Arminians go on to argue that libertarian free will is consistent with divine foreknowledge. The Gospel Coalition supports the church by providing resources that are trusted and timely, winsome and wise, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, foreknowledge does not affect future certainty; it assumes it. That may be a good hunch on his part, but as long as I have the power of contrary choice God has no way of knowing for sure that I will not reach behind the waffles and grab the french toast. What makes God so sure that I will choose the waffles just because they are in front of the french toast? What does it mean to be free? He has authored numerous books, including Just Do Something. God simply looked into the future and saw what my choice would be. God simply IS. If you can look into the future and see that I will choose waffles tomorrow, all you have done is seen the future. If God knows that fifty years from now Canada will invade the United States, it matters not (for our discussion) if God knows it because the event, 50 years away for us, is present to God. Our prayers should include praise, and also thanksgiving for all the good gifts God gives us. Your knowledge of this did not cause my choice, but your infallible certainty about the waffles proves that yesterday窶冱 breakfast cannot be other than waffles. Hence, free will (as Arminians understand it) does not exist even if it be argued that God窶冱 knowledge is timeless. It’s for us. Any certain knowledge of a choice proves that the choice itself is fixed and cannot be otherwise. Local: 704-401-2432 It just means that God can see what we will freely choose -- because that is what we freely choose -- and knows what it is. God has a perfect and never-failing knowledge. Let窶冱 put these terms in a typical scenario. It is up to my free will to decide. If God knows everythin… If we make the analogy fit a God who stands outside of time and can experience the past, present, and future simultaneously, we can imagine that God is watching (and experiencing) on his cosmic VCR all my breakfasts from eternity to eternity. But arguing for God窶冱 timelessness (which is a proper thing to argue) does nothing to help secure libertarian free will. You are quite right to argue that knowledge of an event does not make that event necessary. Some Christians affirm omniscience but deny free will (Calvinists).ﾂ� Other Christians try to affirm both (Arminians).ﾂ� It’s no secret that I’m a Calvinist so it will surprise no one that I agree with the middle sentence.ﾂ� I think open theism is a grave error.ﾂ� But given that it is very much a minority position among Christians, I am not concerned about it in this post.ﾂ� My reflections are focused on the disagreement between Calvinists and Arminians. In other words, God has the property of existing. Does God know everything that is going to happen in the future? We know for certain that“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his u… February 28, 2011 All events must come to pass as God knows them because they are to a timeless God … It's got to be frustrating, all … God cannot lie, and when He makes an unconditional statement about what will happen in the future, He does so knowing that He has the wherewithal to bring it to pass without overstepping the free will of any human being (which is also something that, by His nature, God cannot do). It holds then, if God truly knows all things and if he ordains all things, then everything that happens to us must happen as part of his plan. Time is irrelevant to God, as is space. Since God窶冱 perfect plan is for me to choose the waffles he manages the circumstance such that I will choose the waffles (i.e. We know from Scripture that God is omniscient, which literally means “all-knowing.” Job 37:16; Psalm 139:2–4, 147:5; Proverbs 5:21; Isaiah 46:9-10; and 1 John 3:19–20 leave no doubt that God’s knowledge is infinite and that He knows everything that has happened in the past, is happening now, and will happen in … The Bible indicates that God is sovereign over the world and nothing happens apart from His plan. God窶冱 knowledge is certain, but my choice is in no way necessary or fixed; it is free and can be otherwise. God does not look into the future per se because all of history past, present, and future happens for God in the eternal now. Nothing can occur other than how God knows it to be. Kevin DeYoung (PhD, University of Leicester) is senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, board chairman of The Gospel Coalition, and assistant professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte). As the Psalmist wrote, “His understanding has no limit” (Psalm 147:5). What if you discovered that all the choices you thought you made freely were mapped out in advance? What matters is that God knows the event with infallible certainty. Arminians and Calvinists (although not Openness theologians) believe that an omniscient God has foreknowledge of what choice I will make. It is a fixed and necessary consequence that I will eat waffles and not french toast. The Episode Of David And Saul Scripture gives the following episode. -1 Corinthians 13:12 A Solid Foundation in the Storm of Life The universe was created to display God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), and the wrath of God is revealed against those who fail to glorify God (Romans 1:18–25). God may try to arrange the situation such that the waffles are in front of the french toast, but he can窶冲 prevent my wife from getting up before me, eating the french toast and putting the french toast box in front of the waffles. We were chosen in Christ from the foundation of the earth (see Ephesians 1:4 So when it comes to foreknowledge the same applies. God … Home God’s sovereignty casts no shadow over the prayer of adoration. Further, the very idea that God “already” knows what we “will” do in the future is human, time-bound thinking, and a misunderstanding of how God knows everything. Some believe He knows everything that will happen but He doesn’t always cause it (especially sinful things). According to God’s will: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ‘Sitting Quietly with God’: A Reflection from Will Graham, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201 If it could be otherwise, then the possibility exists that God in his foreknowledge is mistaken. If everything is in God’s hands, then He is required of everything. And if my choice cannot be otherwise, then I have no free will in the libertarian sense. Take our Eggo example. Someone at this point may raise the question 窶弩hat about middle knowledge?窶� According to middle knowledge, God does not determine human choices but he does create the circumstances necessary to actualize these choices. The Bible teaches that God not only knows everything that will happen, He also knows everything that could potentially happen. 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