God the Father

[Melisa Jane]

The idea makes sense if one has an understanding of the Bible and how God treats His children. God provides unconditional love to us, which is why I say this.

I agree. And God wants His children to freely love Him, not because they have to. That is why we have free will. God will never force anyone to love Him. Maybe that is what the author meant by 'hindering' Him.

I also think that that's why the author used "limiting him" in that context. He meant that humans can't be forced to worship him.

[Melisa Jane]

Isiah 46:10 says "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'" Interestingly, the author's stand differs from this scripture. And Psalm 139:4 states that "Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely." Both scriptures seem to imply that God already knew everything that would happen from the beginning to the end when he created man. There is nothing that will come as a surprise to Him. As He has perfect foreknowledge, He can control future events and turn destiny in whichever direction He wants. The author takes a different view which leads to a different interpretation between the state of affairs between God and man.

In as much as you're right, I think the author only meant to entertain. Let's not quote him out of context. If he had used his book as a replacement of the Bible, or to elaborate more on the biblical contents, then that would be a different case.

[Melisa Jane]

Christians beg to differ, they believe that nothing can limit God.

Yeah, but again, as a Christian, I think that our ill actions can prevent God from saving us from the condemnation that follows.

[Melisa Jane]

I think God has already given us everything. He gave us a heart to love, a mind to choose from evil and good. It's up to our decision now.

I agree. It's upon as to use what we already have to fight evil. God wants the best for us, but he won't force us if we don't want to choose what's best for our souls.

[Melisa Jane]

Well, I think God is not limited in any sense. Whether when viewed through the lenses of the fictional representation in the book or otherwise. God set in place the rules that govern the earth including freewill for His children. He cannot hence, be considered as limited because He respects the rules he put in place for order. His children are however, limited in their ability to maximise their free will to choose God's best for them. God's ultimate purposes always comes to realisation even if the immediate one doesn't get actualised in any of His children's lives. That is a function of their own limitation not His

I agree with you. But let's look at it in this sense: a Christian who constantly sin despite God's mercies. This Christian doesn't repent. Will God save him from the hellfire that awaits sinners? I think that's where the limiting comes in.

[Melisa Jane]

I would advice reading the book without religious prejudices whatsoever. Anyway, I have usually found the issue tricky. God is said to have given man free will to do whatsoever he pleases but is portrayed as having planned their lives and destinies before they were even born. So are we living what was already planned or what we choose? Do we even choose our lives if it was already planned?

That's actually very tricky and hard to understand. If God had already planned our lives before we were born, then there isn't any freewill. I'm not very religious, so I'll leave that to theologists.

[Melisa Jane]

I think that resembles a lot what I have read recently and it is because parents teach us to be the way they are because they don't know other way even if they would want us to be different. So God limites his children action because He knows no other way to teach them and his children limit his actions because they want to be different, but don't know how to really do it, only to rebel against him. This can be seen and very often used when Lucifer is described as the son of God how go against him. A kind of different perspective.

I think saying that God knows no other way to lead his children, when we all know that he is all knowing, is contradictory. I don't know what exactly you meant by that sentence. Do you mind elaborating?

[Melisa Jane]

Personally, I don't find the idea fascinating. It sound weird to me.

Agreed. The statement sounds weird and dangerous

Yeah, only when misinterpreted. I think that, when we'll understood, the statement can uplifting Christians and warn then against fleeing from God .

[Melisa Jane]

In my place, there is a saying that nothing happens without gods approval. So, maybe god's sons do what he planned for them to do, without even realising it!

This is true, it tallies very well with the concept of sovereignty

According to the Bible, God knew us even before we were born and had planned our futures. Do you mind explaining how "free" we are considering that our paths are already predetermined?

[Dee_Robert]

It sounds like very uncommon theology. Much of the foundation of Christianity rests on the building block of God being an omnipotent, omniscient Creator. The interpretation that I would glean from this statement that still fits widely accepted Christian theology would be that God is limited only in the knowledge that he has given His children free will. He CAN step in, but He doesn't always because people are free to make their own choices. It is a controversial statement to connect to a book that hinges on religion.

This is very true, and this statement is very controversial.
The statement is very sweeping and dangerous but your explanation does it justice.

If misinterpreted, it can be dangerous. But a keen look at this sentence will prove its validity.

All statements if misinterpreted can be dangerous.
Especially religious ones.

[Melisa Jane]

I wouldn't say. This book touches the fundamentals of the Christian religion in relation to other fiction. This fiction can be misleading to non-religious people who won't be able to define where the fiction lies.

This is true, hence the book will be more understood by believers compared to non-believers. I can imagine the influence of being introduced to this book before recognizing the Bible.

Its very devastating and can cause a persons faith to have a considerable level of shakiness or some misconceptions about God.

I think this can only happen if they ignore the fact that it's fictional. A fictional book is primarily for entertainment. It's not meant to present facts, or to replace any pre-existing facts.

[Dee_Robert]

In my place, there is a saying that nothing happens without gods approval. So, maybe god's sons do what he planned for them to do, without even realising it!

This is true, it tallies very well with the concept of sovereignty

According to the Bible, God knew us even before we were born and had planned our futures. Do you mind explaining how "free" we are considering that our paths are already predetermined?

In Deuteronomy, God says he's given us both life and death and urges us to chose life. He knows where the path of death leads and he is the path of life so he knows where that leads.
He plans both because he created both paths and knows their intricacies and where they end.

We are free in the context that its up to us whether we want to follow his way or another way. We are free in that even though He made us and should as the owner of the property force us to do his bidding He let's us do ours.

[SophiaNd]

The statement is rather strange and empty. I don't agree with the context that God the Father is limited by his Children's actions, it's a weird assertion.

[Melisa Jane]

I guess it depends on someone's beliefs. Some Christians believe in these things. However, I find the whole idea of our Creator being a 'father' and having sons is like a polytheism belief. However, the book is only fictional and he is writing to interest people so I think he is trying to entertain more than anything

Polytheism belief...interesting.

I think this is now an issue of religious differences as opposed to the book. I'm sure most religions believe in the creation theory. Our friend here only object to the fact that Adam and Eve refer to God as "father"

[Melisa Jane]

Isiah 46:10 says "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'" Interestingly, the author's stand differs from this scripture. And Psalm 139:4 states that "Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely." Both scriptures seem to imply that God already knew everything that would happen from the beginning to the end when he created man. There is nothing that will come as a surprise to Him. As He has perfect foreknowledge, He can control future events and turn destiny in whichever direction He wants. The author takes a different view which leads to a different interpretation between the state of affairs between God and man.

This is true and scriptural but you must agree that God has given us free will and therefore his actions are held back by what we chose.
Maybe that's what the author was referring to, in perspective.

This is what I thought too. Human actions inhibit God's ability to rescue them when they fall. It's freewill. God wants us to follow him, but he doesn't want to force us.