Re: [asa] God, Chance and Purpose

Burgy,
You're confusing knowledge with causation. At the extreme, mathematical
knowledge does not cause anything. Functions are noncausal, though they
involve logical necessity. Where there is causation, there is a radical
difference between knowing the muzzle velocity of a .44mag and launching
the bullet. Neither partial nor comprehensive knowledge of what the
bullet does to human flesh makes one guilty of assault or murder.
Additionally, free will can only function as a form of determinism.
Indeterminism makes control impossible. Note the difference between what
a well person does and what one may do while suffering a grand mal
seizure.

The simplest analogy I know comes from Flatland. Spacelander can see the
inner workings of Flatlanders because of the extra dimension. So any
being with a multidimensional time can see every part of our
monodimensional time. However, this does not literally apply to a
nondimensional deity. Paul notes that the divine foreknowledge going back
before creation has already glorified those he foreknew. But we still
await that state. Of course, if you think Paul's view needs revising, ...
Dave (ASA)

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 13:14:47 -0600 "j burg" <hossradbourne@gmail.com>
writes:
> On 6/5/08, Alexanian, Moorad <alexanian@uncw.edu> (in part) wrote:
>
> "God, on the other hand, does not exist in this universe and thus
> is
> not limited and so His prior information is such that He knows
> beforehand the actual outcome of any experiment that we may
> perform."
>
> I understand that to be your theology, Moorad, but I hold that it
> does
> not rest on a firm foundation.
>
> I agree that God exists independently of the material universe. But
> I
> suggest that HE does NOT know in advance exactly what each of us
> will
> do at certain decision points and so the future continues to unroll
> for Him as well as for us.
>
> If this were not true, I do not understand how I could possibly
> claim
> "free will."
>
> We can perhaps agree that the issue is a paradox in any case.
>
> Cheers
>
> Burgy (4th post today so I'll shut up for awhile)
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
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>
>
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Received on Thu Jun 5 17:17:38 2008