>Peter is free do to the thing or not, but God knowing peter in
>and out, He knows which thing peter will or will not do. Peter
>was not forced to do the thing. He did it out of His own
>choice. God only knows the choice Peter will make. He DOES NOT
>MAKE THE CHOICE FOR HIM. Or do you guys not understand what
>free will means?
I guess some of us just don't get it. Kemi, I wish you could think outside the Christian box for a second, it would make a world of difference. Christians believe that EVERYTHING happens according to god's will. That statement alone eradicates our free will, since everything happens not coz we will it but because god wills it.
Anyway, back to your discussion, let me again plagiarize
http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/goddeniesfreewill.html. Hopefully she'll explain things more eloquently and unambiguously.
The existence of an omniscient or omnipotent God denies Humans free will
The problem here is that God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen. Its knowledge cannot be wrong. There is not a single event that it has not foresaw. Given that it created the Universe the way it did, do we have free will? Consider that when God made the Universe it could see every possible result of what it was doing. Which means: it could not create something without knowing what the results would be, and without knowing how it would be affected (and effect) the things around it.
Let's say that Fred has a choice that will save his life, to accept God or not to accept God and the final choice is to be made tomorrow. God knows already what choice he will make - God cannot be wrong therefore Fred cannot choose otherwise to what God has predicted. When God created the chain of events that made Fred it also knew that it was making Fred's choice for him, and knew how the various circumstances and character would make him choose either right or wrong. Fred would go forth and make that very decision that God knew he would make, and by virtue that God knowingly set up all the factors that affected his decision, it was not up to Fred but to God to decide how Fred would fare.
>To make is simpler for your brains here is a perfect example.
>Suppose the CIA taps your phone and in the conversations, you
>say you will be boarding your plane to Miami at date X, time
>Y. Can you turn around and say that now you dont have free
>will to make the trip just because the CIA knows about your
>plans without your knowledge?
Again you're giving a bad analogy. First of all, my boarding the flight is a consequence of events (I have bought a ticket). Secondly, it's something the CIA learnt by tapping my phone, not through some supernatural power. Finally, of course I can change my mind and do something else that the CIA doesn't know about. I can decide not to board that flight, to use my car, take the train, not show up, use another flight, walk to Miami, etc. The CIA doesn't know any of these. But god, by his definition, knew which of those choices I'd make. And he didn't have to tap my phone to know it, he already knew from Day One. How can you compare the two?