God and the Free Will Problem

One of the properties of God is all knowing i.e. Omniscient. He knows all that is to know, he knows our choices before we even make them.

Some atheists and even theists have raised concerns on God’s ability to know our choices before hand.

The argument goes something like this.

If God knows the choices we are going to make, then we can only make those choices that God has seen us make, hence we do not have free will. And so it seems that everything is predetermined and no matter what choices we make they can only be those choices that God has seen us make.

So a Christian has to either accept that we do not have free will and everything is predetermined and hence we cannot be blamed for our sins, or that God is not omniscient and does not know what choices we are going to make. And by extension God is not omnipotent.

So the question is if God knows what we are going to choose. Then how is that free will?

I must admit that this argument troubled me when I was in high school. It wasn’t until I was having a discussion with a friend of mine of 3 years ago that it occurred that this was one of the simplest arguments to refute.

Let’s take a look at the argument. There is one glaring mistake in the argument that may be a bit hard to spot. If God knows all things and knows what we are going to choose, then by definition, we are still making the choice!

After all, the argument states if God knows what we are going to choose. So the argument does not even take off the ground.

But of course many will not be satisfied with this. So let’s try and tackle the problem. There are about three ways to solve this issue. The easiest approach is:

God is not bound by space and time. He exists outside time. So for him, everything happens in no time. He doe not have to wait for tomorrow to know whether you will decide to play basketball. The argument presupposes that God is bound by space-time and hence, there is a tomorrow. If God sees everything “now” then when your faced with the decision of whether to play basketball or go swimming, for an observer within the universe e.g. your friend, he has to wait until tomorrow to know what your decision will be. But for God you have already made the choice.

God can only see what you freely choose. So if God sees you choose to play basketball instead of swimming, then that’s the choice you made. If you decide to change your mind and choose swimming, then God could not have seen you choose basketball, He would instead have seen you choose swimming.

God knows the future of what the free will creatures choose. Free will does not stop becoming free because God knows what will happen.

Consider this question:

Q. If I have a choice of choosing left or right. Then I can only choose what God has seen me choose? What if God has seen me choose left, can I change my mind and choose right?

If you change your mind then God would have seen you choose right, not left!