Prescience is thought to conflict with human free will on the basis that a choice foreseen might as well be preordained. This depends on the view of just what free will means, though, which is more complicated than one might think. Among those who think there is a contradiction, some theologians/philosophers have let God maintain omniscience and compromised on human free will. Others have stated that since God is wholly outside time, he doesnt know things before they happen, so thats not a problem. Some have come to the conclusion that Gods omniscience is limited so that he cant see the future past indeterministic events such as choices, though this can be accompanied by stating that just this is what omniscience really means, because you shouldnt ask for the impossible. Alternatively, being omniscient means God sees the results of all choices (including the branched results based on other peoples responses, and responses to those responses) which does not exclude the ability to make them. According to one interpretation, while God has complete knowledge of the past and present, he selectively uses his ability to see the future, and thus can be surprised or caught unprepared (by Satans Face-Heel Turn, for instance). So, while he does know much more than humans, he doesnt technically know everything. People in general are not very good at applying such complicated concepts in their thinking even while theoretically accepting them, so a believer in God who states God to be omniscient might not actually think accordingly.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:24:03 +0000
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