Free will vs Omniscience

And those guys who fly into buildings for 72 virgins after death.

Still not evidence. You can't have evidence before the fact. Criminals don't leave fingerprints until they actually do the crime.Jesus did (supposedly) say that you will be judged on what you DO, not on what you say - i.e. you will be judged on the evidence that actually exists.

No, what you do is only evidence of what you do and not evidence for what Spirit is within us.

I staunchly disagree with this. I was dead serious about my faith and was absolutely captivated by the Word. But sometimes you see things for what they really are.Is it conceivable for you to marry someone out of a genuine and deep love, but over the years you drift apart? If that is conceivable, then to malign backsliders as "never having faith to begin with" is an unfair mischaracterization.

But I don't consider your case one identified as "backsliding". You have been forthright and honest..."seeing things as they really are"...and acknowledging that you drifted apart from "something". You in fact had faith to begin with.AbE: Besides...if you divorced "Her" who else could take Her place? Edited by Phat, : added

I disagree. Just because God foreknows what will happen does not necessarily mean that He caused it to happen. He may well have scripted it---in fact, eternity itself may have a script. I see the counterarguments but all it shows me is that some people insist that they dont have free will because they can never do anything outside of the script. I have no problem with this, nor should anyone because who in their right mind would want to be independent of God, anyway? (Apart from satan)This is in my mind the reason people claim they have no free will. Its only because they want to be truly free and independant of a scripted reality.Newsflash: Its for your own good! You are not mature enough to be as gods.

That is not what God said; in fact God said that we were mature enough to be gods.Have you ever read the Bible Phat?

What does the evidence show?Has humanity eliminated wars in the past 2000 years?How about lying,cheating, and stealing?Greed, anyone?You claim we were given a charge and a responsibility.I dont see us getting any wiser--only more confused as we try to be gods instead of submitting to the Creator of all seen and unseen...which some say is antiquated thinking.

The evidence shows that crime has fallen steadily and sharply throughout the centuries. We are, in fact, "living in the most peaceful time of human existence." Then you're not looking in the right places - a classic case of seeing what you want to see. I suggest you read Stephen Pinker. Here's a Ted talk he did, which should be required viewing.Steven Pinker: The surprising decline in violence | TED Talk

The fictional character "Satan" represents our own free will. What "Satan" wants IS what we want. Every time we're tempted to do something that we "shouldn't", we're wanting to be independent of God.

This actually struck a chord in my intuition. It sounds right.What this means, then..is that we humans have an inborn desire to rebel.Perhaps this is what "Original Sin" actually is....an inborn desire to rebel.So did God choose it for us by offering it as an option?

The evidence shows that you and so many others are as ignorant about reality as you are about history, the Bible, Christianity and almost every other subject. Humanity has certainly controlled war and in just the last half century. There are fewer wars today than at any time in history and the wars that do happen lead to fewer casualties, both military and civilian than in any previous war. And lying, cheating and stealing are human caused. Jesus or God will not stop them, never has and never will. The same is true of greed. Only humans can stop lying, cheating, stealing or greed. And the evidence shows it is those people like you who are shirking, denying that responsibility; those that claim to submit to some creator, who count on anyone other than themselves to take responsibility to fix what is wrong.The answer really is simple.Don't lie.Don't cheat.Don't steal.Take personal responsibility for all you do.

I wouldn't call it a desire to "rebel". I'd call it a desire to have free will. According to the Bible, God built it into us from the start - He forced it on us.What doesn't make sense about a lot of theology is that He would give us free will and then punish us for using it.

I tend to believe that God disciplines (teaches)rather than punishes.

With everlasting torment? How can you learn anything if you don't get a chance to change your behaviour? That would only work if Hell was an empty threat (a lie).And as I've said (many times) before, I don't see much (any) evidence that He's teaching Christians more than anybody else.