I have never heard of anyone claiming that God’s knowledge causes people’s actions.
If that is the case, how can God be aware of any temporal sequence. How can He deal with anyone within time? What’s the use in praying for something to happen, if God can’t do anything about it, since the consequences of the problem are already settled.
He is not a creature; right. But He exists within time.
No. It was not necessary for God to create time. When He performed his two acts—the begetting of his Son, and the creation of the first creature, this naturally resulted in time existing. For time, in my opinion is but the “temporal” distance between two events.
When you construct an equilateral triangle, you don’t have to do a separate construction to make it equiangular. That happens as a natural consequence of constructing an equilateral triangle. Similarly, when God performed his first two acts, time automatically began; He didn’t have to create it.
If God forsees all future events, then surely He would never change his mind, but it is recorded in scripture that He did.
Jonah prophesied, “40 days and Ninevah shall be destroyed” But because of Jonah’s warnng, the Ninevites repented. So Yahweh changed His mind and didn’t destroy them.
- When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:10 ESV)
At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. (Jeremiah 18:7-10 NRSV)*
Oh, I know this is explained away by many of those who cannot accept these words as descriptive of God—cannot believe that God truly interacts with people, but who have been convinced by Greek philosophy {which made its way into Christendom) with its idea that God is unaffected by people’s choices. People who hold to that view of God’s character, will affirm that such passages are but figurative language of some kind, or declare they are anthropomorphisms or such. But there is nothing in the passages to indicate they are not actual reflections of the character of God.
Spiritualizing scripture or declaring them to be figurative language seems to be one of the commonest devices used by people og passagesehich are not in harmony with their theological prejudices.