Exploring Mormon Thought 016-The Attributes Of God Ch 10 - God's Contingent Knowledge
Jul 17, 2017
In this engaging discussion, scholar and theologian Blake Ostler shares insights on God's contingent knowledge versus infallible foreknowledge. He explores whether God can truly know the future if it doesn't yet exist, focusing on perspectives that highlight human free will. Ostler addresses objections to the notion of a God who adapts to our choices, raising questions about divine perfection and worship. Through compelling analogies, he illustrates how God's understanding relates to human experience, making for a thought-provoking conversation.
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God's Knowledge of Future Contingents
- God may not have infallible foreknowledge of future free acts but knows all that can be known now.
- This includes all actual states and probabilities of contingent possibilities, preserving his omniscience in a meaningful way.
God as Master Chess Player
- The view posits God is temporal, knows the present and past fully, and future contingents as probabilities.
- God knows his immutable purposes and has plans contingent on free choices, similar to a master chess player.
Contingent Knowledge Explained
- Contingent knowledge means God's knowledge depends on what actually exists to be known.
- God's knowledge is not logically prior or causal to existence; he knows all actual states and probabilities of possibilities.
