Did Jesus Limit Human Understanding of Higher Knowledge as a Consequence of Free Will?

arguments (i.e. defenses) considering the logic or evidence of theodicy cannot account for the · mystery of evil or for the phenomenology of evil and suffering as humans actually experience it. They argue that symbolic and narratorial approaches offer a more intuitive set of answers that · address the actual experiential needs of sufferers. Such approaches involve a larger fund of · answers that go beyond the propositional. They are still rational, but not in a limited

Philosophy of Religion · Chapter 6. The Problem of Evil

If human psychology is limited such that we human beings underappreciate goodness until we experience badness, then a perfect creator could simply create different beings, ones who are fully appreciative of goodness all the time. Against the appreciation theodicy there is the additional point that, if contrast were needed for appreciation of, for instance, good health and full physical functioning, then a nightmare about losing one’s home in a natural disaster or a mildly bad dream about catching a virus would be better than there being real injuries, losses, and illnesses (van Inwagen 2006: 69); and atrocities on the scale of the genocides and pandemics that mark the history of our world are not necessary for appreciation of goods such as social cooperation, kindness, and human dignity.

For Calvin, both omniscience and ... in Christ. In his divinity, Christ knows all things, but in his humanity, Christ was limited in knowledge....

To be God is to be all-present but in taking on humanity Jesus took on the limited presence of humanity. It is clear throughout the Gospels that Jesus is both God and man. It is a mystery to behold and ponder, and one in which we will never ...

For example, He said that “the ... Although the glorified Son presumably now shares this knowledge, in His self-imposed human limitations He did not....

To use a biblical word important to Luther, to be set free from sin and for righteousness requires a metanoia. Luther used Jesus' image of the good and bad trees to depict the necessity of changing the person to change what a person wills and does. In Jesus' image, "a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:18).

Jesus invites people to follow Him, such as in Matthew 4:19 where He says to Peter and Andrew, “Come, follow me.” This invitation implies a choice. Similarly, in Revelation 3:20, Jesus declares, “Here I am!

For instance, in the Gospel of John, Jesus implies each man has the choice to do his own will or that of God when he says “whoever chooses to do his will shall know whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own.” Additionally, ...