A story already written?

Just a quick thought today about predestination vs. free will. It’s a not uncommon argument that if God knows everything that’s going to happen, that that somehow means we don’t have free will. That reality is already written and we’re just working from a script.

Well, if I see a child reaching for a live power line and I don’t stop that child, I pretty much know what the future is going to be. But in no way have a removed the free will of that child to electrocute himself.

It’s a crude example, but applicable. First off, just because God knows what we’re going to do doesn’t mean we didn’t choose to do it. If God can see the future, that doesn’t mean he made that future happen.

Second off, I’m not entirely sure he needs to know what our individual actions are to know what’s going to happen. Does God really know every single thing we’re about to do, or does he just have enough of a long-term view and enough experience with reality to know that despite what some individual folks do, certain things are going to play out in a certain way regardless because of the mass of humanity pushing things forward?

Finally, maybe God can know everything that is going to happen but chooses not to. Sounds weird, I know, but maybe He chooses not to know what I am going to do five minutes from now so that He can be surprised. But perhaps he can move forward in time to see what events transpire when needed or desired.

Again, just some random crap. I didn’t really expect to be posting today, but Miz Pink says she has something a bit more detailed in mind than her previous posts and needs another day or two. 😉