Tercel
September 11th 2004, 08:27 PM
Here is what appears to be a logically-watertight argument I have constructed against pan-standard Arminianistic classical foreknowledge...
A quick explanation of terms I want to use:
* Causal Dependence: if A causes B then B is logically dependent on A.
(It is important to separate causal dependence from TIME: Say I decide I want to be a good runner in the distant future, and because of that decision I decide to go running tommorrow (starting my training), then my going running tommorrow is causally dependent on my desire to be a good runner in the future, but it actually happens first in time: I actually go running prior to becoming a good runner.)
* Finalisation: The logical point at which actions or decisions are finalised. At some point it can be said with 100% surety “He will decide at time X to ‘go running tommorow’” and prior to that point it would not be true to say this. That was the point of finalisation. Note that I am not referring to a temporal point of finalisation, but a logical point: It may very well be that all actions were finalised temporally prior to the creation of the universe. That is irrelevant. At some metaphysical logical moment, our decisions and actions have been or will be finalised (ie decided upon for certain). Of course if there is no free will and the entire metaphysical universe merely follows logical necessity, then the moment of finalisation was at the logical begining of the metaphysical universe.
Now that all sounds horribly complicated, but it's not actually very difficult (just hard to explain) and my argument should clarify it...
1) God's actions affect the future of the temporal world.
(God can intervene and do stuff in human history. In doing stuff he changes what is currently happening, and thus what will happen in the future. I’m not trying to say anything metaphysical here, it’s just the obvious observation that God does indeed act and those actions have consequences.)
2) In general if A causally affects B, then B cannot be finalised logically prior to A being finalised.
Now the classical, run of the mill, standard traditional Arminian (non-Molinist) Christian view of the future holds that:
God has knowledge of the actual future, and only the actual future rather than all possible futures, as that would be Molinism. God, it is usually held, being outside time, can look at the world and see it as a 4-D space-time cuboid and thus can see everything throughout space-time. Alternatively it is sometimes held that God just has omniscience by virtue of being God, and can know for certain the actual future. Whichever of these is the case, we get:
3) God’s knowledge of the actual future is causally dependent upon the actual future.
(ie the reason God thinks “the future will be X” is because the future WILL be X, he’s not guessing).
But now, just applying the rules of standard logic, we get.
4) The future is not finalised until God's actions are finalised. (From 1 & 2)
5) God’s knowledge of the actual (ie final) future cannot be finalised until the logical moment when the future is finalised. (From 3)
6) God’s knowledge of the future cannot be finalised until the logical moment when God’s actions are finalised. (From 4-5)
So God cannot use his knowledge of the final future when acting in the world, because he doesn't gain such knowledge until after he has ceased acting.
A quick explanation of terms I want to use:
* Causal Dependence: if A causes B then B is logically dependent on A.
(It is important to separate causal dependence from TIME: Say I decide I want to be a good runner in the distant future, and because of that decision I decide to go running tommorrow (starting my training), then my going running tommorrow is causally dependent on my desire to be a good runner in the future, but it actually happens first in time: I actually go running prior to becoming a good runner.)
* Finalisation: The logical point at which actions or decisions are finalised. At some point it can be said with 100% surety “He will decide at time X to ‘go running tommorow’” and prior to that point it would not be true to say this. That was the point of finalisation. Note that I am not referring to a temporal point of finalisation, but a logical point: It may very well be that all actions were finalised temporally prior to the creation of the universe. That is irrelevant. At some metaphysical logical moment, our decisions and actions have been or will be finalised (ie decided upon for certain). Of course if there is no free will and the entire metaphysical universe merely follows logical necessity, then the moment of finalisation was at the logical begining of the metaphysical universe.
Now that all sounds horribly complicated, but it's not actually very difficult (just hard to explain) and my argument should clarify it...
1) God's actions affect the future of the temporal world.
(God can intervene and do stuff in human history. In doing stuff he changes what is currently happening, and thus what will happen in the future. I’m not trying to say anything metaphysical here, it’s just the obvious observation that God does indeed act and those actions have consequences.)
2) In general if A causally affects B, then B cannot be finalised logically prior to A being finalised.
Now the classical, run of the mill, standard traditional Arminian (non-Molinist) Christian view of the future holds that:
God has knowledge of the actual future, and only the actual future rather than all possible futures, as that would be Molinism. God, it is usually held, being outside time, can look at the world and see it as a 4-D space-time cuboid and thus can see everything throughout space-time. Alternatively it is sometimes held that God just has omniscience by virtue of being God, and can know for certain the actual future. Whichever of these is the case, we get:
3) God’s knowledge of the actual future is causally dependent upon the actual future.
(ie the reason God thinks “the future will be X” is because the future WILL be X, he’s not guessing).
But now, just applying the rules of standard logic, we get.
4) The future is not finalised until God's actions are finalised. (From 1 & 2)
5) God’s knowledge of the actual (ie final) future cannot be finalised until the logical moment when the future is finalised. (From 3)
6) God’s knowledge of the future cannot be finalised until the logical moment when God’s actions are finalised. (From 4-5)
So God cannot use his knowledge of the final future when acting in the world, because he doesn't gain such knowledge until after he has ceased acting.