Posted by Tamar on September 15, 2005, at 5:37:25
In reply to Re: Adam Eve gained knowledge, but it turned » Tamar, posted by alexandra_k on September 14, 2005, at 19:49:20
Hi Alex
> Not sure that you quite get the problem...
Yeah, I do get the problem. I've seen much theological discussion of this and related questions.
> If god knows what choices people will make, then they aren't free to act differently.
I'm not sure that that the second idea follows from the first.
Perhaps I understand free will as freedom from coercion, or I imagine that God stands outside time and therefore doesn’t know things ‘in advance’, or that God’s omniscience is a matter of ‘middle knowledge’ as Plantinga would have it. Or that God’s knowledge of people’s future actions is contingent.
I guess it’s a matter of how we understand the terms… I think theologically I favour a qualified definition of God's omniscience over a qualified definition of free will. However, others have tried to show that determinism is a modal fallacy. I don't have the philosophical skills to evaluate that claim. Have you come across it? If so, what do you make of it?
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:553832
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050909/msgs/555244.html