From: (Anonymous)	Date: March 23rd, 2002 10:12 am (UTC)		(Link)
Omniscience and free will.

The logical argument is valid (in the sense that he conclusion logically follows from the premises) but I do not see how it is sound (because both premises appear to be untrue).

If you are all-knowing, you know your future actions, what choices you will make, and you cannot change them otherwise your knowledge would be wrong

The same sort of argument has been used for alleged contradiction between omniscience and the free will of humanity, and it fails for essentially the same reason. I think you may be confusing “can’t” with “won’t.” It doesn’t logically follow that God and humanity won’t do something because they can’t. For example, suppose I use a time machine to travel from the present to the year 1995. I know that the American people will elect George W. Bush in the year 2000. But this foreknowledge does not imply predestination. I don’t take away the people’s free will simply by knowing what will happen. But what if people choose to vote for Al Gore instead? In that case, I would correspondingly have always known that when I traveled from the present to the year 1995.

It’s the same with God’s omniscience. Let’s face it, either I will eat an apple tomorrow or I won’t. Suppose I choose to eat an apple tomorrow. If God knew it ahead of time, would that remove my free will? No. What if, at the last minute, I choose not to eat an apple? Then God would correspondingly have always known that I wouldn’t eat an apple. It’s like traveling back in time before George W. Bush was elected. Simply because I know that the people would vote for George does not in the least imply that I have removed their free will, just like God knowing who would be elected does not imply that He removed their free will.

From: (Anonymous)	Date: March 23rd, 2002 10:13 am (UTC)		(Link)
Benevolence and free will.

What is the point of saying that God is moral, if God cannot choose to do anything bad?

Again, I think you may be confusing “can’t” with “won’t.” For example, I am not suicidal. I will not kill myself because it’s not in my nature (a nature that I choose to possess). But it doesn’t logically follow that I won’t commit suicide because I can’t. Similarly, it’s possible that God does not commit anything unethical because he chooses not to do so, not because he is unable to do so.

From: (Anonymous)	Date: July 5th, 2002 11:51 am (UTC)		(Link)
You'll hear from me again

First, God is all knowing as you say, but this does not mean that he has a future and knows all decisions in the future. This is because, if he has a future, he has a beginning. But God (At least the true God from the bible) does not have a future because he does not live in any form of time CONSTRAINT, he is FREE from this.

Second,God always makes the most moral choice as you say. In this you are correct. But, GOD IS NOT UNDER/CONSTRAINED BY ANY MORAL CODE OF HIS OWN. In other words, we know morality because we know the goodness of God and its opposite, evil. We can make decisions in terms of more moral, most moral, least moral, and so forth. But God is not under this type of code. Every decision that he makes is equally and perfectly good, because he is the epitome of good. He is good and could not make an evil choice if he wanted to, and if he did, his evil choice would become good. In short, goodness is God and their is no moral code above him. If he chose to do what we refer to as evil, then we would have a new moral code of instead of the one we currently understand, because GOD TELLS US WHAT A MORAL CODE IS AND WHAT IS GOOD AND EVIL. We have a moral code because God set one down.

You must be misinterpreting Free-will as merely the ability to choose but this is not free-will. Rather Free-will is THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE WITHOUT BEING IMPRISONED/CONSTRAINED BY ANYTHING WHATSOEVER SO THAT YOU TRULY ARE FREE.

You try and deny God's free-will by referring to two categories: omniscient, all good God. However, your forgetting something: God's PLEASURE. In this way he is free to create anything he chooses according to his pleasure. One more thing, if there is a God, he must have a free choice otherwise THIS CREATION, ALONG WITH YOURSELF, MUST BE ONE BIG IMAGINARY ILLUSION! If not, then a choice was made to create it along with all of its intricate detail somewhere in the realm of eternity. But if we can imagine it, we must be real: God must therefore have a free choice and made this world according to His purpose and PLEASURE, which is exactly what the bible says he created it for.

From: (Anonymous)	Date: November 5th, 2002 03:55 pm (UTC)		(Link)

You know, I don't know who you are, but some sad day(perhaps when it's too late) you are going to realize how misled you are and how you've had a hand in misleading others. Are you trying to walk in Darwin's footsteps?? If that's ever crossed your mind, know that he went against his own theory before he died and accepted Christ into his heart. God is true and does know what will happen before it happens. This does not mean that He takes away your free will!! He will prompt you to do what is right, or send people your direction to guide you. EACH INDIVIDUAL PERSON MAKES THE ULTIMATE DECISION THOUGH!!!! You can either listen to the promting of the Christ or not. God allows good and evil, but He doesn't cause you to sin. No sin can be in the presence of God. Satan, you know that fallen angel, well he is the one who will prompt you to make those decisions that are not so nice. Such as, blatant killing, theft, lying, adultry.....I could go on and on. Do you actually think that God is going to give you the 10 commandments to follow and then tell you to go commit adultry???? DON'T THINK SO!!! That Vexen, would be a person's own personal lust and desire.

Why don't you do everyone a favor and jump off your bandwagon and go sit in the back of a church and listen with your heart open. Maybe one day you will find the truth and accept it too.

May God open your heart!!!

From: (Anonymous)	Date: February 12th, 2003 07:33 am (UTC)		(Link)
Crazy

Who says that if God new he was going to turn the light on he couldn't change his mind? Do you just think these things up like you are all knowing? If God new he didn't want a light turned on, and he was already going to turn it on, and he wanted to change his mind, he would. He is all knowing, he is all powerful, meaning, he can do what he wants. He is benevolent as well, and if you've ever watched a tragedy in someones life you'd see that something good always comes from things that happen like that, but some people are so self righteous that they just don't swim out of their pity enough to realize it.

From: (Anonymous)	Date: March 5th, 2003 08:36 am (UTC)		(Link)

Vexen, you make a valid point regarding the incompatibility of God having exhaustive foreknowledge and freewill. However, if omniscience is defined as knowing everything that is knowable and if the future is not knowable, then God can have freewill while being omniscient.

Your benevolence argument against freewill makes two fatal assumptions. One, not all choices involve morality. God's decision to create the world, His decision to create mankind, His willingness to provide beyond a persons needs, etc. None of these are moral decisions.

Even when a decision involves morality, there can be than one morally correct choice. For example, a person sins and incurs the penalty of death. God is just, so He cannot overlook injustice. God is truth, so He cannot ignore the penalty He pronounced. Therefore, the immoral choice is to simply ignore the sin. The moral choice is to carry out the penalty. However, there is a third choice. God can pay the penalty to satisfy the justice and the integrity of His word. Then He can offer forgiveness by His mercy and grace. Morality does not limit every decision to one choice.

God's omniscince and morality do not keep Him from having freewill.

From: (Anonymous)	Date: March 20th, 2003 05:33 am (UTC)		(Link)
Our Free Will

Why doesn't God just make us unable to do evil? God gave us free will even if he cannot choose it for himself. If we were given the ability to only do good, we would be God's slaves. Slaves, as seen many times throughout history, wanted to get away from their master to be free. Since he is an all knowing God, he would know this, and gave Adam and Eve, and Christ, free will, we on the other hand do not, you either have faith in Christ or do not, you can call him an evil God for not saving us but it is we who choose damnation, we do not want to associate ourselves with God and it is not possible to forgive someone who rejects forgiveness as we do, without making them a slave.