How can an all-knowing deity be regretful?

[alexiscurious]

Genesis 6:6-7:
And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Why is the omniscient supreme being of the universe showing regret and disappointment in a decision he made? He surely knew how his creation would turn out before he created them. These verses seem to indicate that he does not know everything?

 

[Bobinator]

When my children misbehave, I feel bad and pretty angry too at times. But my kids are the best things that ever happened for me and my wife. And I feel that every day.

 

[Inkachu]

Genesis 6:6-7:
And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Why is the omniscient supreme being of the universe showing regret and disappointment in a decision he made? He surely knew how his creation would turn out before he created them. These verses seem to indicate that he does not know everything?

Knowing what's going to happen doesn't mean that He doesn't experience what we'd call feelings or emotions as those things occur. Feeling regret when mankind descended into debauchery in Noah's day doesn't mean that God didn't know it was going to happen.

 

[oi_antz]

Genesis 6:6-7:
And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Why is the omniscient supreme being of the universe showing regret and disappointment in a decision he made? He surely knew how his creation would turn out before he created them. These verses seem to indicate that he does not know everything?

The living bible says this

5 When the Lord God saw the extent of human wickedness, and that the trend and direction of men’s lives were only towards evil, 6 he was sorry he had made them. It broke his heart.

I guess it is quite a natural response, if you think about what He apparently prefers. This could really take us to the topic of predestination/perfect foreknowledge. So you are suggesting that God knew this would happen before He even made Adam and Eve. If that is the case, do you think also that before He even made Adam and Eve, He would have seen this happening (notice first and fifth word of the translation I quoted)? I can imagine so, and that would lead me to further ask, if He saw this happen before He made Adam and Eve, do you think His heart was broken by this, before they were made? If God is able to perfectly predict everything that happens in His creation before it is been made, then what is the point, purpose or reason for going ahead and doing such a thing that would make His heart be broken for real?

This is a very nice verse to look at, you can discover a lot about who He is, by considering this and by finding the answer to that question.

 

[aiki]

How would one express the thoughts and feelings of a perfect, omniscient, all-powerful God to beings who are as incredibly limited in every respect as we are? Well, it seems to me that speaking of God in terms we can understand, even though they are only very rough approximations of the actual truth about Him, is going to be necessary. Obviously, assigning a very human feeling like regret to God is not an accurate description of what He truly feels, but it is the closest we can get from our limited human vantage point to an accurate description.

Selah.