How can God know the future and I still have free will?

Question

From any Christian viewpoint (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Christian Orthodox) explain to me how God can know my future and me still have free will? I've been explained it a thousand times in the classic Minority Report format. (EXAMPLE: If Person 1 throws a ball at Person 2. I know Person 2 will move or catch it). But this doesn't take into account the fact that you don't have absolute control over the situation, you didn't create the inertia that will move the ball, you didn't create gravity which will pull the ball down, you didn't create human intelligence that tells us being hit with a ball hurts, and finally yours is just a guess, you don't actually know the future, what if person 2 is a moron and chooses not to move, you're theory of predestination is shot.
Like did He know I'd type this:oegopewoiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I didn't even know I was going to type that.

To comment on what Martin said; I see free will as the option to do as I please, if it's set in stone (i.e. fate, destiny, Gods plan) then how can the choice be mine?

Answer 1

First off, God does not know the future of individuals.

Read the proof: (2 Chronicles 32:31) God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

Thus individuals have free will. It is the world at large that is fated to be destroyed in Armageddon and replaced with God's paradise.

See this page for more:
http://bythebible.page.tl/Predestination-Debunked.htm
http://bythebible.page.tl/How-Prophecies-Work.htm

If someone should say that God knew Christ future, then please read how it was done:
http://bythebible.page.tl/Fate-%26-Free-Will.htm

Answer 2

It all comes down to one single element of God's supposed existence: omniscience.

If God is omniscient, he knows the future. The only way this can be possible is if the entirely of history and future is running along a set path. If the fate of the entire universe is already mapped out, then God knows what we are going to do. If he knows what we are going to do, do we have the power to do something else?

Better yet - if God created the universe, then at that very moment of beginning, he knew exactly what would result of it. He knew, when it started, all of the violence and the suffering and everything else that he caused by starting it off. Because he knew what would happen when he made it all, everything that happens now is directly *his fault*.

Yet he still sees fit to expect things of us, and send us to hell if we don't follow the rules. There's no point in doing anything about it. Free will is an illusion.

Answer 3

To answer that question, we just have to clarify a couple terms first.

Free Will - the ability to make a decision without any outside influence affecting our judgment.

Will - the ability to make a decision based on influences affecting our decision.

According to the definitions above, "free will" becomes either very unlikely if not impossible. Every decision we make is based on some sort of outside influence. (E.g. we get out of bed because we have things to do. We have things to do because we need to make money, etc)

But let's say we did have "free will" and our consciences made independent choices free of any influences or moral direction. Would God still know our future? Yes, because one of his attributes is being a persona of eternity. That means that He not only knows everything that happens on a time line, He knows everything that happened in that timeline as well. Because He is an entity that is not limited with concepts as past, present and future, this is possible for God.

On a side note, there are many things that don't necessarily make sense with the laws we understand. Examples of this include laws of time when going the speed of light, the existence of life at impossible depths in the ocean or even in some magma, black holes, etc... Even though certain things may seem impossible in the universe, the existence of quarks, universes, and other "anomalies" will always come up and challenge our understanding. If we don't understand something, it doesn't necessarily preclude it from existing.

Answer 4

I think in making your decision to not believe in God, you simply encountered bad theology and figured that atheism was a better logical alternative. I don't believe in free will, either, but that doesn't mean God doesn't exist. It just means that we need to take a look at this a little closer to see if something else fits. Have you taken a look at Calvinism? The "puppet on a string" analogy is a misnomer and not at all what that theology teaches. It might be worth a look before you totally throw Christianity out the window. It's a pretty humbling look at man versus the omnipotence of God, and it makes free will into something that is not at all to be desired.

Answer 5

There is no god.
So, don't even worry.
But I think the way people try to explain it is that, some denominations believe the future is planned out and some don't but god still knows....something like that
but predestination is the idea that everyone born is predestined to go to heaven, or not go to heaven
there will never be a way to know the future exactly because every action or word is so subtle.

Answer 6

Predestination applies to those who God saw down the corridor of time who believe in him. They are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Predestination doesn't apply to everything that happens to every person on earth as if God were to predestinate the result of every action that ever takes place.

In your argument person 1 becomes God for a brief moment and then becomes non-omniscient again. That is where your argument fails. If person 1 isn't God then why is person 1 being used in the argument? Sorry if I appear dense.

Answer 7

I have struggled with this concept over and over again. I have never been satisfied with the answers I've received either. keep in mind I have actually had conversations with people about this topic. the explanations were contradictory, made up on the spot, and just never made sense.

so I was told by a very wise person once "you can't make sense out of nonsense". that's one piece of advice I'm taking.

Answer 8

You seem to be a very inqusitive sort of guy and I find your choices of who to direct your questions to interesting to put it politely. There is one question that must be asked and answered correctly if we want the correct answers to our questions. that question is, how do we tell the difference between the mental voices of the unholy and Holy spirits? Think about it. Until you know the source of truth you are just listening to opinions. what good are opinions to you?

Answer 9

Have your parents (or anyone who might know you extremely well) ever known what you would do in any circumstance? Do they know what choices that you are inclined to make, with any issue at all? God know each of us far better than our parents or friends could ever dream of, and that knowledge of us is part of how he can know the future while we still have free will.

Answer 10

You don't know the future!

Yes, God knows your past, present and your future! You have free will because "YOU" don't know your future, you don't know what the next second is going to bring you, but God does. He doesn't want you to come to Him because of anything other than your complete love and faith in Him. I pray you make the right decision.

God Bless You