Christians regularly face challenges to their beliefs; both internal and external forces. This can be a very good thing, as it forces them to examine what they really believe. They may be asked to continue studying so that they can adequately defend their beliefs in the future. In some cases, these challenges weaken faith and possibly alienate people from God, but the extent of faith for those so easily deterred is questionable.
One of the most difficult challenges comes from those who question the apparent incompatibility between God’s omnipotence and our presumed free will. In Psalm 115: 3 it says “Our God is in heaven. He does what he pleases.” Basically, the argument is this. If God sees everything, knows everything, and is always in control, then how can anyone claim that we have free will to make our own decisions? It seems that God can only know everything if he is in control of everything … including our own decisions. Whenever such alleged inconsistencies are discovered, atheists, agnostics, and non-Christians use them to argue against the faith. I have learned that very often these arguments are based on carefully selected passages of the Bible and taken out of context. What’s even worse is that they are aimed at well-meaning believers who know little about what the Bible actually says.
If it is possible for God to experience a predicament, it is that he wants us to choose him freely and without force or coercion; however, this goes hand in hand with the argument above. How can we “choose” Him if He controls our choices, or at least knows how we will choose? Furthermore, it could be argued that if God knows our choices in advance … even before we are born … then he may know that we will never choose him and therefore we are doomed. It would mean that you are allowing a child to be born without any chance of salvation. This does not appear to be the action of a just and loving God.
This is an important enough topic that apologists have been trying to address it for years. Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position or belief, usually a religious belief. One of the most famous Christian apologists to address this concern is CS Lewis. Many readers with limited knowledge of Christianity, and specifically of Mr. Lewis’s work, may know him only from films based on his books, The Chronicles of Narnia. In his book Mere Christianity, Mr. Lewis proposes that God does not experience time in the same way that man does. Essentially, it holds that all time comes before God at the same time. In other words, He sees our tomorrows and yesterdays not in real time, but as if they were a series of sequential photographs placed in front of him all at once. Mr. Lewis says …
“Hears [God] he does not ‘anticipate’ you to do things tomorrow; he just sees you doing them: because, although tomorrow is not here for you yet, it is for Him. You never assumed that your actions at this moment were less free because God knows what you are doing. Well, He knows the actions of your tomorrow in the same way because He is already in tomorrow and can just watch it “(Mere Christianity, CS Lewis, Harper San Francisco 2001, Pg. 170).
Mr. Lewis concludes his discussion by stating that it is a very Christian idea that gave him comfort in explaining this complex problem. He also states that if this statement does not provide comfort to everyone, the reader should “leave it alone.” Mr. Lewis was a great man and an amazing intellect. There are times when men of massive intellect think beyond what a typical man can comprehend. It should be noted that Mr. Lewis does not offer this explanation as fact; instead, it offers it as a possibility. I offer another by way of analogy.
For those who have ever played chess, it should be obvious that the true masters of the game do not win because they plan their “next” move. Those who think in terms of their next move in response to what their opponent does are constantly playing defense. This mentality invariably ends in defeat. Instead, the best players are always 10 moves ahead of their opponents. My suggestion is that God is the ultimate Chess master. I affirm that you are not waiting to determine what our next move will be. Instead, you’ve already planned your infinite strategy for pretty much any choice we can make. Regardless of whether we choose “yes”, “no” or “maybe” for any question or problem that comes our way, he has plans for each contingency to make sure he wins the game every time. You have already seen how the game will conclude with your victory while we are still trying to decide whether to move the pawn or the queen.
Interestingly, this suggestion doesn’t bode well for a dark one. Satan is a terrible chess player and he is surely doomed to failure and loss for obvious reasons. There is no question regarding Satan’s strategy. Satan’s motives and game plan are unshakable and focused on an end result; however, there seems to be only one way to get there. In essence, it is completely predictable and incapable of altering your plan. This is why his game plan is so clearly laid out in the book of Revelation. God found out how the game was to be played before it started.
As with Mr. Lewis’s explanation, I cannot claim that I know the mind of God. Like Mr. Lewis, my intention is to offer comfort to those who have concerns about this elephant in the room. Ultimately, I wish to provide a possible defense for those who believe in and want to respond to this challenge with a reasonable response.