Unfortunately, you are misrepresenting my position. You wrote:
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As I stated before, I disagree that this passage upholds open theism. God, due to His omniscients, knows ALL beforehand. Your post contradicts itself. Earlier you stated that YahWeh had perfect foreknowledge, and then you attempt to use this passage to show otherwise. I don't understand. I don't see any reason to interpret the passage to mean God isn't omnipresent.
I ALSO disagree that Jeremiah 7:31 upholds Open Theism. I do NOT believe in OT; I believe it is aberrant, and not orthodox Christianity. Ok?
I know OTs use that passage, but the reason why I cited it was to ask you whether God decreed (unconditionally), before the creation of the world, that the people should sacrifice their children?
In response you wrote:
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Yes. God foreordained to allow those things to happen. However, let's take the other side. What if those things can't be controlled by God?
Ah! So you believe that God foreordained those sinful actions in the sense that he ALLOWED them to happen. Well, I agree with that! But the inconsistency within Calvinism is now obvious. They believe that everything which happens ("whatsoever comes to pass") is the result of God's eternal decree (Westminster Confession of faith + 1689 Baptist Confession). This decree, according to Calvinists is unconditional, not based on his foreknowledge. This is seen in the quote you cited from Albert Barnes:
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That God has a purpose or plan in regard to human affairs. If he had not, he could not predict future events, since a contingent event cannot be foreknown and predicted; that is, it cannot be foretold that an event shall certainly occur in one way, when by the very supposition of its being contingent it may happen either that way, or some other way, or not at all.
In other words, God foreknows because he has causally determined / foreordained. And now here is the inconsistency of Calvinism: If God merely foreordained to ALLOW the people to sacrifice their children to gods, God would have to have known beforehand (foreknowledge) that it would happen. But then God's foreordination or permission (allowance) of sinful actions is based on his foreknowledge, it is contingent on human actions, and God's decree is conditional.
So which is it? Did God foreordain the sacrifice of children by causing it to happen, based on an unconditional and efficacious decree? Or did he foreknow that it would occur AND ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN? As soon as Calvinists use terminology such as "permission" or "allow", they are contradicting their divine (dark) decree doctrine!
Please don't get upset by what I've written here. My intention is not to slam what you believe, but just to point out the inconsistencies within Calvinism which I battled with for many months.
