How do we have free will if God already knows what we will do? Youth Day Q&A | Orthodox Answers

How do we have free will if God already knows what we will do?

Having free will is something we as Christians regard to be very important. But what is the point of free will when we have a God that is all-knowing, all-powerful?

Our speaker, Samuel, explains that his sister is obsessed with animals. He says that he knows if they were to walk past a dog, there’s a 99.95% chance that Samuel knows that his sister will ask to pat the dog. However, in Samuel knowing that, does it affect whether she freely chooses to touch the dog? In the same way, does the fact that God knows what we are going to do affect if we are going to do it freely? Does the fact that God knows what is going to happen before it happens means that His knowledge has forced us to do something?

Samuel uses another example which involves time travel. Say you were to go back in time to watch any key event in history e.g. the French revolution. You know what will happen because you may have read about it in history books, but nothing about your presence in that time will affect what happens or will cause the events to take place.

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