________________
Omniscience : Determinism and Freedom
127
future possibilities, in a word, everything. The second reason for God's omniscience is His omnipresence from which no one can escape whether he ascended into heaven, lay down in sheol or sojourned at the furtherest limits of the sea.1
(3) Now, a serious consequence might follow from such a position, “when God created man, He foresaw what would happen concering him,"2 for to confess that "God exists and at the same time to deny that He has foreknowledge of future things is the most manifest folly... ...one who is no prescient of all future things is not God."3 If we say that God foreknows that a man will sin, he must necessarily sin. But "If there is necessity there is no voluntary choice of sinning but fixed and unavoidable necessity."4 So also Locke says, “If God exists and is (essentially ) omniscient, no human action is voluntary.”5 Boethius also says, “If God is omniscient, no human action is voluntary."
(4) Now, one may say, if we apply the concept of omniscience to human beings, the results will be all the more devastating. But it may be pointed out that "God compels no man to sin, though He sees beforehand those who are going to sin by their own will."? Hence, it may be argued that divine omniscience cannot entail determinism. For in stance, an intimate friendc an have foreknowledge of another's
1. Theology of the old Testament, p. 89; Cp. Jer. 23 : 23-24;
PS, 139 : 11-2; Samuel, 23 : 27-28; 23: 9-13. 2. Calvin's statement : Institutes of Christian Theology, Book
III, Ch. XXI. 3. St. Augustine's Remarks : City of God, Book V, Sec. 9; See
also W. Paley's Natural Theology, Ch. XXIV. 4. St. Augustine, The City of God, Book V, Sec. 9. 5. John Locke, Essays Concerning Human Understanding,
Book IV, Ch. XXI, Sec. 9.11. 6. Boethius, Consolatio Philosophise, Part V, Sec. III. 7. St. Augustine, De Liberto Arbitrio, Cp. Fredrich Schleir
machar, The Christian Faith, Part I, Sec, 2. Para 55.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
