This is an interesting discussion by some Lutheran pastors on free-will and salvation. They even discuss Roman Catholic and Protestant differences.
One of the questions at about the 20 minute mark by email was concerning God’s foreknowledge. It was along the lines of if God knows what you’re going to eat for dinner is it possible for you to eat something contrary to what God knows you will have. I think this is slightly the wrong question.
The answer given was that God’s foreknowledge does not determine what you’ll eat. That wasn’t the question though.
The right question is this: Is there ever a point in time at which God does not know what you will do i.e. choose to eat for dinner?
What do you think?
Mark
tagged as free will, Issues Etc. in apologetics,Arminianism,calvinism,Gospel,roman catholic,theology
About the author
Mark is a Christian, husband and father. He is a businessman by day working to support his family while attending seminary in the off hours as he prepares for vocational ministry.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
No, there could never be anything unknown by God- I think even Arminians would agree with me on that. Matter of fact, that is typically as far as they go with God’s Sovereignty-that He knows what we will do with what they consider our free will. Foreknowledge at the very least includes a perfect knowledge of everything future. I understand God to be much more able than simply being the best seer ever, but I think every born one would at least grant Him that.
By the way- ain’t our God wonderful!
Amen to your last sentence.
I’m trying to show the foreknowledge question from another angle. If it is asked whether or not Judas could have not betrayed Jesus after Jesus said he would, then it would be possible that Jesus would have been wrong. Some people see this, understand the issue and immediately deny God’s predestination in this even when the issue wasn’t predestination.
They see their problem so I tried to re-frame the question. Since there is nothing at any time that God doesn’t know we are going to do from God’s perspective we aren’t “free”. This puts all of our future actions from God’s perspective as fixed. This ends up showing that we cannot do something contrary to what God knows we will do.
Mark,
Hi Mark, this is Brad Williams from Sojourner. I got your note that said you had tried to contact me. I left my email in the box above. Hopefully, I didn’t get something from you earlier and delete it! Sorry bro!
Thanks,
Brad
[rq=5869,0,blog][/rq]Human Cloning and Stem Cell Research
Hello Brother Mark….just thought I’d exercise my free-will and come over and see what God already knew I was gonna do when I saw your post title at the end of your comment at SBCVoices wherein you and I are engaged in a conversation on how mean I am not.
[rq=6665,0,blog][/rq]ACCUSATIONS OF LEGALISM ARE LIKE THIS:
lol..thanks for stopping by, sister. Sometimes I’m not mean.
Mark, reee-lly? I’m glad to hear that.
.-= selahV´s last blog ..ACCUSATIONS OF LEGALISM ARE LIKE THIS: =-.