If God knows what you are going to say before you say it, how do we have free will?

[Jack Thompson]

It says in the Bible that God knows our every word before it even leaves our tongue. If God already knows what we’re going to do, then how could we have free will?

 

[Lazarus Short]

Deep question! It feels like our will is free, but it's like the infamous double-slit experiment that challenges us to wonder how a thing can be a particle and a wave at the same time, depending on how we look at it.

In the end, I think our will will "knuckle under."

 

[OldWiseGuy]

It says in the Bible that God knows our every word before it even leaves our tongue. If God already knows what we’re going to do, then how could we have free will?

Thought precedes words. He knows our thoughts before we speak. We can change our minds however, thus we have free will. Of course those being used of God will speak the words of God.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

It says in the Bible that God knows our every word before it even leaves our tongue. If God already knows what we’re going to do, then how could we have free will?

Did you ever watch a pre-recorded football game ? Or the coronation of the queen?

DO you know that other people who were there ALREADY KNOW THE END !? SURPRISE! ? Yep, they ALREADY KNOW what the queen is going to do.
Yep, they ALREADY KNOW what the quarterback is going to fumble, or complete a pass.
Yep, they ALREADY KNOW who the winning team is!

 

[Maria Billingsley]

It says in the Bible that God knows our every word before it even leaves our tongue. If God already knows what we’re going to do, then how could we have free will?

Foreknowledge does not mean foreordained therefore our "free will" remains intact.
Be blessed.

 

[zippy2006]

Foreknowledge and Free Will (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

 

[Kris Jordan]

It says in the Bible that God knows our every word before it even leaves our tongue. If God already knows what we’re going to do, then how could we have free will?

Hi Jack,

God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge of all things doesn't negate or violate man’s free will. Just because God knows all things and knows the decisions we will make before we make them doesn’t mean we don’t have the ability to make those decisions of our own free will.

To illustrate this concept, here are a few “human examples” of foreknowledge vs. free will:

• If there is a bowl of candy and a bowl of steamed broccoli on the kitchen table and I tell my 6 year old to choose a snack – I, as the parent, know my child will choose the candy over the broccoli long before they ever make the decision because I know them fully. Therefore, my “foreknowledge” of what they will actually choose does not interfere with their free-will ability to make the choice for themselves.

• Imagine you watched an episode of a reality tv show fifty times over. Because of this, you now know the show from beginning to end - you know what played out in each scene between each of the cast members; you know who interacted with who and when; you know who made what decisions; you know how each cast member’s decisions and choices affected all the other cast members (and the storyline itself), and you know how the episode ended and what it accomplished. Does your knowledge of all that transpired have any effect upon (or limit in any way) the cast members' actions, decisions, or interactions carried out at the time of filming? No. Does your knowledge somehow violate, alter, or negate the things that occurred during filming? No. Does your knowledge remove the responsibility each cast member has for the choices they made during filming? No. All it means is that your knowledge (after filming was completed) enabled you to know what happened and why it happened when it was being filmed in real-time.

When it comes to God’s omniscience, He functions outside of time and space and is not limited by hours, days or years like we are. Instead, He lives in eternity, or in “all things present.” Therefore, He’s already seen the “final-version show” long before filming every began, so-to-speak. He knows the decisions each of us will make throughout our lives before we make them, but it doesn’t violate, limit or negate our ability to make those decisions of our own free will.

Hope that helps!