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Post by teancum79 on Feb 23, 2006 16:19:31 GMT -5
If revenge is an act motivated by passion and the feeling of the moment and justice is a well thought out response. Could not Justice be defined in advance. Somewhat like the Federal sentencing guidelines, but far more complex and just.
This would mean that God would be acting out of justice always and could not yield to personal whims.
God would be bound by eternal laws to provide a reward or punishment based upon the choices of humans.
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Post by littlepea on Feb 23, 2006 16:29:27 GMT -5
in fact, i suppose the bumper sticker isn't completely incompatible ...
if someone has a bad memory (or a memory disorder like the guy in memento) then despite his best efforts he may continually make the same mistakes again and again, thus appearing a fool even if he is actually making the most of the knowledge at his disposal. if he had a better memory his wisdom would be more obvious, but because he doesn't he appears a fool.
i suppose wisdom doesn't depend on intelligence as much as knowledge, since if you think of the typical housewife as the head of the family with all her rules of thumb and sensible habits (like always wear clean underwear in case you get hit by a bus, or always wear a wooly hat if it's snowing, or "kiss it better" as the cure to all cuts and bruises), no-one could fault her knowledge and expertise and no-one could call her a fool. but then, my theory concerns "greatness of mind", not "greatness of wisdom", and although she may be the best mum on the planet i wouldn't say she is the greatest mind.
either that or the bumper sticker is saying something along the lines of: even the wisest man is a fool compared to God ...
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Post by Mestemia on Feb 23, 2006 19:50:27 GMT -5
either that or the bumper sticker is saying something along the lines of: even the wisest man is a fool compared to God ... Funny. I did not see the word God on that sticker. Or on the vehicle the sticker was on. Though that is not to say that the 'original' thinker upper of the sticker didn't have that exact thing in mind...
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Post by Mestemia on Feb 23, 2006 19:51:30 GMT -5
If revenge is an act motivated by passion and the feeling of the moment and justice is a well thought out response. Could not Justice be defined in advance. Somewhat like the Federal sentencing guidelines, but far more complex and just. This would mean that God would be acting out of justice always and could not yield to personal whims. God would be bound by eternal laws to provide a reward or punishment based upon the choices of humans. Depends upon how braod a brush stroke one is willing to accept for the 'defining of justice before hand' part.
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jedivelariuskenobi
Guide
All life is one energy, therefore, there is no i only we, and compassion then must follow
Posts: 252
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Post by jedivelariuskenobi on Feb 24, 2006 0:28:31 GMT -5
God would be bound by eternal laws to provide a reward or punishment based upon the choices of humans. I guess this just begs the question. If God is bound by enternal laws, than the laws are somehow above him, and thus either the laws are a force above him, or there is a higher being that created the laws. Just a thought, Jedi Velarius Kenobi
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Post by Mestemia on Feb 24, 2006 2:47:41 GMT -5
Interesting thought. I have oft wondered if perhaps God himself was a Monotheist.
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Post by dianaholberg on Feb 24, 2006 7:50:13 GMT -5
I think a wise person is one who makes the best decisions with the information they have. And I have to differ with this -- I doubt there are too many people who deliberately make bad decisions. I believe wisdom runs deeper. More like, a person who knows when to follow his own thinking and when to submit to something beyond himself (be it spiritual such as listening to "that little voice" or joining a church, or otherwise such as adhering to the legal system or keeping quiet in the library, etc.)
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Post by dianaholberg on Feb 24, 2006 7:56:21 GMT -5
I guess this just begs the question. If God is bound by enternal laws, than the laws are somehow above him, and thus either the laws are a force above him, or there is a higher being that created the laws. Just a thought, Jedi Velarius Kenobi LOL Jedi... I didn't read this before my post in the other thread.
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Post by dianaholberg on Feb 24, 2006 8:07:34 GMT -5
by the way, has anyone heard anything like my theory before from a real philosopher? maybe it's quite obvious and nobody's bothered to write any literature on it, or maybe it's not and i should patent it ... anyone know? I don't know, but I have a theory of my own. Intelligence recognizes that knowledge gained in isolation is of limited value. Wisdom recognizes that knowledge inherited is of limited application. Humility recognizes that knowledge infused is of boundless grace.
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Post by teancum79 on Feb 24, 2006 14:38:15 GMT -5
God is like a judge. He learned and became what He is by following the laws. Now that He is a judge and He is bound to the very laws that enabled Him to become a judge. To what extent He can interpret the law I'm not even going to guess, but I would say that there are laws which even God can not violate anymore than a judge here (assuming that we knew what they had done etc.)
Therefore if God where to not impose a just punishment on persons who had violated the law He would cease to be God. The same is true if God where not to reward the good works of men and women.
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Post by dianaholberg on Feb 24, 2006 20:30:31 GMT -5
Who instituted the laws? If no one did (that is, if they just "exist"), how can they be distinguished from God, who told Moses that His name is "I AM"?
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Post by Mestemia on Mar 5, 2006 13:17:09 GMT -5
I think a wise person is one who makes the best decisions with the information they have. And I have to differ with this -- I doubt there are too many people who deliberately make bad decisions. I beg to differ. How many people choose to stay in abusive relationships? how many people choose to smoke? drink? smoke crack? Even after being told the negativities of them? How many children are born addicted to drugs every year? Their mothers didn't make a bad decision to do the drugs while pregnant? Or was the mothers decision not deliberate? Prisons around the world are full of people who deliberately make bad decisions. Is this to say that you believe that people do not choose to commit crimes? Or is this to say that choosing to commit a crime is not a bad decision? Is this wisdom, tolerance, submission, or merely wishful thinking on the part of the one who "submits to something beyond himself"?
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Post by Mestemia on Mar 5, 2006 13:19:35 GMT -5
Who instituted the laws? If no one did (that is, if they just "exist"), how can they be distinguished from God, who told Moses that His name is "I AM"? Distinguished from God? I do not understand what you are asking here.
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Post by littlepea on Mar 5, 2006 15:18:06 GMT -5
And I have to differ with this -- I doubt there are too many people who deliberately make bad decisions. I beg to differ. How many people choose to stay in abusive relationships? how many people choose to smoke? drink? smoke crack? Even after being told the negativities of them? How many children are born addicted to drugs every year? Their mothers didn't make a bad decision to do the drugs while pregnant? Or was the mothers decision not deliberate? Prisons around the world are full of people who deliberately make bad decisions. Is this to say that you believe that people do not choose to commit crimes? Or is this to say that choosing to commit a crime is not a bad decision? polytheist has hit the nail on the head here, in my opinion. people don't usually choose to do the wrong thing once they are aware that it's bad, but it's the ability to make a rational decision that i count as wisdom. i was going to say "ability to make a rational decision based on the knowledge at your disposal", but of course, that extra fact is already incorporated in the word "rational", isn't it?
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Post by dianaholberg on Mar 5, 2006 18:25:18 GMT -5
And I have to differ with this -- I doubt there are too many people who deliberately make bad decisions. I beg to differ. How many people choose to stay in abusive relationships? Staying in one is different than deliberately entering one. Each abusive relationship is different -- some have hope, some don't. Who's to say whether or not it's a bad decision to hope? It's a bad decision to do those things, but most pick up their first believing they can put it back down. Addictive people don't know they're addictive until they're addicted. Many people are skeptics -- not believing what they're told, eh? Once addicted, many addicts cannot simply quit for the sake of another. If you ask them, most would not agree. They would say the only thing bad about their situation is that they got caught. (Actually, they would deny having done anything at all...) I believe that people who commit crimes are ignorant in one way or another. That they either do not believe that what they're doing is wrong, or that they do not believe that they will get caught doing it. No one sets out to commit a crime with the intention of spending their lives in prison. I'll take this as rhetorical. I believe wisdom runs deeper than doing just what one thinks is right or avoiding what one thinks is wrong.
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