Attributes of God - God's Omniscience and Human Freewill - an Everlasting God??? According to Ockham

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  • Created by: Alasdair
  • Created on: 12-05-17 10:14
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  • God's Omniscience and Human Freewill - an Everlasting God??? According to Ockham
    • Kenny and Swinburne
      • Kenny rejects logic of saying God knows all time in one 'simultaneous moment'
      • Swinburne agrees saying biblical ideas fit in much better with an Everlasting God.
      • He argues that God knows all that is logically possible to know - free actions are yet undecided therefore it is NOT possible for God to know them.
    • William of Ockham (b.1288) disagrees
      • Accidental necessity - he makes 3 key points:
        • God is in time
        • Humans are free
        • God knows the future
          • To maintain omniscience
      • God knows everything in present linear time frame....
        • He knows ALL causes and therefore he can 'predict' what will happen in short term future.
        • If God 'knows' (can predict) today (Monday) what I will do (freely) on Wednesday then tomorrow (Tuesday) it becomes 'accidentally necessary'
        • In this way Ockham claims God can also know the future without determining it
    • Vardy sees a problem
      • Ockham denies God's knowledge is dependent on his creatures.
      • However, surely what causes God to know that I chose to have beans on toast for tea is my decision???
      • Vardy says it would be ok to say:
        • God is in time AND knows future because humans are determined
        • OR God is in time and DOESN'T know future because it hasn't happened yet.
      • But...he cannot hold onto all three claims because they are contradictory.
        • And when Ockham is challenged to explain how it really is possible without either compromising human freewill or God's omniscience, Vardy says he retreats behind 'mystery'.
      • Ockham says: "Freedom is not freedom unless its total."
        • Vardy argues that he contradicts himself.
    • Summary of Ockham
      • His purpose is to preserve God's omniscience (what he 'predicts' will happen) without undermining OUR freewill
        • Trying to overcome perceived contradiction between us having freewill and what God 'knows' is happening WITHOUT FAIL
        • He does this by limiting God's knowledge of what WILL happen to short-term knowledge.
          • Summary of Ockham
            • His purpose is to preserve God's omniscience (what he 'predicts' will happen) without undermining OUR freewill
              • Trying to overcome perceived contradiction between us having freewill and what God 'knows' is happening WITHOUT FAIL
              • He does this by limiting God's knowledge of what WILL happen to short-term knowledge.
                • So, today what God 'predicts' becomes 'accidentally necessary' tomorrow.
          • So, today what God 'predicts' becomes 'accidentally necessary' tomorrow.

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