DAY 65
CHALLENGE
“If God is outside of time and knows everything that we’re going to do, then we don’t have free will.”
DEFENSE
Knowing about an event does not mean causing it. God can know about things people choose without depriving them of free will.
It’s true that God is outside of time and knows both our past and future choices, but this does not determine them.
Consider: You know about many events in the past—in your personal history, your family history, and world history. But your knowledge did not force any of them to happen. They occurred, for whatever reason, and you just happen to know about them.
Some occurred because of the choices of others. For example, your father may have chosen to enter a particular trade. But your knowledge of his trade does not reach back in time and force him to make this choice. It doesn’t deprive him of free will.
You might object that we are talking about the past, but the same applies to the present and the future. Suppose that you know of a place where, right now, someone is singing a song. Your knowledge does not force the person to sing.
Or suppose that you are standing on top of a building, and you see two cars about to collide in the street below. Your knowledge of what is about to happen does not cause it. The choices of the drivers were what led to the accident.
Whether we are talking about the past, the present, or the future, knowledge of an event does not force it to happen or deprive those involved of free will.
Neither does God’s knowledge of events. God dwells in an eternal now outside of time. All times are equally present to him, and he knows what people choose to do in those times, but his knowledge of what people choose does not make their choices unfree any more than our knowledge of their choices does.