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A Remedy for the Problem of Free Will


One way that I often approach problems of free will is by first developing a philosophical grasp on the existence (or nonexistence) of time, particularly what it means to God. Given that free will is profoundly dependent on a certain model of time, I believe it to be the basis of where the argument may lead. If we are to say that God has foreknowledge of our actions, we are then committing ourselves to placing Him as coexistent with our dimensions of space and time: if God created all things, then He must know all things. And if He knows all things, then He must’ve known the night before that I was reading Justice (Sandel) earlier today. 

By assuming the existence of God, we are then saying that God knows all. However, what I think most Theologists don't consider is that God is not a traveler of our time and spacial conditions. He created time, but merely for it to be used as a tool by mankind (e.g. it will take approximately 1.5 hours to arrive to church). Time is merely a necessity for us to function with one another, and even that differs when you visit other locations on our planet (when it is 3 P.M. in Sacramento, it is no longer 3 P.M. in New York). Time is simply a convention, in which God has allowed us to have (sunrise and sunset) in order to create a means of understanding of the world we live in.  I believe Boethius said it best: God is “timeless.” 
Boethius, as I interpreted him, would not agree with the theory of determinism, simply because he argued God as being, not a knower of things prior to its occurrences, but a knower of all things in an eternal present state. Meaning, God did not have prior knowledge of JFK’s assassination, but rather he had knowledge of it, as well as all that is so, when He created all things — simultaneously, as Boethius would put it. Hence, as difficult as it may be, we mustn't compare our day by day lives, lived through our framework of time, to the dimensions in which God rests (being that there is no time in those dimensions). 

 So by this understanding, we must begin to question our natural inclinations of relating to God through means of our understanding of time outside of our universe. Numerous things often raise questions by skeptics of the  argument for the existence of God, including: deaths of innocent children, women who tragically become rape victims, and such horrendous acts that many often find to be contrary to the existence of God, or at least His goodness if He were to exist. The argument goes something in similarity to this:
  1. God created all things.

    2.
  2. Since God created all things, He knows of all things. 

    3.
  3. And since God knows of all things, God knows of all evil.

    4.
  4. Therefore, God created evil.
I believe that this claim is often misunderstood for its true meaning. When we blame God for allowing such evil things to occur in our world, we are, again, mistakenly assuming that God has foreknowledge of things, since God’s observance of our lives through numbers and clocks is independent of time as we know it to be. Hence, we are responsible for our own actions, rather than falsely claiming that God predestined our evil actions, or any evil in the world that naturally occurs. Anytime that God is seemingly intervening in our lives (e.g. miracles, punishment, etc.), He is not acting the same time as we are receiving — Divine intervention, assistance, etc. 
Therefore, I would argue that this general principle gives us a greater advantage as to arguing in favor of the existence of free will, in opposition to the doctrine of determinism, simply because the evidence for free will diminishes when we accept the idea that everything is already pre-programed by God. Although the Christian/Judaic religion seems to hint God’s plans for us (Jeremiah 1:5), free will is unarguably the basis of salvation — he who “believes” will be saved.  
God knew us before we were born only because we are under the conditions of time and space (it could not be understood in any other way). God knows all things at all times, so there was never a past, present or future for Him. Therefore, I have come to argue that free will is unarguably real, and it is crucial to salvation. Lastly, it seems so that, off the basis of this position, we can say that God does not have foreknowledge of X performing Y, given, as I've argued, foreknowledge is impossible. Thus, the beauty of Compatibilism arises for the believer once he refutes determinism and its implications.  






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