now is that those in power [the most powerful] determine the laws. Other than the Jews who attempted to follow God's commandments, and had requested that He provide a list so there would be no misunderstandings. But even they either wouldn't follow the guidelines, or added more to take advantage of the weak.You seem to be looking at God as an evil dictator, while I view Him as a caring father, wanting to teach the toddler not to handle the rattlesnake.Where then would we get our standard of morality if not from an all knowing God?This message has been edited by xevolutionist, 02-15-2005 12:40 AM

I was trying to show extremes of moral views. I am assuming that the examples I chose are the portions you objected to. Am I correct?

Yes I understand that Jonah did not want the Ninevites warned. God did not subjugate Jonah's will, but His actions.As God's chosen people, the Israelites were supposed to do God's bidding. It was part of the deal.

Sorry, I know I do get carried away sometimes in my responses. Originally I just wanted to point out that the Bible said it was a great fish and from a believer's point of view that was plausible. Thanks for the wake up.

I think I see your point now, and my first thought is that if it is the current reality, what difference does it make to us, especially if we are not aware of the change?Would that make it any less real, the period of time that it existed?
We can choose to act as if the apparent world is real, or we can act otherwise. We can believe that our knowledge is based on reality, or believe that we have no knowledge at all, if you deny the apparent reality of the external physical world.I'm not a big Matrix fan, I only saw the first movie and found it entertaining, but I have found that if I do not eat I get very hungry and weak. I'm not being fed intravenously by some unknown machine. Odd, how having free will seems to be a central point of that movie.At any rate, this seems far off the topic, and I seem to have read that most whales' throats are very small in diameter and they would be unable to swallow a human.

Excellent arguments. So then you are saying that solipsism is just an awareness that what you observe is not necessarily reality, as we can not know what others actually perceive, or even if what we observe corresponds to reality?

His will was that he not go to Nineveh, and his imprisonment in the fish and transportation to Nineveh was a result of God's actions. As an Israelite he should have been bound by God's command. As I said before, if he did not have free will, he wouldn't have made the decision to disobey God.The deal I was referring to was the covenant between God and the Israelites, as in Leviticus 22:31; "Therefore you shall keep my commandments and perform them." You are correct in that the Israelites were continually turning their backs on God. I sometimes wonder why He made them His chosen people.