Schöpfung, Ewigkeit und AllwissenheitEine Antwort auf Thomas Schärtl

Zusammenfassung / Summary

The fatalistic conclusion of the theological consequence argument for the incompatibility of divine foreknowledge and human freedom cannot be avoided by appealing to divine timelessness alone. This “eternity solution”, which originated in the Augustinian-Anselmian tradition, also requires the postulation of timeless divine knowledge being dependent on temporal events. This postulation, however, implies a circular dependency, as shown in this article: An eternal God should be able to make his decision concerning what world to create dependent on his eternal knowledge, which he possesses at the same eternal moment as his decision. Since this dependency leads to a logical in-consistency, one needs to either reject God’s freedom regarding creation or choose an alternate solution to the problem of divine omniscience and human free will.