If God Foreknows Our Choices, Can We Choose Differently?

If God infallibly foreknows a person’s choices then doesn’t that mean the person cannot make any other choices? The belief that God’s foreknowledge cannot be falsified which most Christians hold has lead some to conclude that our choices must necessarily be what God foreknows them to be. These conclusions are both logically flawed and contrary to scripture.

To begin with, there is no logical reason to conclude that God’s foreknowledge necessitates those things which He foreknows because knowledge is not causal. Knowledge itself possesses no power to make things to happen, and if God’s knowledge of the future does not cause the future then it does not necessitate the future. Foreknowledge does not fore-cause. This is true just as knowledge of present events does not cause present events. You presently know that you are reading this article, but your knowledge is not causing you to read it. It is not as though your present choice to read makes your reading necessary. Instead, your reading is caused by your choice to do so. Choices are agent caused; not knowledge caused.

God knows future choices but that does not mean He determines those choices. Foreknowledge and predetermination are distinct concepts. God’s knowledge that Jack would choose to eat an apple rather than an orange did not cause Jack to make that choice. His choice was not made necessary. Therefore it does not logically follow that God’s infallible foreknowledge makes our choices necessary.

However, what does logically follow is that God’s foreknowledge makes our choices certain. But certainty and necessity are very different ideas. If God knows that we will choose something then it is certain that we will choose it, but it is not necessary. God’s foreknowledge means that Jack’s choice was certain, but it did not make it necessary. Jack could have chosen to eat the orange. But if Jack had chosen to eat the orange then God would have foreknown that instead

Let’s analyze it further. Suppose a man, call him Davis, can choose either to read book A, book B, or book C, and he chooses to read book A. God foreknew that Davis would choose book A. But God also knew that Davis could have chosen book B or C. Considering this illustration, there is logical coherence in all statements, demonstrating that foreknowledge of a choice does not logically exclude the ability to choose otherwise.

Now let’s consider it from a theological standpoint. What does the Bible actually say about our freedom to choose? (I’m assuming in this article that God’s infallible foreknowledge is already conceded, and therefore I will not present biblical evidence of such. Most Christians believe this, though there are some [“Open Theists, for example] who would deny it.) Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians in regard to their temptations:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13 LSB).

Of significance is the word “able.” Paul says temptations to sin come with the ability to endure. It is explicitly stated that if we have succumbed to temptation and sin, we were able to have refrained from sinning. This alone settles the issue from a scriptural perspective

• Knowledge is not causal.

• Choices are agent caused; not knowledge caused.

• God’s infallible foreknowledge does not determine or cause the choices of men.

• God’s foreknowledge means our choices are certain but not necessary.

• Certainty and necessity are different concepts and should not be conflated.

• The Bible plainly tells us that we are able to refrain from sinning in any given situation.