First, some definitions.

Omniscience is the attribute of possessing complete and unlimited knowledge. An omniscient being knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen. This includes all events, decisions, and actions of all creatures throughout time.

Free will is the ability to choose (will) between different possible courses of action unimpeded (free). It implies that individuals have can make choices that are genuinely their own, not determined by prior causes or divine intervention.

Now, onto why the two are incompatible.

First, omniscience implies predetermined knowledge. In other words, if God is omniscient, then God knows all our future actions.

For God to be omniscience , they must have complete knowledge of future events, encompassing every choice we will ever make.

Second, predetermined knowledge implies necessity. If God knows all our future actions, then those actions must necessarily occur as God knows them.

For God’s knowledge to be omniscient, it must be perfect and cannot be wrong, meaning that your future choices are, in some sense, fixed.

Third, necessity contradicts free will. If our actions are necessary and cannot be otherwise, then we don’t have the ability to choose freely. Thus, we do not possess free will.

Free will, by definition, requires the ability to choose between genuine alternatives. If our actions are predetermined and must occur as God knows them, then it appears we lack the genuine ability to choose otherwise, undermining the concept of free will.

For instance, if God knows that you will choose to eat cereal for breakfast tomorrow, it seems that the choice is already set in stone and you can’t truly choose otherwise without negating God’s omniscience.

The argument works the other way, too. If we do, indeed, have free will—if we actually can choose to eat cereal for breakfast tomorrow—then God can’t be omniscient. At least not in the strictest meaning of the word.

As a result, I believe we must choose whether to believe in an omniscient God or whether to believe in free will.

It started with the instructor asking if the freedom to choose existed in the Garden of Eden. Surprisingly, I heard a lot of vocal yeses. I did hear some nos, but they were definitely fewer. I brought up the fact that no one forced Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good of evil; they chose to eat it. As a result, the freedom to choose must have existed.

One class member stated Adam and Eve were innocent, thus not knowing fully the consequences of their decisions. Someone else responded to that saying they may have been innocent, but they were not stupid.

This same person suggested that Eve consciously decided to eat the fruit in order to fulfil the commandment they had to have the children. Of course, he said it in a way that made it seem that women are always more spiritual than men (emphasizing that Adam was not thinking about children as much), and the instructor responded, “Isn’t that typical?”

Typical indeed. That sort of sexism really gets my blood going.

Anyhow, I pointed out that every source we have regarding the discussuion between Satan and Eve was about Eve gaining knowledge. Never once did they discuss the idea to have children. Even 2 Ne. 2:18 supports this:

Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

In fact, it wasn’t even until after she had eaten the fruit that she even raises the topic of children. Presumably, this means she didn’t even consider such long term issues until after gaining more knowledge.