How can we have free will if God is omniscient?

God is omniscient and His knowledge is timeless—that is, God knows timelessly all that has happened, is happening, and will happen. Therefore, if He knows timelessly that a person will perform such-and-such an action, then it is impossible for that person not to perform that action.

Is God's omniscience compatible with free will?

If God knows in advance how we will act, it looks as if we cannot act freely because we cannot act other than in accordance with God's foreknowledge. Thus, it looks like God's full omniscience and free will are incompatible.

Do we have free will with God?

Mankind has free will to accept or reject the grace of God. Rejection of the gifts of God is called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (gifts of grace, faith, life).

What are the arguments to prove that God is omniscient?

Some thinkers also argue that God's omniscience includes perfect foreknowledge. From eternity God has known all things that have come to pass and all things that are yet come to pass. He has ever known exactly what things would have come to pass if His immutable purpose had been different from what it is at any point.

What is meant by God being omniscient?

Omniscience is the property of having complete or maximal knowledge. Along with omnipotence and perfect goodness, it is usually taken to be one of the central divine attributes. One source of the attribution of omniscience to God derives from the numerous biblical passages that ascribe vast knowledge to him.

How Do We Have Free Will if God is All-Knowing?

How God shows his omniscience?

Omniscience. Christians believe this all-knowing power goes beyond what we can imagine as humans. God knows if someone loses a single hair, and knows people's thoughts before they speak them.

Is omniscience possible?

That implies knowing what is by definition unknown: the non- existence of unknown facts. Hence omniscience is impossible.

What does an omniscient being know about the future?

If by "omniscience" you mean "knowing the truth value of everything", then of course any omniscient being will know the future of everything. This applies even in the case that you assume that there is one world for every possibility.

What is free will religion?

Free will is a moral, religious, and social concept that is central to philosophy and most religions. It has been argued that the basis of freedom lies in the contingency of natural events.

Can predestination and free will coexist?

Some accept predestination, but most believe in free will. The whole idea of predestination is based on the belief that God is omnipotent and nothing can occur without His willing it.

Do we have a free will?

As a result, today there are different irreconcilable positions about human free will: determinism is not absolute and free will exists; free will does not exist for a number of reasons, first of all (but not only) determinism; free will can exist even if determinism is true (Kane, 2011).

Why is free will important?

It may therefore be unsurprising that some studies have shown that people who believe in free will are more likely to have positive life outcomes – such as happiness, academic success and better work performance .

Is there such a thing as free will?

Yet many philosophers say this instinct is wrong. According to their view, free will is a figment of our imagination. No one has it or ever will. Rather our choices are either determined—necessary outcomes of the events that have happened in the past—or they are random.

What do you understand by free will?

free will. noun. Definition of free will (Entry 2 of 2) 1 : voluntary choice or decision I do this of my own free will. 2 : freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention.

Is omniscience a paradox?

Omnipotence is only one of the attributes of God which has been thought to lead to paradox; another is omniscience. Omniscience seems, at first glance, easy to define: for a being to be omniscient is for that being to know all the truths.

Why is free will an illusion?

Free will is an illusion. Our wills are simply not of our own making. Thoughts and intentions emerge from background causes of which we are unaware and over which we exert no conscious control. We do not have the freedom we think we have.

Is there free will in heaven?

The traditional view of heaven holds that the redeemed in heaven both have free will and are no longer capable of sinning.

Why is free will important to religion?

For most religions insist that God has given human beings free will and thus human beings can choose right from wrong, and that (in some religions at least) wrongful acts are sinful and worthy of divine punishment, while good acts are righteous and worthy of divine reward.

Why did God endow us with free will?

Why did God endow us with this freedom? We can willingly choose to return his love and love others as he has loved us.

Does omnipotence imply omniscience?

If A is omnipotent, A can bring about anything that is logically possible. A's being omniscient is logically possible. Therefore: If A is omnipotent, A can bring about his or her own omniscience.

Is omniscient in the Bible?

The word omniscience means all knowing. Omni meaning all and science meaning knowledge. The word is not found anywhere in the Bible, but the truth of God being omniscient is revealed throughout its pages from Genesis to Revelation.

How can God be omnipresent?

So the first aspect of God's presence in things is his having power over them. The second aspect is having every thing present to him, having everything “bare and open to his eyes” or being known to him. The third feature, that God is present to things by his essence, is glossed as his being the cause of their being.

What is the opposite of omniscient?

Opposite of having total knowledge. stupid. unknowing. ignorant. unacquainted.

Does God have to be omnipotent?

On the assumption that God exists, he has necessary existence, is essentially not temporally limited, and is essentially omnipotent. But there could not be two coexistent omnipotent agents. Thus, on the assumption that God exists, an accidentally omnipotent being is impossible.