Christians: how can you explain free will and omniscience?

Question

How can someone believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God (absolutely crucial for Christian morality) and maintain an idea of Free Will (just as crucial for Christian morality)? These two concepts seem, at least at first glance, to be incompatible a-priori. How can we escape "hard determinism" or "predestination"? Please answer BOTH sides of the question; any cop-outs will be removed.

Bushrod, if I have to make something happen for God, then He is not omnipotent. If he has made up my mind for me, there is no choice for me. God being out of control of any aspect of the world goes against the premise of omnipotence.

Thank you for adding that sense of urgency to my question, Moiraes.

Once again, Dani
You're ignoring the problem of omnipotence.

James Turner,
I'm stating what I know, from my study of Christian Theology, to be the facts about Church Dogma. Hey, I didn't come up with this stuff, someone else thought it up. I'm asking for an answer with some thought in it, one that doesn't blatantly disregard or deny one side of the problem (if that's possible) that is really all I want. So far I have never seen such an answer.

John j,
Can I ask God for a reason to believe in him or is that too "worldly" of me? Do I have to believe in God before I can hear him, like the leprechauns? It seems like believing is seeing, not the other way around; but how do I get to the point of believing? Do I have to be a child learning to talk, logic not quite fully formed, so I can suspend my disbelief?

wow, monkey
You've got some nerve, sir! You accuse Muslims of child molestation and genocide while it is the authority figures of YOUR religion who are famous for these things. You make me laugh and puke at once! Just because my question is too complex for you doesn't mean you have to hate me. If you can't answer me just go back to your unthinking, miserable excuse for a life.

Jdriven,
I do follow. But if my kid grows up some day, I will no longer have omniscience regarding his choices. He will have to make his own way in life, perhaps even disregarding or revaluing the basic rules I taught him. In the Christian picture we never grow up, however, because God never becomes less-than-omniscient; he always knows when we'll disobey him, and we are never allowed to stray from his basic rules. You seem to be saying the natural function of man is to obey, and not to judge is this correct?

trooper7,
I still can't get over the fact that God, by definition, will always know when I will pray, what I will pray for, and what action I will take; so the praying is a done deal before I even start. Isn't this a problem for anyone else?

are you saying that if you don't like to act like a Christian, then you are a masochist?

Abbey,
What kind of "free" will is that!? That sounds like some kind of cheap trick to make me think I'm free when I'm really not, like some kind of "illusion of free will"; oh, wait, that's what it is.

cristina,
Wow, it was so simple why didn't I think of that? Here's why: Even if I buy the idea that God knows all possible outcomes, I still can't get around the fact that he knows the ACTUAL outcome as well. Thus free will is still problematic.

brains 19
That is NOT free will. Don't you understand what you are writing?

Bro Dan,
So the rejects are made for the sake of more perfect projects? Can a reject ever become more perfect? It would seem, from what you've said, that he cannot.

vibe,
You're contradicting yourself. Slow down and think for a minute.

yachadhoo,
Can you tell me some more about how compatibilism achieves its goal? I would read wiki but you sound pretty well-versed and critical.

Sparki77
You seem to be saying, and I think I agree, that an omniscient god cannot allow for dignity or morality. If Christians were able to dump the omni-business that would be fine, but they're not. The problem remains.

Jack the Giant killer said:
"Predestination does not mean that a person will do what God planned for them before time began."
Yes, that is exactly what it means. Look it up.

penster_x,
I agree the early God is pretty anthropomorphic, but I'm more interested in the God of Augustine, Aquinas and Dante: the ideal, theological, "all-or-nothing" God. This is the god that Christians have put their faith in, whether they know it or not.

Duh 2,
Are you saying a certain race of people is "chosen"? That goes against Christianity and forces predestination on us even more.

Answer 1

How about Combatibilism?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatibilism

I agree with Martin Luther, and I quoted his "two sides of the coin" in his book, Bondage of the Will.

I recently asked a question about this, too:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnMGAAssTVnrOXiFGQCAjmvty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071102102937AAn9LM6

God bless!

Answer 2

Okay, I've not read any other answers, so forgive me if I repeat anything. God is in eternity, outside of time. Think of it as a line with a beginning and end (time) inside of a circle (eternity). Now an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God is on the circle, at any point on the circle He wants to be, at any "time" (which, remember, doesn't really exist on the circle) He wants to be. Because He can see all points on the line at the same time doesn't mean that the people on the line are predestined to make a particular choice -- it's just that He can see their choices and knows what will happen. All people on the line have free will to do whatever they choose, and just because Someone on the circle knows what it will be doesn't make it any less a choice -- one of the many advantages to being outside of time (lol).

Have a great day!

Answer 3

Omniscience means God knows everything. But will He know the future of nothing? Before we were created, He set the rules by which we must be qualified. He didn't know who will go this way or that way until we were brought into being. Then, when we came to being, He foresaw who were His. Free will is just our conscious freedom of choice. We are not like automatons that are preprogrammed to think just this way or that way. Now, about misfortunes and sufferings? These are the means by which we are strengthened and honed to become a new order of being. Perhaps we are still in the process of being fashioned. Some will be rejects, others will be good projects.

Answer 4

You assume that that, just because God knows everything, is all powerful, and is everywhere -keeps one from making choices. God's knowledge of something and an individuals choice to do something are not connected. There are those who make decisions based on God being so, and there are those that don't.

Predestination does not mean that a person will do what God planned for them before time began. It means that those who choose to follow God will eventually be conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

Hard determinism??? I am not sure about this?

Answer 5

God's knowledge does not limit our ability to choose. For example, God may know that I am going to choose to answer this question, but does that mean that I have no choice about answering it? Of course not. I'm here by my own free will, answering according to my own conscience. Does that mean that what I'm typing is a suprise to God? Of course not.

God isn't crucial ONLY for christian morality. If God is really omnipotent and omniscient, He is crucial to the concept of morality itself. For if He exists, then any who cling to any moral code other than that which originated from and agrees with Him are false. Without absolute truth, there is no absolute morality, only situational ethics, which is a demonstrably false concept.

Answer 6

God is not omnipresent. It says so in the Bible. Look at the Tower of Babel story. God had no idea what was happening there and actually had just heard stories of sodomy and other shenaniggens. If he was omnipresent he would have known about it. What did he do? He had to sent a few of his boys down there on a fact finding´mission after which he would know if it was true or not. (Sounds a bit like the UN).

Answer 7

Knowing somebody is going to do something (omniscience) is not the same thing as making somebody do something (predestination).

We are created in God's image. God has a will. He gave us a will, too, as a gift of similarity to Himself. This free will is a sign of His love and respect for us.

The parent-child analogy gets kind of old, I know, but I really think it explains it well.

I have three kids. I could force them to do exactly what I want them to do all day, every day by removing their choices and exerting total mental and physical control over their every movement. Or I could teach them that they have the ability to make their own choices, instruct them on the difference between good choices and bad choices, and then little by little give them more and more power to choose for themselves, with me providing direction to help keep them on the "good choice" path.

Which is going to produce the best results? Which is going to build a meaningful relationship between me and the kids that will end up being enjoyable and constructive as they grow older? Which is going to foster mutual love and respect?

Answer 8

Free will is free will its not rocket science. Its as simple as this. You either choose to be a Christian or choose not to be. Just because God knows what His plans for your life are doesn't mean you will actually take that path. Understand, God has a plan for your life as a Christian if you decide to not take that path then what happens is of your own making not His.

It is simple. He has a plan for you and you can either go by it or not. This is what we call free will. You always have a choice even after you accept Christianity. A gunman sticks a gun to your head and tells you to deny God or die. There is your choice it may not be a choice you want to have to make but it is yours to make nonetheless and you still have to live or die with it.

It is funny to me that people of all walks of life can understand something as complex as our own bodies but cannot grasp the idea of free will when they use it daily and don't even realize it. Any time you make a choice even as small as tator tots vs fries you use free will. Why is it that hard of a concept to grasp?

Answer 9

God sees all, knows all, and is everywhere. We have a kind of two-sided free will in my opinion. He knew every moment of our life before we began to live it. But does that mean He determined us to act the way we do? I don't think it does. He did create us each to be the way we are, but at the same time, we have choices, we make decisions. He only knows which ones we will make.

Answer 10

Lol-My dad and I were arguing about that very thing. He said God can choose not to know but in Hitlers case, his 'free will' affected millions of lives and history so there's no way any 'all-knowing' being could not be aware of what he did.
I wonder if that psychology is too complex for them to understand?
Edit: Oh. Of course-tough love. Why, God was just teaching those Jews a lesson. Now I get it! (biggest eye-roll I can do)

Answer 11

1Pe 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. <<<<< APPOINTED TO BE DISOBEDIENT for the purpose of destroying them.

1Pe 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. <<< THis is SPECIFICALLY the remnant of Israyl, see Hosea 1:9-10