yeah . . . i think this free will thing is a bunch of nonsense . . . we are too limited by our own ignorance to claim such a lofty distinction from the entirety of Nature. it is however a very convenient delusion.
Actually, there is yet another major internally inconsistent claim in the Bible: Yahweh “repented” (changed his mind or regreted) that he had made man, so he sent a flood to kill them all except the 8 on the ark. The questions that come to my mind are; how can an omniscient being change his mind? Why should he be grieved as stated in Genesis 6:6? Should he have not known what man would be like?
And, then there is Jesus, in Mark 11:13, not knowing that the fig tree would have no figs (it wasn’t even the season for producing figs). Very ungodly. I bet Mo would have known when figs would be in season! Omniscience omsnichence!
The defenition of being omniscient is to have infinite knowledge or understanding.
You ask how can a all knowing god change his mind? But surely knowledge can change. And boundless knowledge does not actualy state the amount of knowlegde used. Furthermore God created man in image of him self and man makes many mistakes and changes his mind many times. If he is the image of God then perhaps God is more human than believed.
I read Life of Pi recently — a very good book about religions in general. One of the things it points out is that the story of the Fig Tree really makes Christianity unique. It’s the one religion that says that not only did their God come down as a human, but that he took on mortal form too, with all of humanity’s faults. Hinduism has Gods that take mortal form sometimes, but never one who whines or is petulant, or who dies. It made me realize for the first time that christianity isn’t about a man who was a God, but about a God who decided to be a man. I kind of think now that the story of the fig tree is at the heart of the religion.
hey, souldier, is this god of yours is omniscient, then he should have known he would change his mind and should have acted accordingly earlier not AFTER his actions.
just because one knows something, does not mean that one won’t ignore it in favour of doing something else. This goes for omniscience too… this just means one knows all, it makes no implication about what one does with that knowledge.
Rabbit: “just because one knows something, does not mean that one won’t ignore it in favour of doing something else. This goes for omniscience too… this just means one knows all, it makes no implication about what one does with that knowledge.”
That’s a good point…I suppose that just means that omniscience doesn’t keep you from being dumb.
(not that I can remember any reference to god’s intelligence…just his wrath and insecurity)
human knowledge is changed by being added to (because we don’t know everything) or by being corrected with new facts (we were wrong). God isn’t supposed to have either of these failings, so it should not gain new knowledge.
Being omniscient isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – it gets really boring. God changes his(?) mind purely on a whim, just as he knew he would.
Although, to be fair, he doesn’t really change his mind (because being omniscient he knows everything he’s going to do, and so has no free will) he only changes what he tells everyone he was going to do. I gues this makes him(?) a liar with no free will…
free will is a delusion if you believe in a logical universe without the ethereal, existence of deities. If God is omniscient, it is simply that he understands all factors and the natural laws and can accurately predict the events created by these. Free will is an invention of the soul which is supposed to be able to think for itself. God understanding our souls means he has the power to affect them by small changes in the environment. Free will is the idea that he doesn’t or seldom does do this….meh….God making mistakes does not mean he is not omniscient, but that he is not perfect in the semantic word game since…me, I don’t care…
To the other folks who are reading the archives and not as an attempt to somehow convey my thoughts back in time…….it’s not that creepy, it’s a gif, check the image url.
Jesus & Mo (the characters) are absurd, blinkered, and oddly very sweet. J&M (the cartoon) is brilliant: sharp, delicious, irresistible. Salman Rushdie
Jesus and Mo cartoons are wonderfully funny and true. Richard Dawkins
Jesus and Mo make the world a better place, bless their little hearts. Ophelia Benson
In a world defined by outrage and offence and liberal spinelessness, Jesus and Mo is a treasure, whose value we should never fail to recognize. Read them. Laugh. And think. Kenan Malik
The brilliant, celebrated, freaking hilarious atheist comic strip ... Greta Christina
...rays of sanity in a befuddled world. Keri Hulme
The liveliest depictions of Muhammad currently available... Malise Ruthven
J & Mo is the funniest and most consistently thought-provoking cartoon strip on the Net. In a saner world, it would run in a major newspaper. Nelson Jones, Heresy Corner
Consistently amusing, frequently thought-provoking and often heart-warming. New Humanist
Jesus & Mo is one of the most wonderful things on the internet.. JT Eberhard
Wittily captures much of the absurdity of religious apologetics. Mano Singham
I love jesusandmo.net cartoons - witty and sharp! Katha Pollitt
Often hilarious, frequently wry, these cartoons do what all the best cartoons do: they tell the truth through humour. Terry Sanderson, NSS President
...a wonderfully acid British cartoonist... Nick Cohen
I love the scrappy mockery of Jesus and Mo. Freedom of speech
includes the freedom to mock any person, any thing, any activity, and
any belief -- and J&M stands up for this unflinchingly Richard Stallman
...empowering, important and deeply progressive, not to mention hilarious... Council of Ex-Muslims
January 17, 2018
yeah . . . i think this free will thing is a bunch of nonsense . . . we are too limited by our own ignorance to claim such a lofty distinction from the entirety of Nature. it is however a very convenient delusion.
[…] From Jesus and Mo […]
How can you believe in a god who gave man free will and then punishes him for using it?
Actually, there is yet another major internally inconsistent claim in the Bible: Yahweh “repented” (changed his mind or regreted) that he had made man, so he sent a flood to kill them all except the 8 on the ark. The questions that come to my mind are; how can an omniscient being change his mind? Why should he be grieved as stated in Genesis 6:6? Should he have not known what man would be like?
And, then there is Jesus, in Mark 11:13, not knowing that the fig tree would have no figs (it wasn’t even the season for producing figs). Very ungodly. I bet Mo would have known when figs would be in season! Omniscience omsnichence!
The defenition of being omniscient is to have infinite knowledge or understanding.
You ask how can a all knowing god change his mind? But surely knowledge can change. And boundless knowledge does not actualy state the amount of knowlegde used. Furthermore God created man in image of him self and man makes many mistakes and changes his mind many times. If he is the image of God then perhaps God is more human than believed.
I read Life of Pi recently — a very good book about religions in general. One of the things it points out is that the story of the Fig Tree really makes Christianity unique. It’s the one religion that says that not only did their God come down as a human, but that he took on mortal form too, with all of humanity’s faults. Hinduism has Gods that take mortal form sometimes, but never one who whines or is petulant, or who dies. It made me realize for the first time that christianity isn’t about a man who was a God, but about a God who decided to be a man. I kind of think now that the story of the fig tree is at the heart of the religion.
hey, souldier, is this god of yours is omniscient, then he should have known he would change his mind and should have acted accordingly earlier not AFTER his actions.
that’s the way with claiming to be infallible… what goes around comes around
just because one knows something, does not mean that one won’t ignore it in favour of doing something else. This goes for omniscience too… this just means one knows all, it makes no implication about what one does with that knowledge.
God hates Figs.
That is all.
Rabbit: “just because one knows something, does not mean that one won’t ignore it in favour of doing something else. This goes for omniscience too… this just means one knows all, it makes no implication about what one does with that knowledge.”
That’s a good point…I suppose that just means that omniscience doesn’t keep you from being dumb.
(not that I can remember any reference to god’s intelligence…just his wrath and insecurity)
human knowledge is changed by being added to (because we don’t know everything) or by being corrected with new facts (we were wrong). God isn’t supposed to have either of these failings, so it should not gain new knowledge.
Being omniscient isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – it gets really boring. God changes his(?) mind purely on a whim, just as he knew he would.
Although, to be fair, he doesn’t really change his mind (because being omniscient he knows everything he’s going to do, and so has no free will) he only changes what he tells everyone he was going to do. I gues this makes him(?) a liar with no free will…
@Dan.. think you need to figure out a bit more about hinduism dude…we have plenty of gods who came down as human made blunders and died too…
he blinked
free will is a delusion if you believe in a logical universe without the ethereal, existence of deities. If God is omniscient, it is simply that he understands all factors and the natural laws and can accurately predict the events created by these. Free will is an invention of the soul which is supposed to be able to think for itself. God understanding our souls means he has the power to affect them by small changes in the environment. Free will is the idea that he doesn’t or seldom does do this….meh….God making mistakes does not mean he is not omniscient, but that he is not perfect in the semantic word game since…me, I don’t care…
Creepy, Mo blinks in the last panel after a few seconds. Makes me wonder what other things are hidden in other comics.
Holy crap Bob! You’re right! That is so creepy…
Mo has no answer to the question, so he threw in a joke instead. Brilliant!
To the other folks who are reading the archives and not as an attempt to somehow convey my thoughts back in time…….it’s not that creepy, it’s a gif, check the image url.