Isaiah Roman

The Fallacy of Foreknowledge

A large part of the debate between Calvinism and Armenianism is the two words predestination and foreknowledge. In the debate there is a common fallacy of the basic nature and character of God that must be understood.

To say that God has “foreknowledge” is to use a human, temporal term that does not apply to God. This fine, and often unintelligible distinction is incredibly important when it comes to understanding the debate at all.

God is not an eternal being in the sense that he is infinitely old, and has existed throughout all “time.” God is an eternal being because He exists outside of time.

Time is a condition of the existence of the physical universe. Time is nothing more than the march of entropy towards heat death. For example, we mark the amount of time it takes to go from New York City to Orlando Florida. Why? Because the world is spinning around on it’s axis and we perceive the day and the night progressing. We count this time because we know that we only have so many days before we die. Our time becomes valuable because we have a finite amount available to us. It is the law of supply and demand.

God created time. If God created time, he exists outside of time. Therefore there is no foreknowledge except as a reference for us, because to God there is no “fore.” Neither is there a future. Everything is present. We are creatures locked to this temporal existence, in time. We see things as past because we are moving towards our own death. The future is the end of this body. The past is the beginning of this body. Neither have bearing on the person of God.

By the same token there is no “predestination” in the sense that God set out a plan before time and we are now all just pieces in a cosmic play carrying out that design.

There was, and is a plan designed by God for His creation, and this plan was in place “before” the creation, but there is no reason to believe, scripturally or logically, that God is not currently active in that plan, molding and changing the events and circumstances of this universe to fit His will.

The simple truth is that God has perfect foreknowledge because He can see all of the universe, and all time within the universe, at one glance. Even this metaphor is imperfect because it must use temporal references to be understandable to the human mind. Yet, the metaphor does hold true to the essence of the truth. The important thought that stems from this is that to deny God the ability to change creation is the ability to deny God’s sovereignty over this creation.

The sticky part about that is the concept that God might have to change His mind about His plan, perhaps because He made a mistake, or a circumstance arose that He had not accounted for, but that is not possible. This is why the phrase “perfect foreknowledge” was invented. God knows everything, but He knows everything past, present and future. In fact, he knows all possible permutations of what would happen based on every circumstance. This is why His decisions to change things in our frame of reference cannot influence His overall plan for the whole of creation; He will not make a decision that logically contradicts His existing plan.

Imagine the universe as a frisbee. You pick it up, you play with it, you bend it, you put it away. That is how God is to the universe. He made it, he molds it, he uses it, and he will eventually put it away. The same is true of people. God has, throughout all history, used both the righteous and the unrighteous to His own pleasure. He has even used Satan to fulfill his will from time to time. All creatures (everything that is not God) are subject to God’s sovereignty. This universe and everything in it was created by God, for God.

From here we begin to understand the subtlety of the plot. God made creation for His own pleasure, from His own righteousness. Yet, God did something special within creation that stands apart. God made man in His own image.

God made man as an object of love, with the ability to understand and exhibit love. God made special exemptions in creation for the introduction of love as a foundational principle of existence. While God uses both the righteous and the unrighteous to suit His purpose, He has condescended to allow men a part in the plan of creation.

We cannot create, except from the gifts that God has given us within creation. We cannot save, except by leading others towards the one who saves. We cannot destroy, except to deny the principles of love. We have a temporal reflection of the godhead within our very existence. God has called us little gods, not because we have influence over God, but because God has given us influence over creation. This influence is limited within God’s will, for God’s purpose, because of and within the boundaries of God’s righteousness. Yet, men have petitioned God to stop time, call fire from the heavens, release the wrath of nature, provide understanding and wisdom and wealth and power; and from time to time God has granted these things at the request of righteous men, not for the purposes of the men, but for the purposes of His will.

This universe and everything in it was designed from the template God made before the foundation of the universe; the Christ. The Christ is the only reason for the existence of anything, because the Christ is the necessary component of righteousness that allows for the redemption of the universe.

When you have love, you have to have free will. Free will means that you have to have a real choice. Calvinism proposes a false choice. You don’t really choose God, God chooses you, but to a Calvinist you don’t have any part in the choice. God doesn’t ask; he takes. The very concept of “irresistible grace” is that God gives you “an offer you can’t refuse.” Refusing an offer from God is stupid, but that’s not the context of the Calvinist. The context is that God makes it impossible for you to do anything but choose Him. God uses His insurmountable will to force your willful decision and you have no possibility of refusing. This isn’t love. It’s cosmic slavery, rape, theft.

God is not sovereign in that he must necessarily force you to his will. God doesn’t need you, or me. God’s righteousness is not contingent upon our salvation, or our redemption. God could and will go on just fine without us in Heaven. Rather, God has chosen to condescend to offer us, through his grace, the gift of his love. In his righteousness, and for the righteousness of his creation, He offers us the opportunity to be reconciled to Him. God didn’t break the covenant, we did and we do. He is the agent of free will. He offers us the choice. Love is a choice. If you don’t really have the choice to accept, or deny then you don’t really have a choice. If, however, you have a real choice, you only have a couple of options; forgive, or never forgive.

The choice can be a one time only offer, or it can be a continual offer. If it is a one time offer then there is no need for recompense, for forgiveness. You have one shot. If you don’t make it then it’s game over. However, when you have a continual offer you must have a measure for the relationship. What standard do you use to establish a relationship? What rules do you use to bind the parties involved? By what measure do you judge the righteousness of the members of the relationship? What is the measure of and price for forgiveness?

You judge that measure by the most righteous member. God’s standard is perfection. There is no higher measure. Unfortunately, we are the created. We can never achieve God’s standard. So, God made a way to make up the gap between us and Himself; the Christ. This is the reason why “he also did predestinate” us to be “conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,” because he “did foreknow” that we would need that righteousness and he did foreknow that there would be those who would accept, and those who would reject, and he knows who is which.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
– Ephesians 1:3-12 [my emphasis added]