On 2/24/2003 12:32:36 PM, Samuel
Rutledge wrote:

>I believe that what Penny said was that
>we have many options, all of which are
>known as possibilities by the Creator,
>who knows the possible outcomes of all
>these possibilities (e.g. God knows that
>given input x you can do a, b, c, or d
>actions, which will result in v, w, y,
>and z consequences respectively). You
>have a choice, and have free will. God
>simply understands the options which
are
>associated with that choice.

Sure, God knows what results will stem
from which of the possible actions. But
how can knowledge of mere possibilities
give God knowledge of what will actually
occur unless it's somehow
predetermined? The metaphor of God
"looking forward" in time seems to imply
that the future already exists. But if the
future already exists, then it can only turn
out the way that it already is.

And what of
>prophesy? Well, I'd suppose that if the
>Creator was omniscient, it would know
>when a being of free will had made up
>it's mind to do something.

What Palmer challenges is the idea that
God could know the outcome of a free
decision. If it's free, it's not determined. If
it's not determined, then how can it be
predicted with 100% accuracy?

I believe
>what Penny clearly did not say was that
>God did in fact control our decisions.

I didn't suggest this either. I wasn't
asserting that God controls everything, I
was arguing that if God really knows the
outcome of your decisions, then it's hard
to reconcile this with your decisions being
free.

Prof. Borrowdale
borrowdalej@lanecc.edu