William Lane Craig Q&A: If God Knows My Decisions How Do I Have Free Will? 

When Craig says “if I refrained from x, G would have known differently” he is not asserting that that actually happens but only illustrating that there are possible worlds in which we act differently and therefore G foreknows differently. If G foreknows x it will happen and will never fail to happen, but it can, and if it does that is what G would have foreknown. This does not run into the same problem as you assert, because whatever G foreknows can fail to happen since G could have foreknown otherwise. This is enough for free will to exist.

@@NationalPK Even if there are other worlds where we act differently, God knows all, therefore, in those "other worlds", we still lack free will.

@@justinc411sure, but aren’t you just assuming what I’m trying to reject here? The point does not depend on Gods ignorance of those other worlds, rather what’s key is that there are such worlds. Besides, the moment you commit yourself to possible worlds, you immediately undermine theological fatalism, because on theological fatalism if G knows the whole set of future events, that set is necessary, therefore there are no possible worlds other than the one G knows. But this notion seems indefensible, since fatalists still haven’t explained how knowledge constrains events to happen, more over why any particular set of events instead of another..

@@NationalPK It's already been explained: If God already knows what's going to happen, then events can't happen any other way. If events can't happen any other way, then there is no free will, because you can't make any choice other than the choice God KNOWS that you WILL make. That's the constraint. It's that simple. You're twisting yourself into knots coming up with these complicated theorem about "alternate worlds". It doesn't work, unless you have a Biblical basis for it.

It’s all quite simple. From the fact that G knows x will happen it follows that x will happen and x will never fail to happen. If that’s right, then x theoretically could fail to happen, this does not mean that G could theoretically be mistaken, only that G could have foreknown differently, since x isn’t necessary G didn’t have to foreknow what He did. I find that to make perfect sense but if you don’t give it some thought

How can something exist outside of time? That's essentially saying that it exists for no amount of time, which means it doesn't exist at all.

@@LWS1989Not necessarily, quantum physics demonstrates that space-time is emergent, but yet quantum information exists.

@@valurimist9861 Quantum physics challenges our traditional understanding of space-time, but asserting something exists 'outside' is a leap, considering the intricacies of quantum information within this framework.

@@LWS1989 A) Time is relative to an observer. B) Time becomes nearly nonexistent to an observer (that is it slows to such a degree it appears to stop) under two known conditions: upon approaching the speed of light, and the event horizon of a black hole. C) Time is not a constant, it only appears to be from our own observation. Our understanding of time is still primitive. It's not that something exists outside of time; it's that time only exists as a dimension within our Universe, and doesn't exist at all outside of it.

@@Thomas-kj1fk Firstly, claiming that time becomes nearly nonexistent to an observer is misleading. What actually happens is time dilation, where time appears to pass differently for observers in different frames of reference, but it doesn't become nonexistent. Secondly, your claim that time doesn't exist at all outside of our universe is speculative and goes beyond current scientific understanding. The nature of time beyond the observable universe is still a topic of exploration, and we cannot definitively conclude that time doesn't exist outside our universe. Our understanding of time is based on current scientific models and may evolve as our knowledge progresses. Describing our understanding as "primitive" might be a bit dismissive and doesn't necessarily reflect the advancements made in the field of physics. If something doesn't experience time, it doesn't align with our conventional understanding of existence, which relies on the passage of time for things to "be."

Wow. It's amazing to me that nonreligious folks would literally rather dishonestly misrepresent a solid statement of logic rather than admit that God is all knowing. Imagine this. God snaps His fingers and creates a Universe. He knows exactly what will happen at every moment in that Universe because His knowledge and understanding is infinitely beyond own, as well as the fact His existence is outside of time. He gives you free will, He did NOT predetermine what choices you would make, but rather KNOWS what choices you will make. Here is the point of your dishonesty: "They did exactly what you made them to do, right?" No, people are NOT doing what God makes them do, they do what they choose to do. And God's infinite knowledge knows what we will do. If you're going to try to make a counter argument, at least do it honestly.

​@Thomas-kj1fk I'll bite. God created everything and knows how everything will play out before it happens (until the end of time), correct? Therefore, everything that happens ONLY happens because God knew it would, and this is all in accordance with His divine planning, correct? This includes any "free will" of individuals, yes? Have I missed anything so far?

​@@Thomas-kj1fkexcept the second he KNOWS what you will choose it has already been determined what you will choose

@@Thomas-kj1fk god couldve chosen to create infinite universes yet he chose the one where you will make the choices you did. Therefore he went ahead and accepted the universe which contains the very specific choices you made. Unless he made infinite parallel universes all at once and then judged the ones he didnt like in which case why not ONLY create the ones he likes so he caj skip the "test"... i think youre choosing willfull ignorance

I'm not sure if this is an appropriate example. But to test it out, let's say a student is struggling with a problem. But you know the student has the tools necessary to solve it. You decide to nudge them in the right direction by giving the smallest hint possible. And when the student thinks about it, everything starts to come together, and he/she puts the work in and solves it. And while you may have had a helping hand by guiding them ever so minimally, the choices made were still theirs. Would that work?

Agreed. The fact that God knows what my future desicions are and therefore predetermined does not mean they aren't determined by us. In other words, our future decisions are not determined by God, they are determined by our future selves.

@@ir0nic303 Mind blown. Lol.

@@ir0nic303 But they are determined, that is the whole point of determinism. Free will states that your decisions are undetermined, and that is logically fallacious.

@@jibblecain No, free will states that your choices are not determined by any factors that are external to yourself. If you define free will as "undetermined" and then see how we also determine our actions, of course you're going to see it as logically falacious.

God’s foreknowledge of our actions is not mutually exclusive with our free will. If WE had foreknowledge, then we would have no free will, but since we do not know what God knows, we are free to choose, but God simply knows what we will choose. Think of it this way. You are watching a recording of a live concert that you attended in-person the day before. Does your knowledge of what happened at the concert (and what “will happen” on the recording”) mean the musicians did not have free will when performing it live? Of course not, that would be ridiculous. You simply have foreknowledge of their actions which they did not have at the time of the concert. God exists outside of linear time, so He has already seen what we will do in the future. As long as WE don’t have access to this foreknowledge, it cannot affect our free will in the present, therefore we are still free to make our own decisions.

@@spencergsmith This is a very interesting example. Definitely made me think.Thank you.

@@spencergsmith I always say that free will isn’t the ability to do or say whatever we want. It’s the ability to accept or reject God’s nature and His existence. We don’t have the free will to choose where we want to be born or what kind of lives we have but we can choose whether or not we accept God’s nature. If we accept His nature, we will walk down His righteous path and given eternal life. If we deny His nature, we will be separate from God and walk down a path of our own but end up perishing.

Maybe He's already seen what we have done... Maybe a simulation, in which We made the choices... but haven't arrived at the timeline yet. It boggles the mind. It's really good your on a search for truth and watching videos like this. I think a lot (not all) of atheists or non-theists tend to be willingly blind and stop searching for truth and don't ever consider any other possibility except what Prophet Darwin says.. And for that, I have much respect for you. I think the discovery of DNA and its incredible complexity is overwhelming proof of a Creator. Something that incredibly complex can not arise from non complexity or nothing, which is ultimately what atheists claim. Because for me it is simple: Nothing produces nothing. Nothing is the absence of absolutely anything, which to me is absurd. We could never in a million years, replicate or create DNA in a lab from nothing OR anything.. Therefore how could nothing do it, since it isn't anything? Atheism is a very scary way of thinking. It says "I know for a fact that there is no God." Yet, I think it takes more faith to believe nothing created, Rather then some infinite mind beyond our comprehension created. Agnostics make more sense to me... They acknowledge that something cannot come from nothing, So they say "I dunno. We need to find out"... The atheist (maybe not all) says "We don't need to find out, because I am CERTAIN He doesn't exist".... So this way of thinking can easily prevent new discoveries from being discovered, through means of a closed mind. But as far as this video, I think the Creator has us trapped in a Box in this dimension (We now know there are extra dimensions with the discoveries of the Hadron Collider) And He exists outside this dimensional box that were find ourselves in... and He (or it, According to Jesus "it" wants us to call it "Father") can somehow see point A to point B... Kind of like looking into a window and seeing the start and finish of a linear line.. It could be that God has so many layers to the box, that even in "heaven" He could see the future as well, as perhaps Heaven is just another box that we couldn't begin to understand... And God is located WAY back in another box/reality, Able to see into that box as well...Maybe realities are like a Chinese box, a box within a box. It's true that He is present in all boxes, but It could be that whatever box Hes really (or maybe it's infinite) He could indeed not predict His own future. Who knows, Maybe one day we can make that scientific discovery. lol... The prophecies in the Bible are absolutely incredible though, especially the 324 about Jesus, from his birth, life, and what happened to him during His death... And they all speak in the past tense, which is very interesting, for example Psalm 22:18. "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." Turns out, that's exactly what the Romans soldiers did.. Truly though, I really don't think were any more capable of understanding time anymore than an ant is capable of understanding time... Nor are we capable of understanding reality.. We understand (somewhat) our reality (Thanks Einstein), but perhaps could never begin to fathom other realities that exist. We don't even know what gravity is... My professor of biology teacher wants me to believe God doesn't exist, yet he can't even explain gravity to me. I'm not sure if your aware... But if you go really fast (like light speed) and circle the Earth a bunch of times, scientists have discovered that you will go forward into time by mere milliseconds. You should look that up, its really interesting. God works in incredible ways though... He would reveal all this though to a mentally handicapped person, before He ever would reveal it the most intelligent intellectuals who say in their heart "How amazing am I. I am so smart and wise and wonderful" The Bible says over and over that He hates people who are wise in their own estimation who think this way and He says over and over that He will bring the them to nothing... That He choose the humble and weak, rather than the proud and strong. A good Scripture that comes to mind is Romans 1 "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, being vain in their thoughts and worshiped the creation (Evolution?) rather than the Creator"

@@gfhjgcv Perhaps He is outside of the box and can see point A to B. Perhaps this is a simulation in which we have already made our choices. We can do this in computer programs as well. NPC's can make decisions; They are their decisions that they made, but we can fast forward to see what those decisions were. It probably is the same way.

@@gfhjgcv God can fast forward the simulation somehow. How, we do not know how, nor will we probably ever be capable of knowing... Or maybe one day after we leave the physical realm of time that we find ourselves confined to, only then will we understand.. God is outside of the VCR tape with the remote and is able to fast forward to see what happens. He is outside of the box of time looking in. He can see the beginning of time all the way until the end of time. "I am the beginning and end, alpha and omega" How God is able to see into the future like this is impossible for us to understand at this point, but we do know that it is actually possible. We know that if you spin around the earth at the speed of light a few times, you will progress into the future, (by only miliseconds, but it proves it is possible) This has been proven and very interesting to research. There are many RU-vid videos of physicists explaining how it works.... But if we are able to replicate time travel into the future on a very small and minute scale, then we know that what the Bible says about God knowing/being able to exist in the future, is actually scientifically possible. There is nothing in the Bible however that says God is able to go to the past... only the future... And we ourselves cannot replicate scientifically going back into time, either... But who knows, maybe the Creator of time can also proceed backwards in it as well? Of course there's nothing in the Bible that states this.. There are still many more things that need to be discovered.

Exactly this doesn’t make sense. He acts as if you can surprise God by doing something that he didn’t know you would do

Low iq post

In other words, your ability to comprehend complex logical reasoning is limited.... Got it.

This thing is kinda easy: it doesn't work. If god have done this: - his not omni powerful, because he cannot do anything about it. - if he have power then he can not react because he didn't know what will happen. This is false according to Christianity, because their god is Omni also in terms of knowing. - if he know and he have power to do something then only option is not having mercy for u. That also is false because christians think he's also Omni in this regard. So their idea about Omni god doesn't work with that we see everyday. If god do not have "bad site" why he would create us with it? It's only one from hundreds things that show us that all-omni god does not exist. Maybe not omni ones exist :)

Yes! What you're describing here is, in technical philosophical terms, the difference between strong and weak actualization. Dr. Craig discusses the distinction here: www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/does-god-cause-people-to-do-evil. - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos I appreciate the source! Thank you brother!

No, your free will depends on God's existence. Without God, you have no free will because everything you do is chemical reactions. Nothing in your life matters. Be thankful God does exist. We don't "try hard" to prove it, we know He exists. It's nonbelievers who try to prove He doesn't.

@@Thomas-kj1fk ooof. spot on!

You saying it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t make it so.

​@@jerardosc9534 it really makes no sense

@@jerardosc9534 so if I’m understanding what the video is saying, he is saying that simply because god knows what you will do in the future doesn’t mean you don’t have a choice. But it does? If you were to watch a movie that has already been directed and filmed and everything, do the characters in the narrative have free will. I’ll ask you, can you surprise god? Can you take an action he couldn’t foresee? If not, how does that not disprove the Christian idea of free will. I’m not denying we have free will, I take issue with the contradiction between all knowing deity and free will

@@Bobin10101 The only workable solution is to deny his omnipresence and thus his godliness. Everything else I’ve found is unconvincing. I would obviously prefer this not to be the case but I can’t see how.

@@Lycidas777 I’ve also been delving into the topic for quite a while myself, I genuinely don’t see any other answer to this question. All I get is false analogies and religious figures talking circles without tackling the crux of the argument.

What God does with His foreknowledge begs the question about God’s nature and character, thus you must seek the answer to the question - what is God really like? Is He good, righteous and just or is He an evil, masochistic and indifferent? I pray that as you probe this question you’ll come to the saving knowledge of the Truth.

Good point Why did god suddenly stop intervening and communicating with humanity. He did so frequently in the past. And why did he intervene so late in human evolution. We existed 250,000 yrs before jesus showed up

Free of deterministic laws of nature, and free to do what is physically possible with your body and mind.

This analogy fails at precisely the most important point, namely it posits a deterministic chain of causation from the agent to the snow ball to the avalanche. This is not the same as God bringing about a circumstance in which he knows what a free creature would do, what it technically called "weak actualization" as opposed to the "strong actualization" of God causally determining something. For more on this distinction, check out Dr. Craig's podcast on it here: www.reasonablefaith.org/media/reasonable-faith-podcast/four-views-on-divine-providence. - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos An omniscient creator cannot create beings without bearing responsibility for their decisions. If Yahweh is real then Yahweh knows who will go to hell and has known since beginning of time. Those peoples fates are predetermined.

@@zaviersimpson7757 Dr. Craig addresses this here: www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/divine-concurrence. - RF Admin

“In all possible worlds that share our past history G foreknows I will do x” Not necessarily, possible worlds could share a past history with the actual world but they don’t have to share a future with the actual world. In such worlds G would have foreknown differently. Rather it is in each world that G foreknows x, x will happen. But this does not mean that x will happen in every possible world.

The affirmation of free will doesn't require that every cause or effect be free. There are many things which happen to us over which we have no control. However, there do seem to be circumstances where the external conditions do not control which choices we make. This is sufficient for free will. Moreover, note that after the blind man was healed, he made a series of free choices: he chose to answer the Pharisees' questions; he chose to tell the truth; he chose to appear to the Pharisees again a second time; he chose to question the motivations of the Pharisees; he chose to respond forcefully to the Pharisees when they denied that Jesus was doing miracles from God. Finally, note that Jesus himself freely healed the blind man. Jesus is both God and man, so it cannot be denied that Jesus was only God acting freely. - RF Admin

//P1 God is omniscient P2 Omniscient presupposes that there is only one possible future C If there was only one possible future, you couldn't choose otherwise (and God couldn't judge you if you sin)// P2 assumes that the content of God's knowledge is necessary, which Dr. Craig denies. God could have created a different universe or elected not to create at all. So, it's not true that there was only one possible future. Moreover, God's merely knowing what we will choose does not eliminate alternatives from being genuinely possible to choose. There are instances in which we *could* choose other than what God knows we will choose, it's just that God knows we *will not* choose other than what he knows we will. - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos If God would be all-bountiful, he would be forced by the Good to do every time the good. Ans so not free. If God had mercy, he never would create a wrold like ours. For all-knowing determinism is nessesery. It is not the knowledge which determines the will but the determinism.

May I ask, how does knowledge of the outcome equal no free choice? Even though he knows what we will choose, we still come to that choice on our own. He was just aware of what that choice we made would be. We still reason based on our current knowledge and speculation at that time, and decide upon something. God is simply aware of all events simultaneously since he created time and is not bound by it. Him knowing what we will choose doesn't mean we don't reason to come to a choice of our own free will. He doesn't choose what we will do for us, it is just awareness.

@@germanshepherd2701 Because even though you have choices we do not have full authority over how these choices are made. Let me explain, from my understanding choices are made from our desires and what seems most logical to us, however, you have no authority over both, you simply are following these subconscious entities. Also, what is logical to the individual might actually be something that is illogical, either to others or just in general, Flat Earthers are a good example. You can not believe or choose to believe something that goes against your perspective, this is unless you are convinced by external forces. However, you can not choose what convinces you either. Can you choose to believe that clouds are made of rain? Can you choose to believe that clouds are not made of rain? Personally, until I got older I believed the children's program superstition that clouds were made of cotton candy until I was convinced otherwise through evidence, both physical and factual. But the reason why I believed clouds were made of cotton candy was because they looked like cotton candy and nothing more, the same could be said for almost any belief without proper evidence. However, for some just factual evidence isn't enough physical evidence must be provided, therefore, in conjunction with the cloud analogy you have to produce a cloud (which is entirely possible through science or climbing a tall mountain) to prove that the unbeliever is wrong. When it comes to desire though an analogy I have is a patient who crashes into the hospital with a frostbitten arm its blue, purple, and agonizing but the patient believes that the medics can still save his arm. However, through further examination, unfortunately, it's confirmed that the arm must be cut off or the patient's health will be at risk. However, through fear and the desire to not lose his arm, the patient refuses the operation, fighting and screaming in protest until the doctors have no choice but to force him under anesthesia. Though it was logical for the doctors to cut off his arm the patient could not choose or consent to it because of his fear and overwhelming desire to keep his already dead appendage. This is the problem with Free Will yes you have a choice but you are completely at the mercy of your subconscious and your environment on how these choices come about. The fact that the subject of free will is even a discussion between the two of us is because we live in a mostly Christian society if we were coming from a Hindusistic or Buddhist society it wouldn't even be a factor. If you were born in a Christian home you are substantially more likely to grow up and believe in the faith than a person who was not atheistic, agnostic, or other religion. God of the Abrahamic bible judges us because we have free will, but considering the fact that you can not change your determined fate because of the limitations that come with your ability to choose, how is it fair that we can be condemned to hell. If god were a truly loving being and does not want anyone to suffer in hell he would appear to everyone in a way that is fully convincing. For me, it might have to actually be physical or maybe a vision and that is a possible cause in the bible not only did God appear and speak to multiple people but Paul received a vision or apparition of Jesus himself. God knew me as a person before i was even born if that is the case then why not appear in a way that would easily convince me? I am not opposed to there being a god I am more opposed to this idea of a god that is given to us strictly with unconvincing evidence that goes against what we already know about reality. The same can be said for many people though they still believe in a god more and more people are leaving religious faiths behind due to many things like an oppressive system, further education, and simply not being convinced.

@@anotherway6427 Even though our choices are heavily influenced by external factors, it does not mean that ultimately, we are not the ones that make the free decisions. You can give me a choice between the ice cream flavors rocky road and vanilla, and I will likely freely choose the rocky road, as I like that one better. But the fact that I like the rocky road better is not the thing that ultimately governs that choice, it is me that governs thar choice. I just use logic and reason as tools to conclude that I will have a more pleasurable experience eating the rocky road flavor, so based on that, i will be more likely to eat the roky road flavor, but the fact that I am more likely to eat it does not mean I am guaranteed to eat it. My point is, we can't equivicate the external influencers to the ultimate free decision. If you were to put me in a different situation and put me at gunpoint saying "Eat the vanilla", It would be very probable that I would eat the vanilla because I know no ice cream flavor is worth my life. But the fact that you are putting me at gun point is just a very heavy external influence. Nothing more. An external influencer just makes me more likely to freely choose a specific option. My free decision may be influeced by external factors, but it can't be caused by external factors. As for God, he knows what I will freely choose given both of those situations. So in a way, yes, my future descions are predetermined, but they are predetermined by my future self, not God.

@ir0nic303 you have no control over the fact that it would be more logical to pick an option. People don't choose to be Christians. They have to be convinced or taught. Same with being atheists. You can't freely choose to be one. If someone provides you an argument that convinces you of something you have no choice but to accept it. Maybe you could like saying you still believe in God or maybe you could lie saying you don't believe in God but your belief is not something you can free change. If I have two options between pizza and burgers for lunch and I choose one it's because of events in my brain that I have no control over. It very well may be that I like pizza more than burgers so I choose pizza. But I can't control that. Or maybe tomorrow I choose burgers despite liking pizza more. If I have a reason for choosing burgers over pizza, lile wanting to mix things up or maybe it's healthier or whatever, then i couldn't control the fact that those reasons convinced me to choose burgers. If my brain doesn't make up a reason for choosing burgers however and it randomly gives me the desire to eat one, I'm not responsible for that either because the thought/desire was random and we have no control over what randomly happens so we aren't responsible either way. Saying we are the cause for something is like saying we are responsible for the morality, beliefs, and desires that we have when we aren't.

@@classbreaker3612 Firstly, there is a difference between being converted and being convinced. Many people have chose to be christians without any intellectual arguement, and then went on to discover the arguements later. And some people leave christianity before even being unconvinced of God. Yeah you cant control whether you are convinced, but you can control whether or not you are converted. (Technically, you can willfully surpress the truth shown, and not be convinced that way, but that is getting into too much details there.) You can't control what influencers influence you. The influencers only encourage one choice over the other and we just use those influencers as guides to ultimately make the choice. If there are no other guides to listen to, then I will be very likely to follow that guide. But 99% of the time there is a different guide to follow. Those desires, beliefs, and conditions are just influencers, some are in competition with each other and some are not. If they are in competition, it is less predictable what I will freely choose. If there is only one influencer (which is unlikely), then I am very likely to follow it. And fortunately, situations with only one influencer are simple ones and unimportant (like which ice cream flavor to choose at Baskin Robin's) and ones in which, frankly, I don't care if my desires are the things that even ultimately govern me. (As long as we have a choice whether or not to eat there in the first place.) But on important, moral matters such as whether or not to steal cookies from the cookie jar, are ones where I also have the another influencer (I know it is wrong to steal), and are matters where I would very much like to have the ultimate say. So, we don't have a say in what our desires are, but those desires are just influencers and don't ultimately cause me to do one thing over the other. It is me that has the ultimate say in what goes and what does not go.

That's called the modal fallacy. It doesn't follow from God's necessarily knowing what you will do that you must do it necessarily. All that follows is that you will in fact do it. This is a well-known concept in modal logic. - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos you can attach a partisan name to whatever argument you want. It doesnt mean its accepted by the entire philosophical community. You will necessarily do exactly foreseen by a being who sees past present and future at the same time. Think about it yourself. X cannot change to y if x has been foreknowledged from the beginning by a being who sees the future. Otherwise the being cannot be defined as all knowing. Period. Cant have both

@@PhsychoSomatic Knowledge is not causal, so what about God's knowing what will happen do you think causes something to happen necessarily? - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos think of it like this, god knows your decisions prior to creating the universe. He couldve created infinite variations of the universe and would know all the decisions you will ever make in every single one of those universes. Yet he CHOSE this specific set of decisions in this universe. So he actually went ahead and created and designed your decisions for you. Unless of course he created infinite parallel universes in which case, how does he know what version of you will he choose to judge? In other words, your true identity is not apparent in this case. Whats worse, he never really needed to create the universe, he simply couldve created loyal well behaved worshippers and went straight to heaven. Its not much of a free will if he threatens not to save you if you dont make specific decisions anyway

@@PhsychoSomatic //god knows your decisions prior to creating the universe.// Since God knows these decisions prior to creation, it's not up to God how you would choose. He's not the one making the decision for you. This is similar to other truths that God doesn't control, such as "2+2=4". But it is up to him whether to create you at all, or whether to create you in the situation in which he knows you would make a particular choice. //Whats worse, he never really needed to create the universe, he simply couldve created loyal well behaved worshippers and went straight to heaven.// This isn't necessarily true. Perhaps in any world in which he creates free creatures, at least one would sin. You might say "Well, he could have created a world without free creatures, but, still, those creatures would behave just as he programmed them." Sure, but that's irrelevant, since we're talking about worlds in which he creates free, morally responsible creatures. Creatures without free will have no moral responsibility. //Its not much of a free will if he threatens not to save you if you dont make specific decisions anyway// This is quite a distortion of the biblical concepts of sin and salvation. The threat of judgment comes as a result of the abuse of free will to sin, not as a capricious and arbitrary demand. If God is perfect, then he must punish injustice. Sin is injustice. Therefore, God must punish sin. But God, in his mercy, sent Christ to bear the punishment on our behalf, and it's up to us whether we want to accept his pardon. So, yes, there is a specter of judgment that looms over sinners. But it doesn't remove our free will to accept or reject God's gracious offer of forgiveness and eternal life. - RF Admin

So God pre-ordained Judas to sin, as part of His plan, but went ahead and punished Judas anyway? Sounds like a great God!

@@justinc411It was Satans work. Judas killed himself. God is wiser and greater than men.

@@solb101 It was Satan's work? But you said it was PRE ORDAINED... by whom? Satan? So Satan can beat God now?

@@justinc411 Some say it was pre ordained. I say it was forseen by God. Judas was tempted by Satan. Your right to believe that the devil cant beat God.

He created the world despite knowing everything that would happen beforehand. He created certain people despite knowing where they’d eventually end up and there’s nothing they can do about it. So he pretty much does cause it by creating them in the first place

but you're still not explaining how he causes it that's like saying if the parents raise up a child and the child dies it's their fault because "they knew he was going to die anyways and there was nothing the kid could do about it anyways". Just because someone knows what will happens, it still does not mean they cause it@@LWS1989

@@LWS1989 He doesn't make your choices, He just knows what choices you'll make. On the other hand, if there is no God, then everything you do is a chemical reaction predetermined at the beginning of the Universe anyway set by a randomly selected permutation. In which case, you don't have free will anyway. So from this point of view, you don't have free will anyway.

@@Thomas-kj1fk I'm not claiming that we do have free will. We have no way to prove it. Are you claiming that we do? Because the idea of us having free will and the existence of an omniscient being that created us is a paradox.

​@@excancerpoikLet's look at some things from the book of Exodus. Did Moses and the Israelites have free will in their choice to cross the Red Sea? That "choice" could not exist without God's divine intervention to part the sea. Did Pharaoh/Firaun and his Egyptian army choose to drown in the Red Sea? The only reason they were able to get stranded in the center of it was because God parted it long enough for them to follow Moses and the Israelites. What would their choice have been if God simply closed it before they had the chance to cross it? Did Moses have free will when he himself closed the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptians that were left stranded in the middle? God commanded him to close it and granted him the metaphysical power to do so. What would Moses have done without the intervention from God? Did the firstborn sons of Egypt choose to die in the aftermath when God killed them via the plague? Where was their free will to live out their lives and find a more positive way to atone for the sins of their fathers?

Video: Is 9 years old Only comment: is 8 days old wut

@@unsightedmetal6857 ahaha GOATED COMMENT

Prove this “god” exists. You must prove your premise before building off of it.

@@DemonDrummer define "prove" I can demonstrate God's existence through logical deduction, but my guess is that you will ONLY accept physical proof. If that's the case, then you can't PROVE many things that modern society assumes are true, such as historical events or the existence of objects in the farthest reaches of outer space.

@@spencergsmith You: *_”Define ‘prove.’”_* Prove, as in provide substantiating evidence that can be imperially tested in a tangible way and have actual, observable results that can be replicated and agreed upon by the scientific community. Prove, as in without the use of ignorance, confirmation bias, feelings, faith, or fallacious logic. Hard evidence. You: *_”I can demonstrate God's existence through logical deduction, […]”_* Fallacious logic? Remember, begging the question fallacies, confirmation bias, watchmaker fallacies, and god of the gaps fallacies aren’t good forms of actual sound logic (not accusing you, just preparing you). You: *_”[…] but my guess is that you will ONLY accept physical proof.”_* Why shouldn’t I? You: *_”If that's the case, then you can't PROVE many things that modern society assumes are true, sucr as historical events or the existence of objects in the farthest reaches of outer space.”_* You do realize there is actual evidence for those things…right? Also, once again, that’s a false equivalence fallacy. Try again? Do better, learn.

@@spencergsmith Sort the comments by newest to see my response.

Why would God's knowing how we would choose diminish his omnipotence? - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos If God is omniscient then he knows everything. As God rules in the world, the "plan of the order of the world" preexists in him. He causes everything to pass in the world. Hence follows predestination. God knows whether I will choose X or Y and he knew it the instant he created the Universe. Suppose he ordained X for me. If God is omnipotent then he has unlimited power. Now I am born and functioning under the illusion that I have free will. The day comes when I will choose between X and Y. I choose X after considerable consideration, which was a waste of time since the truth of the matter is that I didn't have freedom of choice. If I truly had freedom of choice then I could have chosen Y. Doing so would have thwarted God"s plan, proving that his power is limited. Yet, I have free will. Not because God decided to diminish his knowledge or power, but because there is no God.

It's really good your on a search for truth and watching videos like this. I think a lot (not all) of atheists tend to be willingly blind and stop searching for truth and don't ever consider any other possibility except what Prophet Darwin says.. And for that, I have much respect for you. I think the discovery of DNA and its incredible complexity is overwhelming proof of a Creator. Something that incredibly complex can not arise from non complexity or nothing, which is ultimately what atheists claim. Because for me it is simple: Nothing produces nothing. Nothing is the absence of absolutely anything, which to me is absurd. We could never in a million years, replicate or create DNA in a lab from nothing OR anything.. Therefore how could nothing do it, since it isn't anything? Atheism is a very scary way of thinking. It says "I know for a fact that there is no God." Yet, I think it takes more faith to believe nothing created, Rather then some infinite mind beyond our comprehension created. Agnostics make more sense to me... They acknowledge that something cannot come from nothing, So they say "I dunno. We need to find out"... The atheist (maybe not all) says "We don't need to find out, because I am CERTAIN He doesn't exist".... So this way of thinking can easily prevent new discoveries from being discovered, through means of a closed mind. But as far as this video, I think the Creator has us trapped in a Box in this dimension (We now know there are extra dimensions with the discoveries of the Hadron Collider) And He exists outside this dimensional box that were find ourselves in... and He (or it, According to Jesus "it" wants us to call it "Father") can somehow see point A to point B... Kind of like looking into a window and seeing the start and finish of a linear line.. It could be that God has so many layers to the box, that even in "heaven" He could see the future as well, as perhaps Heaven is just another box that we couldn't begin to understand... And God is located WAY back in another box/reality, Able to see into that box as well...Maybe realities are like a Chinese box, a box within a box. It's true that He is present in all boxes, but It could be that whatever box He's really in (or maybe it's infinite), He could indeed not predict His own future. Who knows, Maybe one day we can make that scientific discovery. lol... The prophecies in the Bible are absolutely incredible though, especially the 324 about Jesus, from his birth, life, and what happened to him during His death... And they all speak in the past tense, which is very interesting, for example Psalm 22:18. "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." Turns out, that's exactly what the Romans soldiers did.. Truly though, I really don't think were any more capable of understanding time anymore than an ant is capable of understanding time... Nor are we capable of understanding reality.. We understand (somewhat) our reality (Thanks Einstein), but perhaps could never begin to fathom other realities that exist. We don't even know what gravity is... My professor of biology teacher wants me to believe God doesn't exist, yet he can't even explain gravity to me. I'm not sure if your aware... But if you go really fast (like light speed) and circle the Earth a bunch of times, scientists have discovered that you will go forward into time by mere milliseconds. You should look that up, its really interesting. God works in incredible ways though... He would reveal all this though to a mentally handicapped person, before He ever would reveal it the most intelligent intellectuals who say in their heart "How amazing am I. I am so smart and wise and wonderful" The Bible says over and over that He hates people who are wise in their own estimation who think this way and He says over and over that He will bring the them to nothing... That He choose the humble and weak, rather than the proud and strong. A good Scripture that comes to mind is Romans 1 "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, being vain in their thoughts and worshiped the creation (Evolution?) rather than the Creator"

@@RobRuffMusic I am a psychologist, not a charlatan looking for attention. The discovery that atheism is a logical fallacy has to be news. Is it necessary to explain the importance? Nothing can be more important and urgent. Atheism is a logical fallacy that assumes God is the religious idea of the creator of the creation to conclude wrongly that no creator exists because a particular idea of God doesn’t exist. If you understand you benefit because you know more. And if you don't understand you have to dare to read til you understand. Simply sharing this loving poem the war in Ukraine would end. Future generations would judge humanity and what do you want them to say about you?

​@@MiguelPerez-ty1vb The religious God exists because he is the first uncaused cause. The future of life can be determined because he is timeless, personable, intelligent, and all-powerful. Theism is a logical conclusion based on historic, scientific, logical, morale, and philosophical evidence from the assertion God exists and is the Creator of the Universe. If you understand you benefit because you will know His love for you. And if you don't, you have to dare to pray and search for answers. Simply sharing His truth and gospel the evils of the world would end. God will judge you for what you do, what do you what Him to say about you?

//I don't understand how free will and God's knowledge are connected. I don't get this argument. They seem 2 disconnected things for me. For example, if I have a child and in the fridge at home there is ice-cream and fruit. I know my child well and i know he will choose to eat the ice-cream. I know that but the choice was the childs.// Right. As your analogy shows, the two are causally disconnected, but relationally connected. Given your knowledge about what the child would choose, you could pre-arrange what is in the fridge to guarantee a different outcome without violating the child's free will. - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos let's extend this analogy. I could remove the ice-cream from the fridge, therefore taking away the unhealthy choice from my child. So now my child can only eat the fruit. This is better for him but as a parent, i would like for my child to have a healthy mentality. Because now even though he is eating fruit, it is not by his choice. I am "forcing" it on him. Given the choice, he would choose the unhealthy choice. So then if God created beings that can only obey Him, they would have to be without free will. Meaning, he is forcing them to obey Him and they have no choice but to love Him. Of course this is not love, as these beings didn't choose it for themselves. So i think much like the child and ice-cream analogy. God doesn't want to force us to love Him by removing any other path, he wants us to love Him by our own free will like love should be. I can't kidnap someone and force them to love me. What do you think? Also, i don't know if Dr. Craig would read this, but if he does i just want to say the i love this man and appreciate him very much. God bless you Dr. Craig!

That analogy doesn’t work because you wouldn’t actually know what the child would choose. You wouldn’t KNOW that the child would choose the ice cream, you would just be making a prediction based on your understanding of the child's preferences and past behavior. Your prediction however could still be wrong due to unforeseen circumstances or the child's changing preferences. But when we talk about an omniscient God, we're talking about a being who knows everything, including the future, with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY. This means that if God knows what choice we will make tomorrow, it's as good as already happened from God's perspective. So, if our choices are already known and certain, then we don’t have true freedom to choose differently. If every decision we make is already predetermined by God's knowledge then we can’t possibly have free will.

@@LWS1989 the analogy was to show that foreknowledge is not God causing you to do something. There is a distinction between God knowing what you are going to do and Him causing or forcing you to do it. If i watch a video of a basketball game that already happened and i know the results that does not mean i caused the results. The players had full free will playing the game.

@@nuramgad128My point is that it’s a failed analogy because you’re describing predictions based on your understanding of the child rather than true knowledge where you couldn’t possibly be wrong. Completely different thing altogether, because true knowledge of future events does in fact affect free will because we don’t have the freedom to choose differently if it’s all predetermined. Your basketball analogy doesn’t work either. In the case of watching a recorded basketball game, the outcome is already determined because the game has already happened. Your knowledge of the outcome doesn't affect the players' choices or actions during the game because it's in the past. However, when we talk about God's omniscience, we're not just talking about knowing the outcome of events that have already occurred. We're talking about knowing the outcome of events that are YET TO HAPPEN. This includes knowing every choice we will make in the future, even before we make them. If we had true free will, it would mean that we could make choices without them being known in advance by an omniscient being.

It's simply because you have not understood. One way to understand it is to imagine that there is an infallible barometer of the weather, in this case the barometer never fails, it is always right, but the barometer doesn't determine the weather, if the weather were different the barometer would mark differently. In the same way, God's foreknowledge is like an infallible barometer of your acts, He doesn't determine your acts but He never fails to foreknow what they are.

@@rafaelbetancurt7920 Can a barometer show what's the air pressure going to be next Sunday?

@@MaciejuCz We have not yet been able to design it. However, that doesn't mean that such a concept is logically impossible.

@@rafaelbetancurt7920 Dude, you came up with an analogy using a device that doesn't exist. Besides, the difference between God and such a barometer is that God supposedly created the Universe whilst a barometer is a just a device that relays information. God literally put things in motion. God decided that the Universe was going to exist. And he knew what was going to happen in this Universe beforehand. Can you do anything that God doesn't know about before you do it?

@@MaciejuCz Dude, I never said that such a barometer actually exists. It is an analogy to understand the God's foreknowledge. You are absolutely right. As you say, it's true that God literally put things in motion, God decided that the Universe was going to exist, and he knew what was going to happen in this Universe beforehand. Therefore, you can't do anything that God didn't know before doing it. In other words, his foreknowledge is chronologically prior to any event. But what do you want to argue with that?

Merely knowing something doesn't do anything to cause it. Married people know this very well. If you know your spouse well enough, you can often know with certainty what they will choose when given certain options. But knowing what they will choose doesn't mean they can't choose freely. Knowledge is not causal. - RF Admin

@@drcraigvideos but we’re not talking about maybe knowing what your spouse may do. We’re taking about your creator knowing full well the exact sin you’re going to commit ahead of time and that same creator demanding you repent for the sin he already knew you’d commit and then knowing whether you’d in fact repent or not. He knows all. He already knew we’d have this convo. So our “free will” was already mapped out before we took our first breath. This is how you play tennis with no net

​@@drcraigvideosMarried people do not know anything their spouse will do with metaphysical certainty - the type of knowledge classical theists ascribe to God. With this special type of knowledge, a person cannot do anything other than what God knows he will do, otherwise they would falsify God's knowledge. If God unchangeably and unfalsifiably knows that I will sin tomorrow, I don't have the ability to not sin. Otherwise, there is a possible world in which God knows I will sin, yet I don't sin, which classical theists must deny.

@@ABC123jd nailed it

Why?

If God is an all knowing and an omniscient God, freewill does not exist. If freewill does exist, God is not an all knowing or omniscient God. So which is it?

@@zap... The fact that God foreknows what you are going to do does not mean that He determines what you are going to do. One way to understand it is to imagine that there is an infallible barometer of the weather, in this case the barometer never fails, it is always right, but the barometer doesn't determine the weather, if the weather were different the barometer would mark differently. In the same way, God's foreknowledge is like an infallible barometer of your acts, He doesn't determine your acts but He never fails to foreknow what they are.

@@rafaelbetancurt7920 You've chosen that God is not all knowing or omniscience. If being omniscience is criteria for God, the lack of this would prove that this God doesn't exist. This God doesn't exist. It's sorta too bad you couldn't have come up with your own argument as well. William Lane Craig is a contortionist and a buffoon.

@@rafaelbetancurt7920 The barometer analogy isn't applicable to the argument. It is perfect sure, but it doesn't "foresee" anything, it is infallible in its measurements given that weather change has ALREADY occured. It might as well be extremely accurate rather than ideal. If we actually applied your analogy in regards to God, you are just asserting that he knows what is happening in the present with perfect accuracy.