Is Free Will Compatible with God? | Boethius and The Consolations of Philosophy

Free will is often of great importance to one’s religious beliefs. After all, it’s through free will that people can show their voluntary respect and reverence for their God. However, the philosopher Boethius had trouble making free will work with the Christian God.
If God is an all knowing eternal being, then God should have foreknowledge of events to come. But if God has this divine foreknowledge, then doesn’t that mean he already knows how we’re going to act. How then can free will exist?
Boethius claims that the two are not in conflict. The actions of humans can be voluntary while still being foreseen by God. He’s able to see the past, present, and future all at once so he does have knowledge about what will happen. However, for Boethius, this doesn’t mean that our actions are predetermined, but rather, God is able to foresee our voluntary acts.
I’m personally not fully satisfied with this answer, so I’d like to ask the community if they have any ideas on how to make free will and divine foreknowledge compatible. #philosophy #boethius #freewill

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