Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom: The Coherence of Theism : OmniscienceThe ancient problem of fatalism, more particularly theological fatalism, has resurfaced with surprising vigour in the second half of the twentieth century. Two questions predominate in the debate: (1) Is divine foreknowledge compatible with human freedom and (2) How can God foreknow future free acts? Having surveyed the historical background of this debate in "The Problem of Divine Foreknowledge" and "Future Contingents from Aristotle to Suarez" (Brill: 1988), William Lane Craig now attempts to address these issues critically. His wide-ranging discussion brings together a thought- provoking array of related topics such as logical fatalism, multivalent logic, backward causation, precognition, time travel, counterfactual logic, temporal necessity, Newcomb's Problem, middle knowledge, and relativity theory. The present work serves both as a useful survey of the extensive literature on theological fatalism and related fields and as a stimulating assessment of the possibility of divine foreknowledge of future free acts. |
Contents
THEOLOGICAL FATALISM | 11 |
REDUCTION OF THEOLOGICAL TO LOGICAL FATALISM | 27 |
SUGGESTED ESCAPES FROM FATALISM | 42 |
Grounds for Affirming Bivalence of Future Contingent | 58 |
Timelessness of Truth | 69 |
WITHIN ONES POWER | 75 |
THE ALLEGED LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY | 94 |
The Logical Objection to Backward Causation | 100 |
WITHIN ONES POWER ONCE MORE | 158 |
TEMPORAL NECESSITY | 172 |
NEWCOMBS PARADOX | 205 |
FOREKNOWLEDGE AND FREEDOM OF GOD | 222 |
MIDDLE KNOWLEDGE | 237 |
IS THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY | 279 |
NOTES | 287 |
The ATheory and Backward Causation | 317 |
PURPORTED INSTANCES OF RETROCAUSA | 113 |
Tachyons | 120 |
78 | 127 |
Precognition | 131 |
Time Travel | 139 |
Conclusion | 333 |
| 337 | |
| 354 | |
| 356 | |
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Common terms and phrases
A. N. Prior action actual world affairs agent Alvin Plantinga analysis antecedent Anthony Kenny argues asserts B-theory backward causation Cahn cause change the past choose claim consequence counterfactual conditionals counterfactual dependence counterfactuals of freedom creaturely freedom decree deny divine foreknowledge doctrine Dummett effect entails example Excluded Middle exist foreknows Freddoso future contingent propositions future events future-tense propositions God's belief God's foreknowledge God's knowledge happen Hence human freedom Ibid idem intuitions Jones Journal of Philosophy Keilah logical fatalism logically impossible means metaphysical middle knowledge modal Molina Newcomb's Paradox notion objection obtain occur omniscient one's power particle Philosophical Review Pike Plantinga possible worlds precognition prediction present Principle of Bivalence prior problem reason refrain regard retrocausation seems sense simply soft facts t₁ t₂ tachyons Taylor temporal necessity temporally necessary tense tenseless theism theological fatalism timelessness tion true or false true propositions truth value