[Avodah] God who knows the future

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Garry wrote:

> I am missing a big chunk of this discussion.  I simply don't see
> the mystery.  Why does knowledge = control?
>
> I am training a newly-adopted dog.  If I leave him in a room with
> food on the floor, he will eat it.  He has complete freedom of
> choice (a better-trained dog might not), but there isn't the
> slightest doubt what his choice will be.
>
> Now a) humans aren't dogs and b) even for a dog there are choices
> I can't predict.  But the fact  remains the same.  The fact that
> I know what choice he will make doesn't have any effect at all on
> his freedom to make it.

It seems to me that you are confusing two very different kinds of knowledge. Your knowledge of your dog is knowledge of his thinking patterns, and this leads you to certain conclusions about the dog and the food. But G-d's knowledge is a knowledge of the event itself.

You are merely drawing a conclusion that the dog will eat it, or won't eat it. But G-d knows the event, just as surely as if it had already happened.

This is why G-d's foreknowledge of the event is often perceived as His control over it. G-d is not merely a perfect psychologist, who knows our personalities so well that He can make predictions about our choices without ever erring. He is more like tomorrow's newspaper, for which all the events reported are a "done deal".

If G-d would merely predict our actions, He'd be little more than a stage illusionist. But these are not mere predictions. Our future is as clear to Him as our past is, and this is what strikes fear into our hearts, and makes (some of) us feel like we have no free choice.

Akiva Miller

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