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Does struggle for God between His creation make more sense than God effortlessly creating and controlling all things for a purpose? Does it seem pointless to create and control for a purpose? Absolutely. He is the lawgiver.

Hi DNB, there is a lot for me to consider here. I do intend on further addressing your post in the near future. In the meantime, I do want to ask you a question, perhaps you can chew on it for a bit before responding if you choose to do so, or you can steer me more into a direction towards your...

Marks, what happened to order and completion? My first and leading thought is that what entails past your first question is a side trail from our main discussion. Since I appreciate them, I began addressing all of your questions before realizing that I have desire to not walk down side trails...

Now I see it in your original message. You believe that God controls man's will in choosing to obey Him or not. Is that correct?

Thanks, I see your edit. Your answer brought much appreciated clarity.

Yes. Do you think that God gave man power that does not depend on God, so that man can use it to think for himself?

Thanks for contributing Prayer Warrior. If neither is true, then in what sense can man make such a choice? and how can he do it if he has no power in himself to think?

Marks, did you notice my question? Perhaps for the sake of a cogent dialog carefully addressing one question before asking another is better than skipping.

- God has determined that He would not determine some of man's thoughts. Is this an accurate summary of your position? I think with reverence that God controls everything.

Thank you Marks. I think it's a solid foundation for discussion. The definitions I chose might cause controversy later on, but they are fitting for my intentions. What do you think about it? Are you specifically inquiring about my position on those doctrines?

If man can make choices apart from God, then is God not the Creator of all things?

Where believers of free will are often accused of being "will worshipers" because they argue that they have power to think on their own apart from God, believers of determinism are often accused of believing that men are just "robots" because they argue that God controls everything the man does...

Do you think that God created time? or perhaps the law of time is His attribute?

I once went on a canoeing trip down a river with my younger brother. Being inexperienced, we steered our canoe into a low hanging tree. Upon backing out and continuing our journey on the straight and narrow, our boat had filled with spiders from the tree. This is an exaggeration, but there were...

Great question. No, Jesus is my comfort. I can only become negatively overwhelmed in a subject if I cease from focusing on Him. I think that this applies to all of us here.

I could not think of a more easing truth than that one for that subject, Farouk.

Eternal consciousness.

My biggest fear since childhood was eternal life. The thought of no end was overwhelming. Upon hearing the Gospel, my biggest fear was eternal suffering. Now I rest in the Lord Jesus. The thought of having eternal life is still overwhelming for me, but I figure that is just due to a mixture of...

By turning it around, you are just giving it an opportunity to turn back...

Yes, but only a few words. Not enough to write home with. I would like to learn several languages, including Hebrew and Greek. Wouldn't that be nice?