Summary Of Boethius Understanding Of Divine Omniscience
Boethius’ understanding of divine omniscience stemmed from his dilemma of whether or not it denied him of his free will. He knew that God’s divine omniscience was necessary for it is within the very definition of God that it must exist. However, if it is true that God knows everything that has happened or ever will happen, where does that leave room for free will if the outcome of our actions is already known? To answer, Boethius pointed out the implications of the nature of Gods omniscience that conflicted with man’s free will and reasoned through explanation how those implications were misunderstandings. He described what Gods knowledge is and how it didn’t imply necessity, how we cannot fully understand God, and the nature of eternity and
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If foreknowledge were prediction, then the divinity of Gods omniscience would be destroyed because predictions contain a margin of error. God does not operate within a margin of error. If He did, it would indicate that He could potentially be wrong. God is never wrong. Boethius described Gods eternity as a key to understanding the nature of his omniscience. Gods knowledge transcends change. He neither remembers the past, participates in the present, nor thinks of the future as humans do. Rather, God experiences all time at once. In this respect, God exists outside of time. He is witness to everything that ever was and ever will be simultaneously. That God is witness to all time does not necessitate that God caused that event to happen or that the event was inevitable. Thus, God has foreknowledge only in relation to a human perspective of how they experience time. Therefore, a person may exercise free will concomitantly with God knowing, in advance of the choice, what they will choose and the eventualities of that choice. Gods omniscience necessitates that because the bi-product of our actions are currently being witnessed, their occurrence is in fact necessary. Thus the necessity of the future and Gods divine omniscience coexist with man’s free
If foreknowledge were prediction, then the divinity of Gods omniscience would be destroyed because predictions contain a margin of error. God does not operate within a margin of error. If He did, it would indicate that He could potentially be wrong. God is never wrong. Boethius described Gods eternity as a key to understanding the nature of his omniscience. Gods knowledge transcends change. He neither remembers the past, participates in the present, nor thinks of the future as humans do. Rather, God experiences all time at once. In this respect, God exists outside of time. He is witness to everything that ever was and ever will be simultaneously. That God is witness to all time does not necessitate that God caused that event to happen or that the event was inevitable. Thus, God has foreknowledge only in relation to a human perspective of how they experience time. Therefore, a person may exercise free will concomitantly with God knowing, in advance of the choice, what they will choose and the eventualities of that choice. Gods omniscience necessitates that because the bi-product of our actions are currently being witnessed, their occurrence is in fact necessary. Thus the necessity of the future and Gods divine omniscience coexist with man’s free