How can omniscience and free will be recociled Essay

How can omniscience and free will be recociled - Essay Example Therefore, if God is omniscient, then He has the knowledge of what mankind will do in the future. The activities that he will undertake in coming days are already known by Him. Hence, the question of free will in human beings arises. Because God knows everything, then human beings do not have free will. In its definition, free will is described as the ability to make voluntary choices. It is the ability of an individual to choose something without being influenced by other factors. For example, God knows what you will do tomorrow or a day later or even know what you are going to request Him in prayer so that your wishes can be fulfilled. Because of the idea that God is omniscient and thus knows everything in this world that takes place, human beings do not have the choice of doing what they want, whenever they want to or in whichever manner. This is because their actions have already been pre determined by God. This idea that God controls all our actions right from being formed in the womb and being born into the world until our dieing days, has made some theologians state otherwise. They say that God knows everything but his omniscience is one that does not predetermine the actions of His creation. This has thus given rise to two types of omniscience in trying to describe God. Total omniscience was the first description of God. ... In this ideology, God before creating the Universe had already prepared the destiny of His creation and therefore some people have already been chosen to enter heaven on judgment day. This eliminates the idea of free will in humans in determining their destiny. An example of this idea that God exhibits total omniscience is evident in the Bible. In the book of Jeremiah chapter five, in verse five it is said that before we were born, God knew us as before putting us in our mothers' wombs. This statement by God shows that He already knew what His intentions for the world were. The other definition of God is of inherent omniscience. In this definition, God is described as limiting His ability in knowing everything by choice and thus favors the aspect of free will in humans. In the Biblical book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30, God allows free will in humans by stating that He has given them the choice between life and death. That if mankind abides by God's goodness he will enjoy eternal life in heaven. If he is devoid of goodness, then he is bound to leave his life after death in hell with Satan. Hence, the definition that God exhibits inherent omniscience is what is upheld by many theologians and other religious people. If He only showed total omniscience, then human beings would not have the ability to make their own choices. Everything they do would not be voluntarily generated but unknowingly fostered by God's command on His creation. (Stewart & Taylor) Because of the inherent omniscience of God, omniscience and humans' free will can be reconciled. God has given mankind the ability to choose his own destiny through the ten commands that were handed down to Moses in Mount Sinai. With the presentation of these commandments, God showed that He does not control the