Abstract:
In each one of the well-known Abrahamic religions, notably Islam, Christianity and Judaism, there are two important doctrines which seem to be inconsistent, but nonetheless some religious philosophers like Plantinga try to show that there is no conflict between them. The first doctrine is that God is Omniscient and He has foreknowledge of all that will happen in the future and thus all human actions are determined in His knowledge. The second doctrine is that human beings have free will and they are responsible for all of their voluntary actions. The problem is that if all future actions of a person are determined in divine knowledge, it is impossible for him to change his future and so he is not free. This article will assess some of the solutions given to the problem and it will focus on Plantinga's solution to the problem and then it will unravel some defects of his solution. At the end of this article, a new solution to the problem will be given, in which the free will of human being is confirmed while the nature of divine knowledge is regarded ambiguous to the extent that its changeability or unchangeability is left unknown.
Machine summary:
At the end of this article, a new solution to the problem will be given, in which the free will of human being is confirmed while the nature of divine knowledge is regarded ambiguous to the extent that its changeability or unchangeability is left unknown.
Pike says that though Boethius's claim has a sharp counterintuitive ring, but he is right in thinking that there are some doctrines and principles about the notions such as knowledge, omniscience, and God which, when brought together, demand the conclusion that if God exists, no human action is voluntary.
Because if Johns did not perform the act, it can be concluded that his refraining from performing the action is registered in knowledge of God. But in spite of Plantinga’s view it seems to me that the problem will remain unsolved; because the problem is not related to reconciliation of foreknowledge and human free actions.
The Free Will Defence The atheistic argument against the existence of God is as follows: A world created by an Omnipotent, Omniscient and perfectly good being, say God, should not be containing evil.
It can be said in brief, however, that the main solvation given by theologians and philosophers of the West and the East for the problem of inconsistency between God’s foreknowledge and human free will is that the Omniscience of God is not the cause of that acts which are done by creatures.