2026 #1
A, from Maryland, asks,
“Why would an all-knowing god need to test my morality by giving me free will?”
That is a very interesting question, A. Let’s look at some of the issues you bring up.
What does it means for God to be “all-knowing”? We describe the God of the Bible as “omniscient,” meaning He knows all things. This is not to say that He has learned all things, but He is the author of all truths (John 14:6). We combine this with God’s attribute of omnipresence, that God is present everywhere at all times. There is nothing that God doesn’t know, nor any place that He is not aware of intimately.
We usually think of tests in the academic sense. A student is tested by a teacher or professor to ascertain the knowledge or skill level of the student. The word test is mentioned many times in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Even a cursory reading of these passages indicates that God is not testing to see if human beings have morality. Christian theology teaches that human beings have an innate sense of morality based on their creation in the image of God. There are instances in the Bible where God has tested individuals and nations, but these are not a test of morality, but of obedience to His commands. It is the same with us as well (Eph. 2:10). The sense of right and wrong, or morality, comes in our response to the test.
If you look back at the Genesis creation account, God places the first man and woman in a garden. However, there is one prohibition. There is one tree from which they are not to eat (Gen. 2:16-17). This was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Did the all-knowing God know which option the first couple would take? God, in His omniscience, knew all the options that they would take.
This prohibition implies that the first man and woman had free will. The man and woman heard the command and had the ability to do or not to do it, which is the quintessential idea of free will.
Free will is given to us by God by virtue of our being created in His image. In the Old Testament, when Joshua says, “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:15), or when John writes, “To all who received Him” (John 1:12), this asserts that people have the will to do the thing about which the speakers are exhorting them to do. There are many more examples in Scripture. I agree with theologian Dr. Leighton Flowers characterization that “the Bible is a book about choosing.” Certainly free will extends to us as well.
Consider the alternative. Suppose we do not have free will.
What would we be? We would be nothing more than robots or puppets. In such case there would be no need for tests or even morality. As automatons, we would constantly and consistently do the right thing. While a society built on such a premise might be peaceful and benevolent, it would be bereft of true love and obedience. Both true love and obedience to the God of the universe require of necessity the will to do otherwise.
I believe that the all-knowing God has given you and me free will. Just like any gift, we are going to use it. The test becomes how we will use it.
Mark Riser - Apologist 