Are We Smarter Than God?

[darballz]

Could it be possible for us to be smarter than God? What we learn about the physical, if there is a creator god, was all designed by God, so how could we outdo him in that sort of knowledge? Even when we find ways to manipulate those elements, we're still abiding by the laws of physics.
Can that be the same when it comes to our mannerisms? It was us who found the best ways to behave in order to make a society work- but then again, most animals have some sort of functioning society.
But what about our philosophies, and our inquiries into meaning? I studied Ancient Greek philosophy for a year and their metaphysical journeys go beyond the natural. It was said that the ability to sit and ponder without any disruption for eternity would be the most perfect thing anyone could achieve; pondering made you closer to the gods. In the Garden of Eden, man was given knowledge of good and evil, which left a lot of room for debate and thought. We had the ability to reason, and can reason any bad into a good or the other way around. Does God have that ability? Can he conduct that exercise?
I'm sorry that this is all mixed up and confusing; I haven't thought since I dropped out of school.

 

[LysanderShapiro]

Could it be possible for us to be smarter than God? What we learn about the physical, if there is a creator god, was all designed by God, so how could we outdo him in that sort of knowledge? Even when we find ways to manipulate those elements, we're still abiding by the laws of physics.
Can that be the same when it comes to our mannerisms? It was us who found the best ways to behave in order to make a society work- but then again, most animals have some sort of functioning society.
But what about our philosophies, and our inquiries into meaning? I studied Ancient Greek philosophy for a year and their metaphysical journeys go beyond the natural. It was said that the ability to sit and ponder without any disruption for eternity would be the most perfect thing anyone could achieve; pondering made you closer to the gods. In the Garden of Eden, man was given knowledge of good and evil, which left a lot of room for debate and thought. We had the ability to reason, and can reason any bad into a good or the other way around. Does God have that ability? Can he conduct that exercise?
I'm sorry that this is all mixed up and confusing; I haven't thought since I dropped out of school.

I'm not sure if you were asking these rhetorically or not, but I think they're still good questions nonetheless.

Consider this: our abilities as humans are extensions and gifts from the abilities of our creator--God. When a brilliant human mind comes up with a new idea of some sort, this idea pre-dated the existence of man.

The question of whether God has the ability to reason and ponder is actually a good one. People reason and ponder usually to recount certain perspectives, possibly change their minds on certain views, etc. Does God have the ability to change His mind? Perhaps since He is God, but if He is God, would His mind need changing if it is perfect? It's a paradox.

People often reason and ponder in order to better themselves somehow...but to what standard?

St. Thomas Aquinas mentioned as part of his Quinque Viae argument (in proof 4) that different degrees of perfection are found within the universe, and these degrees conclude there's an ultimate standard of perfection. Therefor, perfection must have a pinnacle, and that pinnacle is whom we call God. So in other words, for us to judge anything anything good or bad, we must compare it against something that is better. Although for this to be anything but arbitrary, there must be something that exists that is the best possible thing -- and that would be God.

 

[aha]

Conservative Christians often argue that God is the only source of moral authority, and therefore in the absence of belief in God, we cannot have morality.
This is fairly easily refuted by, 1) the clear observation that "morality" varies greatly across human societies (both in time and space), which necessitates that morality is subjective; and 2) that leads to the obvious conclusion that humans develop their own morality, oftentimes based on what works to maintain a functioning society.
For me, this is consistent with how I believe God has created us with true free will.

 

[aha]

Our morality comes from our experiences as a social organism. It comes from what works toward functioning societies.

And racism has not always been seen as objectively wrong throughout all human history. In fact, western societies oftentimes cited their Christian faith as justification for their racism.


It means our morality is subjective. Looking across human culture and history, that's a self-evident fact. God's morality however is objective. But as you note, God's morality is not ours. If God simply imposed His morality upon us, then we would not have true free will.

I agree with your observation....

does it mean then: the law of the land during Moses time: moral at that time, as that functioning society at that time?