Divine Foreknowledge and Free Will: A Response to the Boethian Solution

The relationship between Divine Foreknowledge and Free Will has troubled philosophers and theologians for centuries. The problem arises from the apparent incompatibility of the two claims; it seems as though an omniscient God who knows all future actions and deliberations negates the possibility of an individual freely undertaking an action — a position known as Theological Fatalism. In his Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius denies Theological Fatalism by arguing that God exists out of time and without any temporal properties, thereby rendering his absolute knowledge compatible with free human action. In this paper, I assert why Boethius' solution to this problem is inadequate, focusing on how God's timelessness does not resolve the opposing necessity of a future action occurring.