Can Libertarian Free Will be Reconciled with Divine Providence?

I try to reconcile libertarian free will for created agents with a qualified understanding of divine providence. Divine providence is not absolute, since created agents have some say in how things go in the universe. But God has a great deal of providential control because, being eternal, He sees, and can act upon, all the moments of time including (what is to us) the future. An isotemporalist (eternalist, four-dimensionalist) analysis of time, on which all times are equally real, can make sense of this. But if reality is “already” all there for God, how can He act upon it to achieve His objectives? Two analogies help to answer this question; the Time Traveler and the Master Painter.

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Publication Details

Journal
TheoLogica An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology
Published
2025-08-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.14428/thl.v9i2.85953
Primary Topic
Theology and Philosophy of Evil
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Can Libertarian Free Will be Reconciled with Divine Providence?

Katherin A. Rogers
TheoLogica An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology
Theology and Philosophy of Evil
article

Can Libertarian Free Will be Reconciled with Divine Providence?

Katherin A. Rogers
article en

Abstract

I try to reconcile libertarian free will for created agents with a qualified understanding of divine providence. Divine providence is not absolute, since created agents have some say in how things go in the universe. But God has a great deal of providential control because, being eternal, He sees, and can act upon, all the moments of time including (what is to us) the future. An isotemporalist (eternalist, four-dimensionalist) analysis of time, on which all times are equally real, can make sense of this. But if reality is “already” all there for God, how can He act upon it to achieve His objectives? Two analogies help to answer this question; the Time Traveler and the Master Painter.

TheoLogica An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical TheologyVol. 9(2)
University of Delaware (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 78%
Theology and Philosophy of Evil
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