Thursday, March 14, 2019

Free Will and Omniscience, A Problem?

Dear Apologist, if God knows everything I'm going to do before I do it, am I really free? 

The Christian faith holds that God is omniscient, meaning He knows literally everything which can be known.  As the psalmist says:
"Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely." - Psalm 139:4
This can lead people to wonder about the nature of human freedom.  After all, if God knows everything I'm going to do - (even whether I'll be saved!) - am I not just running out a script like a player piano?  I can't do anything other than what God foreknows I will do... so what choice do I really have?

This question, as difficult as it may sound, isn't as much of a problem as you'd think.  You can overcome it with a simple thought experiment:
Suppose you had a flying time machine.  You pilot it to Miami Gardens, Florida on February 4, 2007.  In other words, you're returning to Super Bowl 41. 
Now, you're a Colts fan and you've watched this game many times before.  You know every play.  But now you're going to see it as it happens, hovering invisibly in the rainy night sky. 
Does your knowledge of this game and its outcome take away from the choices made by the players?  Is Peyton Manning any less free because you're hovering in the air knowing precisely what he'll do?  
Not at all.  He's down there shouting nonsense on the offensive line, and your perfect foreknowledge changes nothing. 
This shows how God's knowledge doesn't - (of itself) - negate human freedom.  God knows everything we'll freely choose, but we're still making these decisions.







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