FOREKNOWLEDGE
One aspect of divine omniscience is "foreknowledge" (
The Lord's foreknowledge, as reflected in prophecy, is one of the major evidences of the Bible's divine origin. Foreknowledge, however, does not imply causation. The fact that Jehovah knows man's future conduct does not mean that he directs that conduct. Were that the case, no one would ever be personally responsible for his own actions -- contrary to the explicit testimony of Scripture (Rom. 14:12; 2 Cor. 5:10).
God foreknew the death of Christ (Acts 2:23), but those who committed the horrible deed were responsible for their transgression (2:36-38). Moreover, if God's foreknowledge of events implies that he orchestrates them, and man is thus robbed of his free will, then every command to man in the Bible is meaningless, because the person could not do otherwise than obey or disobey. The Calvinistic theory that God's foreknowledge demands his election of all human acts is an egregious reflection on the character of the Creator. See ELECT.
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