If God knows what's going to happen in the future, is "free will" real?

Question

God is omnipotent, which means God knows for sure what's going to happen in the future. If what's going to happen is already set in God's mind, do we really have any power to change it? That is, do we really have free will?

I said "if," Chin. We're being philosophical here.

Good point about crime. But focus on the question. God knows the future, and we can't change what God knows. Is there really free will?

Answer 1

I think because we are linear creatures and subject to the order of time, we tend to assume God has the same limitation. Hence questions like "What was there before God?" etc. Yours is a very common question that has no good logical answer, especially if we assume that God is limited by time like we are.

Imagine an infinite and space/time independent person like God. Can you imagine a God that can hold in "His Mind" all past and future, all possible choices you could make, or will make, and have made, all at once? I can't because I am a linear, time-bound person. But if you could, then imagine that such a person could still allow you to navigate yourself through the all the choices and possibilities that have been laid out for you and still "know" both the choice you will make and the ultimate result, while still "rooting" for you to make the right choices? Yeah, it's a stretch for me too.

This question really highlights the limitations of using our brains to conceptualize God. God is beyond our ability to comprehend. God is mystery, and we "know" Him in ways that are deeper than mere brain power. Such logical "tests" of God will always fail.

If you believe that your God should be subject to Reason, then Reason is your real God, your "highest power" and arbiter of all truth. In which case I say, bully for you, hope that works for you. I'll stick with my God and accept that my ability to know Him logically will always fall short.

Answer 2

Perhaps this illustration I used in a paper I wrote will help:

I believe we have difficulty understanding the concept of God’s foreknowledge and we try to insist it means either prescience or foreordination because we think in limited, finite terms. I offer the following imperfect illustration as an example of how foreknowledge can include both concepts. Suppose a playwright were given the ability to create real characters in a different dimension. While these characters would be utterly dependent upon the author, and though the author would exercise omniscient and omnipotent powers over the play, the people in the play would remain real people with the ability to choose for themselves. For the “play” to be real the author would exercise his creative powers in such a way as to honor the freedom to choose he originally gave the characters. Suppose further, this playwright were given the opportunity to “write” an infinite number of drafts before settling on the final version. By the time the playwright would produce this final version, he or she would know how each character would act in connection with every given set of possible contingencies. Thus, as the final version was crafted, the playwright would know, and as the author, foreordain the ultimate outcomes, creating the best of all possible worlds. While it would be true, in one sense, to say that the author sovereignly foreordained the final script, it would be foolish to deny that he or she used in this foreordination the prescience gained from the infinite number of drafts.
God instantly and effortlessly knows all of the possible “drafts” of history. While He does script the final version of it, He does so on the basis of prescience. His creatures remain real people and history remains a real story. The New Testament concept of foreknowledge includes the concept of prescience. God knows in advance those who will choose to receive His saving grace. Therefore, the foreknowledge of God which informs His election of some to salvation does not nullify their freedom of choice.

Answer 3

If free will IS in fact an illusion, and our every action is predetermined, then there is no such thing as crime. No one is ultimately responsible for any of their actions.


edit: Consider also, that without an ultimate moral authority to base our lives by, we are without free will. To make a long explanation short, free will extends from choices before us. But those choices must be accountable to judgement else they are merely, boil down to eventually, nothing more than chemical reactions in our brains, a series of synapses between our neurons. If these ARE our thoughts, then our actions are not in our control. If these FACILITATE our thoughts, and consequently, our actions, then isn't that the very definition of free will? I say absolutely.

Answer 4

If God saw the decisions that we would make, and went back and created us anyway, he would be sending to hell those who made the decision against him, and therefore not only condoning evil, but being the author of it in order that they would be punished. Free will is not possible logically, therefore in Christian terms it can only be called a mystery.

Answer 5

God knows what you're going to do and doesn't stop you if it's the wrong thing to do. He doesn't indicate which choices you should make. you are using your own free will to make the choices yourself. He's hoping you'll make the right choices.

Answer 6

there is NO god !