I did not say it was "divinely inspired."


I said that everything that happens is God's will.

Divine inspiration is not the same concept as "God's will".

Below is a simple description of God's will from the Wiki but
it really has little to do with Inspiration. It has to do with
the belief that God controls everything - which is clearly pretty
ludicrous.

I see no evidence that God is directly controlling each individual's
daily life through direct intervention. But this does not mean that
God didn't start the ball rolling or that God does not inspire
beautiful works!

=-=-=-=-=

The will of God or divine will refers to the concept of God as having a plan for humanity, and as such desires to see such a plan fulfilled. Thus the concept of God's will may relate to various religious concepts:

Concepts

Divine law - the concept that man's law follow God's will
Salvation - the concept that claims it is God's will that human beings be saved from death.
Providentialism is a belief that God's will is evident in all occurrences. It can further be described as a belief that the power of God (or Providence) is so complete that humans cannot equal his abilities, or fully understand his plan.
Predestination - a Christian concept of God's will for the destiny of man. Those who believe in predestination, such as John Calvin, believe that before the creation God determined the fate of the universe throughout all of time and space. Predestination is a decree by God that there are certain souls that were previously appointed to salvation.

=-=-=-=-=

None of these things is necessary for Divinely Inspired Works.

As "concepts" go, that has something to do with how human beings understand or conceive them.

But I'm not so sure they are not the same THING.

My response regarding God's will was directly 'inspired' by your post as quoted below:



The definition of divine that has been quoted above when combined with the word 'inspiration' fits the concept of God intervening through inspiration.

On a human level, many seem to believe that God has inspired humans to do good works or accomplish great achievements. If God can inspire such things then who is to say that those good works did not occur without God having inspired humans to behave badly for reasons of his own? Obviously no one knows God's will nor what God might inspire toward his own will's end, if anything.

Of course there's always the possibility that it is merely the individual human concepts of God that serve to inspire and not God himself. Possible?

Why would God inspire/tempt someone to do something contrary to what he has said not to do? What would be the point in telling us not to if he was going to inspire us to do quite the opposite?

James 1:13-17
13Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man
14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

16Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

How so? And the god you're speaking of sounds evil to me. You're claiming if someone mass bombs somewhere killing millions, it was God's will. If someone rapes a 12 year old, was God's plan. So you're also indirectly claiming we don't have "Free will". And everything we do, we are doing God's will regardless of what that one may be doing.

Sure. I can accept both scenarios. I think it is valid to think of
the idea of God as inspiring and motivational and I also think it
is possible to view artistic or beautiful inspirations as God
acting through us as a medium. In fact, I will go further and say
that if it is "merely" the "individual human concepts of God" then
it is not really "merely" but actually it is God in actuality that
is providing the inspiration. The ideation of God being tantamount
to the awareness or presence of God.



I just do not necessarily accept Providentialism or Predetermination
or Salvation or God's law as defined above in the Wiki article. And
feel these concepts are clearly outside Divine Inspiration per se since
Divine Inspiration does not require any of them.

I have always associated the concept of "God's will" with Predeterminism
and Providentialism which seems to me to be clearly nonsense.

Because people cannot reasonably be expected to appreciate the
motivation and purpose of the infinite.

Sin may be a necessary form of activity for example as a method of
learning and advancement of humankind. So it might not be avoidable
even though we as humans could not fully understand the need for it.

We can never presume to fully understand an infinite God.

Yes. It is God's will that every individual has free will to think and act. It is God's will that the law of cause and effect works as it does in this world.

I did not say it was God's plan. The law of cause and effect is working.

It was God's will that it work. God does not take personal interest in every act of violence and God does not reach out and catch people who jump off buildings, nor does he strike dead people who chose to do violent things.

It is God's will that we have our own will. To prevent us from having our own will would be against his own will.

You may not like what happens, you may not like what people chose to do, God may not like what happens, God may not like what people chose to do.

But it is God's will that we have the freedom to do so.

It is God's will that we have free will but it is not God's will that
we will use our will the way we will....



That covers pretty much everything...

It's like life in general.

You just can't control everyone and you can't make them think and behave the way you would like them to.

You would be a control freak.

God is not a control freak.

Yes very true. But that doesn't mean anything and everything you may do is God's will. Just because someone has the ability to do something, doesn't mean they should.

Just leave it at: "Yes, very true."

I did not say "Anything and everything you may do is God's will."

So why do you continue to debate points that I did not make? Are you putting words or meanings in my mouth?

My point is that it is God's will that we all have free will.

I said, that God is not a control freak.

It is God's will that I have (and use) my own will. Also, God lives and has his being in me and in you and in everyone.

God wants free will so he gives it to others.

God lives and has his being in others. When he gives us free will, he gives it to himself.

It is the same as saying that what you do to others you have done unto him.

Yes, we do have free will. We're not robots, nor are we puppets. All free will is, is thought. You have the ability to choose to do something or not to do something. But with giving us free will, that doesn't mean we are allowed to do anything and everything we wish. Just because God gave someone free will and that person chooses to use their free will to kill another, that doesn't make it God's will.

Yes, it does. (That is, if it is humanly possible to do.) But there is always a price to pay for our choices.


If God kills someone, he does it with his own will.
If I kill someone, I do it with my own will.

It is God's will that we/I have free will.

I never said that "free will" means we are allowed to do anything without consequences. There are always consequences for our thoughts and actions.

But we ARE allowed to do anything (humanly possible) that we choose.

Of course we do have to pay the consequences. That is the law of karma and the law of cause and effect or the law of vibration... what ever you want to call it.

What goes around, comes around. You will reap what you sew.

That is God's law.

I do not think an individual's death is inspired by God.
The one God which I worship does not decide on a person
by person or insect by insect or reptile by reptile basis
which one dies and which one lives.

God never kills.

Deaths result from a natural process. A process created
by God but not with direct intervention on a case-by-case
basis.

Deaths are not inspired by God.

But LIVING well is inspired by God. Beautiful living.

I have lots of questions.

Does this mean that you believe inspiration (of God) is all good, beautiful and awesome? Would you say that the natural resources found in/on the Earth are God inspired equally? The oceans, lakes and rivers and all the beauty and utility they offer all life on Earth: inspirational? The thought processes and human labor that have harnessed the water’s utility (damns, fishing, canals, sprinkler systems): all inspirational?

Coal, natural gas, and oil: inspirational? Human development of those amazing items: inspirational. The destruction of echo-systems & bio-systems so that the human population could harness all of this Earths natural resources which has enables the growth and development of our species: inspirational?

Knowledge of both Earthly and universal properties: inspirational? Using our knowledge, to make brick and mortar structures to protect us as we search for safe harbor all around the world: inspirational? Expanding our knowledge of agriculture for hybrids to grow more food in various climates: inspirational?

Do you think Monsanto Corporation is inspired of God?

Do you think the methods we use towards human continuation, growth and development have been and continue to be inspired of God?

Nuclear power – developed by good people for the benefit of human kind: inspirational? Has the benefit outweighed its destructiveness? Was only the benefit inspired of God and what of the waste it produces? Inspirational?

Without knowing what your reply might be, I think it’s obvious that the question you seek responses to has not been clearly stated because you have avoided defining in clear terms what inspiration is in God’s mind versus what humans feel inspiration is.

Can you know what God is inspired by and what that God would consider inspirational? If God is inspired it must be by all it has created. Why would God not be inspired by what humans have created and further why would humans not be inspired by what humans have created?

Adendum to my last post:

If God is the ceator, then would it be correct to assert that everything God created was devinely inspired?

If God created all that is in the heavens and on the Earth would it not have been divinely inspired?

It would seem to me that humans are simply following the example of divine inspiration set out for them which should make everything inspired of human ingenuity likewise inspirational.

Can anyone explain to me in what way humans have not followed God's example?

Can God inspire himself?




Can God inspire himself?