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Author Topic: Does God get Surprised or Disappointed?  (Read 1082 times)

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Offline LaramieHirsch

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Does God get Surprised or Disappointed?
« on: April 04, 2012, 05:47:46 PM »
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  • I'm still hashing it out over at Catholic Answers Forum.  I think that the way I'm going with the dialogue, I am trying to find proof of God and specifically the Christian God in nature.  That there is evidence pointing to Him.  

    A few questions have come up that I'd like your insight on:

    Does God get surprised?

    Does God get disappointed?

    The guy I'm talking to also asked if God gets angry, but I already know that He does.  

    Also, does God know Himself perfectly?  
    .........................

    Before some audiences not even the possession of the exactest knowledge will make it easy for what we say to produce conviction. For argument based on knowledge implies instruction, and there are people whom one cannot instruct.  - Aristotle


    Offline inprincipio

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    Does God get Surprised or Disappointed?
    « Reply #1 on: April 04, 2012, 06:06:30 PM »
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  • The complete answer to that question is in the Summa...Thomas Aquinas explains those kinds of questions better than any of us can on this fourm
    Amen quippe dico vobis donec transeat caelum et terra iota unum aut unus apex non praeteribit a lege donec omnia fiant  (For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. )


    Offline ServusSpiritusSancti

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    Does God get Surprised or Disappointed?
    « Reply #2 on: April 04, 2012, 07:05:04 PM »
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  • Does God get surprised? No, he knows what will happen before it happens. Does God get disappointed? Yes, He gets disappointed over the massive sins of mankind.
    Please ignore ALL of my posts. I was naive during my time posting on this forum and didn’t know any better. I retract and deeply regret any and all uncharitable or erroneous statements I ever made here.

    Offline Vladimir

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    Does God get Surprised or Disappointed?
    « Reply #3 on: April 04, 2012, 11:40:03 PM »
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  • God does not get angry.

    God cannot change, therefore any use of describing the workings of Providence (which are decreed from eternity) using human emotion or actions is merely for the sake of comparison.

    Please reference Providence by Garrigou-Lagrange for the questions you have been having of late on God's nature. The first section of the book deals almost exclusively with what you have been asking so far. It is truly an eye-opener.

    There is another book that you may want to reference to understand the nature of God - strangely, it is not Catholic. Please see the Tao Te Ching, generally attributed to Lao-tzu, for an introduction to the concept of “wu-wei”, which is translated as “non-action” or “non-ado” – my own translation is “non-becoming”. This may sound strange, but I have never read a more simple and accurate description of how Providence never changes and yet directs all things. True, there are many parts of the Tao Te Ching that are questionable and can be understood in many non-Catholic ways – however, having read Lao-tzu’s work prior to Garrigou-Lagrange, when I started reading Providence, each night I would come across a section that would make me smile with wonderment at how similar Catholic theology was to Lao-tzu’s belabored grasping and looking through a dark glass. One could say that Catholic ascetical theology is very similar to philosophical Taoism (there are those Sinologists that deny any separation of philosophical and religious Taoism, but that is another story).  

    If you are willing to give Lao-tzu a try, John Wu (a convert to Catholicism) has the most readable translation. After that, if you have an affinity to the text, see Legge's translation and notes.



    Offline Maizar

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    Does God get Surprised or Disappointed?
    « Reply #4 on: April 05, 2012, 12:24:04 AM »
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  • I like Vladimirs post. If I get time I will get a hold of some of those books!

    God works with mankind on a need-to-know basis.

    God does not have emotions in the way we do, but he communicates with us in a way we understand, so for all intents and purposes we can approach God as though He has emotions and becomes angry or sad or happy, since in his interactions with Man his words and actions will be appropriate to Man. This is why God is seen as angry and vengeful in the Old Testament, but loving and forgiving in the New. It is the same God, but different authors whose understanding and language have developed and changed over time.

    The prophets of the Old Testament would have had the same problems coming to terms with a forgiving and loving God as people do now, but God was never any different, even then.

    Yes, God knows Himself perfectly, which prevents Him from erring. So even though God is omniscient and omnipotent, he is limited because he cannot lie, cannot be unjust, cannot be anything except truthful, fair and all loving.

    When I sit and think about this for a while, I am always left in wonder at how little we trust God.