Is God "subject to" or "outside of" time?
When there is a disagreement about the compatibility of genuine "free will" and God's "foreknowledge" of human choices, I think it usually reveals a difference in thinking about God's relationship with time.
If you are operating within the philosophical framework that sees God as subject to time, then it would be plainly illogical to you that someone could speak of His "foreknowledge" of events: Before an event happened it would be by definition "unknowable." Of course, the question of bible prophecy must then be explained. You would see two varieties of prophetic statements in the bible: the instances when God explained to a prophet what He intended to do, and the instances when God predicted the most probable action of other actors.
If you are operating within the philosophical framework that God stands outside of time, then foreknowledge is no stumbling block. You envision God standing off and viewing the timeline within its entirety: from His vantage point God can see everything we have done, are doing and will do. Of course, the evidence of God's occasional interactions with us (creatures in time) must be explained. You would allow that God frequently enters into time and voluntarily becomes subject to it in those instances.
I would be very interested to know what the people who have disagreed about the free will/foreknowledge debate think about God in relation to time.
If you are operating within the philosophical framework that sees God as subject to time, then it would be plainly illogical to you that someone could speak of His "foreknowledge" of events: Before an event happened it would be by definition "unknowable." Of course, the question of bible prophecy must then be explained. You would see two varieties of prophetic statements in the bible: the instances when God explained to a prophet what He intended to do, and the instances when God predicted the most probable action of other actors.
If you are operating within the philosophical framework that God stands outside of time, then foreknowledge is no stumbling block. You envision God standing off and viewing the timeline within its entirety: from His vantage point God can see everything we have done, are doing and will do. Of course, the evidence of God's occasional interactions with us (creatures in time) must be explained. You would allow that God frequently enters into time and voluntarily becomes subject to it in those instances.
I would be very interested to know what the people who have disagreed about the free will/foreknowledge debate think about God in relation to time.
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