If God is all-knowing, how can humans have genuine free will?
God's predestination is absolute regarding His will—the ultimate purpose of creation and restoration. However, the fulfillment of this will is conditional, dependent on humanity's 5% portion of responsibility. God's omniscience means He knows all possibilities, but it does not predetermine human free choices. This requires dynamic co-creation between God and humanity to realize His ultimate plan.
The seeming paradox of God's omniscience alongside genuine human free will is central to understanding our purpose and our relationship with the divine. Resolving this apparent conflict illuminates our moral responsibility and active participation in God's ongoing providence.
The Biblical Foundation: God's Omniscience and Human Choice
The Bible unequivocally affirms God's omniscience, His perfect and exhaustive knowledge. Psalm 139:2 states, "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar." Hebrews 4:13 reinforces this: "And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." This comprehensive knowledge extends to the future, as Isaiah 46:10 states, "declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.'"
Simultaneously, the Bible places immense emphasis on human free will and accompanying responsibility. God consistently presents humanity with choices. Deuteronomy 30:19 declares, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live." The entirety of sin and salvation hinges on genuine human choice and its consequences (Genesis 2:16-17; Romans 6:23). If human choices were predetermined by God's knowledge, divine commands, warnings, and judgments would lose their moral weight, reducing humanity to mere puppets.
Divine Principle's Clarification: God's Predestination
The Unification Principle clarifies the concept of predestination by distinguishing two perspectives: the predestination of God's will and the predestination of the way in which God's will is fulfilled. God's will is to accomplish the purpose of creation, which became the purpose of restoration after the Fall. Since God is absolute, unique, eternal, and unchanging, His purpose of creation and restoration is also absolute, unique, eternal, and unchanging. Therefore, the predestination of God's will is absolute. It is absolutely predestined that God's will of perfect love, resulting in eternal joy in heaven and on earth, will happen.
However, the predestination of the way God's will is fulfilled is conditional. While the principles and natural laws are set, God's purpose can only be realized when human beings complete their portion of responsibility. God's will to realize the providence of restoration is absolute, but its fulfillment depends on whether humans complete their responsibility. This portion of responsibility is often described as 5% of the total effort, with God providing the remaining 95%. Although small, this 5% requires 100% of our effort. Therefore, God cannot absolutely predestine what kind of people we become or what happens to us. Even if God has a mission planned for us, we must fulfill our 5% for it to be realized. The providence of restoration has been prolonged many times because of the failure of the human portion of responsibility.
Biblical passages, such as Romans 8:29 ("Those whom he predestined, he also called...") and Romans 9 ("I will have mercy on whom I have mercy... has the potter no right over the clay..."), are often interpreted as absolute predestination. However, the Divine Principle explains that these verses primarily emphasize God's sovereignty and His role as the subject of the providence of restoration, affirming that God is righteous, loving, and has a plan. They do not negate the essential human portion of responsibility.
Understanding the Deeper Meaning: Dynamic Co-creation
This distinction means God's ultimate destination is fixed, but the journey involves dynamic interaction with human free will. God's foreknowledge gives Him perfect insight into all possible outcomes based on human choices, but it does not predetermine those choices. God respects human freedom even when it leads to deviation from His ideal. When humans fail their responsibility, God's foreknowledge allows Him to prepare alternative paths of restoration, continually working to bring about His absolute will.
Living the Principle
Understanding this distinction offers profound practical implications:
1. Embrace Responsibility: Recognize that our choices genuinely matter and are essential for God's will to be fulfilled. 2. Overcome Fatalism: Actively participate in shaping our lives and the world, knowing our actions have a consequential impact. 3. Engage as Co-creators: Partner with God by diligently fulfilling our 5% portion of responsibility, contributing to His plan. 4. Cultivate Resilience: Learn from setbacks and failures, seeking new ways to fulfill responsibilities, trusting in God's alternative paths.
These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Read about the author, Sun Myung Moon.
Last reviewed:
More on Predestination & Free Will
Sources and further reading
- The Holy Bible, King James Version — Scripture quoted and referenced throughout the answers.
- The Divine Principle (full text) — The complete text of the Divine Principle, the teaching of Reverend Sun Myung Moon that these answers explain.
- Unification texts library (tparents.org) — Large online library of Unification texts, sermons and collected speeches, including the Cheon Seong Gyeong.
- Short video lectures in English — Playlist of short English video lectures presenting these same principles.