Does the existence of God negate freewill?

Question

If God exists and is omniscient, then he would know everything that were to happen before it became so. And therefore if God knew everything, then existence becomes predetermined. And if existence is predetermined, how could freewill possibly exist?

EDIT 1: Sorry, I don't believe I have it backwards. If God does indeed know beforehand what I'm going to do, then it's going to happen regardless. Freewill is but then an illusion. Sure, one may believe that I made a conscience choice to ask this question, yet if God knew that I would indeed ask this question before I had asked it, how would I have been able to choose not to ask the question? I obviously couldn't, as there was no choice to begin with. Thus freewill is negated.

If I have freewill, then God would be unable to know what I would do before I did it. Thus God is not omniscient or doesn't exist.

EDIT 2: Sorry, you still don't appear to understand logic here. We either CANNOT have freewill or God CANNOT know the outcome of everything. It's one or the other.

If God gave me freewill, but he knows what choice I'll make, then it's not really freewill as I never had a choice. For example, if God knows the outcome of a baseball game will be 5-3 for the home side, then any choices and decisions made leading up to and during the game will have no affect on changing the outcome. The game will end 5-3 regardless. Therefore freewill is non-existent. However, if the game ends at a score different than 5-3 for the home side because of freewill, then God did not and could not know the outcome, because he wouldn't know what choices we'd make. Therefore God is not omniscient and therefore is fallible (or doesn't exist). Get it?

An omniscient God cannot exist with freewill.

EDIT 3: Using Xerxes I's example, if God gave Cain freewill to decide his actions, then God could not have known what action Cain would have chosen. If God knew what action Cain would ultimately choose, then Cain had no real choice as events were going to play out that way regardless. God cannot "know" the outcome of events and allow freewill. If God knew Cain would ultimately murder his brother, then Cain would have no freewill. He would be unable to change his mind and not murder his brother, because if he did so, God's knowledge of the outcome would have been wrong.

An omniscient God and freewill contradict each other. Only one or neither may exist, not both. It's simply a logical fallacy.

Answer 1

I believe that the existence of God, assuming 'he' is omniscient as claimed, does indeed negate the concept of free will. In fact, I know it does. I wish you better luck with a good answer than I got a short time back. (Not looking too good so far) It's as if they just don't understand the question.
Ref. - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArZxWubKOilDkDmYWSF_1Dvsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071028145239AA1x4co

Answer 2

God gives everyone the right ... to be wrong. It is not a matter of what God already knows (the out come), but what we humans come to both, learn and know from the experiences we all, encounter. God does give us free-will or He would have not allowed mankind to re-establish himself on the earth, after the great flood (Noah & family). God knows already, that the human race will end up on the verge of complete annihilation unless He sends His Son, Jesus Christ back to the earth, to save them. The important thing, is the experience for humans to learn by. Learn what ? Life lived selfishly, without retaining God within the "picture", results ultimately, in people screwing up the earth (hence, Global warming, food shortages, disease pan demics, nuclear war, etc.) . It does God no good to only know this ... people have to come to internalize it ! That is why life lived has pain ... to teach us cause and effect. God simply, chooses NOT to intervene YET ... until we learn we need a relationship with our Creator. Our existence is predetermined but freewill is allowed by God to acquire experience on our behalf, by our choices.

Answer 3

It's a cop out. Jesus sure didn't hide the fact that he walked on water and performed all these miracles. It would make more sense if God showed himself, because then people could make a clear decision whether to serve Him or not. Right now, we can't even figure out if He EXISTS, let alone get to the next step of whether we want to serve Him or not!

Answer 4

Do you know the meaning of what you have asked?
You know you have a free will every time you make a decision. You have options for every decision you make. You make that choice by your free will.
If you have a decision to make about a right or wrong issue, your free will again makes the choice to do good or evil. If you obey God, you will choose to do right every time. If you go with your free will, you will make an independent decision outside of the will of God; unless you have received the new nature in accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior; Jesus comes to live in your heart; then your free will aligns with the will of God and you no longer have to struggle between choosing to do wrong or to do what is right; you will automatically lean toward doing what is right.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life."

Answer 5

Yes, God gave us a free will. And it does not mean that God has predetermined our existence. There are times however that, there are happenings that we cannot control. That is unseen occurrence as called in the Bible. Unseen occurrences are not predetermined by God. They are chance that happens. God may know what will happen to us. But does not mean that he control our courses in life.

Sometimes, we are the ones that are responsible in control our courses. Some happenings will result good. But some bad. These bad courses of life happens because we may choose the wrong path. These is the result of the im- perfection that we inherited from Adam. Adam became imperfect because he choose not to obey God. And God make him imperfect and grow old and die. He do these as a sentence for him for not obeying him(Romans 5:12). So God make provisions so that if we choose the course that God directs it may have a good result in our life. But even sometimes we fall because of unfortunate events because still of imperfection and unforseen occurrence. But we can approach God for help to strengthen us.

Sometimes God intervines because he has a plan fo his peoples. Like the Israelites. Intervining with them means unfortunate for other nations. Of course, other nations serve other gods. but they are false gods. God does not like what they are doing thats why, he God Jehovah wants them to be destroyed. Those nations do not want to obey God because they blocked the fulfillment of God's purpose for not permitting the Israelites(God's people) to cross there land, route to the promised land. Even those people in the promised land are serving false gods thats why God destroyed them.

Take for example Cain and Abel. Cain choose a wrong kind of offerings before God. Thats not all, he is jelous of his brother because God Like Abel's offering. God does not like the attitude of Cain, and He warned him that if he continue of that course there is a bad end waiting to happen. Did God predetermined what will happen to Cain. No Cain choose his path. God love Cain because he warn him. But Cain rejected God's warning and love for him. Thats why bad end happen to him.

Answer 6

Even in the abscence of a god, there is not neccessarily free will. There are many reasons for this, and I hope someone with more time than I puts some of them up here.

Answer 7

Did you have the freewill to write or not to write this question? Sure you did. Did God, or anything for that matter, force you to write this question? No. God didn't tell you to write it. God didn't tell you not to write it. It was all left up to you. ....Enter free will...........

Answer 8

Just about everything negates the existence of free will. Only the fact that we experience one point of time (at a time) gives us that feeling.

Answer 9

No, the non-existance of free will negates God.

Answer 10

Not. Just because God knows everything already, doesn't mean we don't have free will. We do have it and that is why you see so much evil going on all around you.