The Problem of Free Will, A Theological Problem. Options

[NoSex]

Alright, the purpose of this thread is to discuss the theological Problem of Free Will. So, under common christian theolgy, God is described as being all-knowing (omniscient) and all powerful (omnipotent). Men are also described as having free will. This is at the heart of the reality of theological fatalism. Solving this issue is vital to christian theology as it becomes an inherent contradiction as well as threatening to the christian conception of salvation and damnation.

I hold that God's infallible foreknowledge makes impossible man's free will. If god knows the future, how can we choose our own path?

Discuss.

[*mipadi*]

It's an interesting coincidence that I am in the middle of a book that tangentially deals with this issue. I'm reading Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver. There happens to be a discussion between the main character, Daniel Waterhouse, and Dr. Gottfried Liebniz, the German mathematician/logician, on this issue. There are a couple interesting passages from the book:

"You could as well have asked: are we thinking? Or merely reflecting God's genius?"

"Suppose I had asked it, Doctor—what would your answer be?"

"My answer, sir, is both."

"Both? But that's impossible. It has to be one or the other."

"I do not agree with you, Mr. Waterhouse."

"If we are mere mechanisms, obeying rules laid down by God, then all of our actions are predestined, and we are not really thinking."

– Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver (278-9)

Waterhouse and Liebniz meet later, and Liebniz describes his belief that a living thing, such as a human, is imbued, by his Creator, with cogitatio, which is a sort of "spirit" that represents information and thought. (My description is crude; it's best to read the book, if possible, to get the full idea—see pp. 297-301.) The discussion continues:

"What is your hypothesis, Doctor?"

"Like two arms of a snowflake, Mind and Matter grew out of a common center—and even though they grew independently and without communicating—each developing according to its own internal rules—nevertheless they grew in perfect harmony, and share the same shape and structure."

"It is rather Metaphysickal," was all Daniel could come back with. "What's the common center? God?"

"God arranged things from the beginning so that Mind could understand Nature. But He did not do this by continual meddling in the development of Mind, and the unfolding of the Universe…rather He fashioned the nature of both Mind and Nature to be harmonious from the beginning."

"So, I have complete freedom of action…but God knows in advance what I will do, because it is my nature to act in harmony with the world, and God partakes of that harmony."

"Yes."

– Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver (299-300)