Foreknowledge Without Determinism

A number of philosophers and theologians have argued that if God has knowledge of future human actions then human agents cannot be free. This argument rests on the assumption that, since God is essentially omniscient, God cannot be wrong about what human agents will do. It is this assumption that I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sophia
Main Author: Rockwood, Nathan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Netherlands [2019]
In: Sophia
RelBib Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
FA Theology
NBC Doctrine of God
NBE Anthropology
Further subjects:B Free Will
B Fatalism
B Divine Foreknowledge
B Divine Attributes
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:A number of philosophers and theologians have argued that if God has knowledge of future human actions then human agents cannot be free. This argument rests on the assumption that, since God is essentially omniscient, God cannot be wrong about what human agents will do. It is this assumption that I challenge in this paper. My aim is to develop an interpretation of God's essential omniscience according to which God can be wrong even though God never is wrong. If this interpretation of essential omniscience is coherent, as I claim it is, then there is a logically consistent position according to which God is essentially omniscient, God foreknows what human agents will do, and yet it is possible for human agents to do otherwise. Thus, the argument for theological fatalism fails.
ISSN:1873-930X
Contains:Enthalten in: Sophia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s11841-017-0623-8