Gods Omniscience

Question 1

Omniscience

Answer 1

Refers to the idea that God knows everything. He is all-knowing.

Question 2

What is the key question to omniscience?

Answer 2

What exactly is everything?

Question 3

What are the two types of knowledge?

Answer 3

Limited and Unlimited knowledge

Question 4

Unlimited Knowledge

Answer 4

Gods knowledge consists of the past, present and future.

Question 5

Luis of Molina

Answer 5

God knows all possible futures

Question 6

Gottfried Leibniz

Answer 6

Argued that unlimited knowledge was the best of all possible worlds and so could not be another.

Question 7

Critique on unlimited knowledge

Answer 7

• Can God be responsible for evil acts as he saw it coming.

- Do humans still have freewill even though God knows of our every act before it has happened.

Question 8

Aquinas on Gods perspective

Answer 8

Aquinas supports the idea that God knows everything from the perspective the universe is in his creation. The universe belongs to God, so his knowledge is simply self-knowledge.

• Knowledge itself is not physical.

Question 9

Limited Knowledge

Answer 9

Gods knowledge is limited by what is logically possible. However, God chooses to limit his knowledge to value human freewill.

Question 10

Richard Swinburne

Answer 10

Argues that God has limited knowledge. God does not know the future because he travels through time with us and learns as we learn (he is everlasting).

Question 11

Augustine

Answer 11

If God is omniscient, then God must know human actions

Question 12

Friedrich Schielermacher

Answer 12

Gods knowledge is like the knowledge that two close friends have of each other. Intimate but not controlling.

Question 13

Boethius

Answer 13

Argues that an omniscient God foresees the future events. Whether is happens because he sees it or, he sees it because it will happen - is irrelevant.

Question 14

Michael Dummett

Answer 14

1- Divine knowledge and temporal existence:
+ Gods sense of knowledge is different to ours. Our knowledge is more subjective. It is shaped by experiences whereas, Gods knowledge is beyond perspective, includes everything - God knows things in a sense of timelessness.

2- Knowing experiential knowledge:
+ It is difficult to understand how God’s knowledge can include knowing what a non-God experience is like. There is a type of knowledge which can only be achieved through practice. For example, there is a difference between knowing how to ride and bike and how a bike is ridden. One is performed with practice and the other is just general knowledge.

Question 15

Timeless - A temperal

Answer 15

shows that God is unlimited and allows the belief that God is immutable.
For Aquinas and Swinburne, God cannot be both loving and changing.

Question 16

Brian Davies on the problem of omniscience and freewill

Answer 16

There are two problems:
1- If God is omniscient, he must know the past and future events.
2- Gods omniscience mustn’t interfere with human freewill.

Brian Davies concludes to the idea that if God knows that someone will have done such and such if created, and if he knows the person will be created, will he not show in advance what the person will do if created and will that mean the persons actions will not be free after all?

Question 17

John Calvin

Answer 17

Had created the theory called “Doctrine of Double predestination”. This theory states that freewill helps to fulfil Gods primary cause and plan and that God already knows who will enter heaven and who will not. As it’s predestined.

Question 18

What does the idea of predestination argue?

Answer 18

Our life was structured before we were born, God knows about this and he has already decided who will be saved (sent to heaven). In other words, one could behave nobly and still not be saved because they weren’t predestined to be. Although predestination seems unfair, Calvin argues that we shouldn’t question God due to our lack of understanding.

Question 19

A defence on Calvin’s view

Answer 19

We misunderstand the conecept of freewill. Humans can still have freewill, regardless of there being predestination. We still have the availability to freedom which can be acting upon choices and desires.
-God knows our choices and actions, however, we are still in control of our own actions and choices.

Question 20

Critiques against Gods Omniscience:

Answer 20

• Why would God create Satan if he knew what the consequences would be?
• Surely, God would’ve prepared an answer for the contradictory statements that his creation will bring. To prove his actuality.
• What’s the point in creating this world if God already knows the outcome of it? God could be learning as we learn to find the outcome of this world.