+++Did you say he is omniscient and already knows? Then do you have free will? And what does that mean, anyway?+++
I don't know if I said. I will say that thats my belief though. The issue of how we can have free will given God's omniscience is a tough question though.
I think we can only make a weak stab at them based on the Creator of our time dimension not being of it or subject to it. Perhaps the Creator is not subject to time at all and can simultaneously see the past, present and future at once. Or perhaps the Creator is subject to a totally different time dimension than ours in which movement in both (or more) directions is possible. So we could have free will within our timeline, but God not being independent of our timeline would know know our past, present and future simultaneously. Okay, that is just speculation.+++
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Atheists take a break: This post assumes God.
If you agree to be true to your terms and conditions, the theology of Omniscience is internally rational.
You don’t have to wonder if God is subject to time or some alternative time. Time is a dimension of the limited nature of the universe. An Omniscient God is by definition not limited, and not subject to limitations. So, the Augustinian type of eternal present is definitional.
Combined with an eternally present being who is Omnipresent, the All Knowing characteristic of Omniscience suggests no limitation of knowledge of fates. The future doesn’t exist as a separate experience for an All knowing and Eternally Present being.
So, then we get to the tough one, free will. It is not a question about whether or not we could have free will, we obviously have free will. The question, however is, how is that rational, given an Omniscient God who is not only All Knowing, Omnipresent, but also All Powerful? How is it that we can be free to choose disobedience of an All Powerful God? The answer to that question is that we can't. It is rational but flies in the face of some religious dogma.
God created us with a condition that is uniquely, as far as we know, human. The condition is a soul centered human being. The condition includes rules that benefit the soul and conditions that are desires for worldly attractions. Another common term used for the rules that benefit the soul is righteousness.
It is God’s will that we freely choose, it is not God's will that we have to obey the rules of righteousness. If we disobey the rules we were given, we have harmed ourselves but not violated God’s Will.
If an All Powerful God willed that we all obey the rules of righteousness we would logically not have the power to disobey that will and would all be Angels.
The purpose: When tested by attractions, we choose to do what we know is right for our soul, or we fail. When you sin (don’t obey rules of righteousness), you don’t disappoint, or harm the All Powerful (That would be a contradiction of terms); you cause harm to your soul, and that is according to his will, you have chosen your fate as he willed you to do. |
