Divine foreknowledge in Baptist theology
Published June 12, 2003
| “God hath before all
time foreseen and foreknown all things, both good and
evil, whether past, present, or to come.”–John
Smyth, A Short Confession of Faith
(1610) |
| “Every particle of
being in heaven and earth leads us to the infinite being
of beings, namely God, who is simplicity; who is the only
eternal being, everlasting without time, whose immense
presence is always everywhere present, having
immutability without any alteration in being or will; in
a word, God is infinite, of universal, unlimited, and
incomprehensible perfection... .” –The
Orthodox Creed (1679) |
| “His knowledge is
infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature,
so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain... .”–Philadelphia
Confession of Faith (1742) |
| “Question: What does
God know? Answer: God knows all things; even the secrets
of our hearts; God is omniscient.”–John
Broadus, A Catechism of Bible
Teaching (1892) |
| “God knows not only
actually existing things, but also all future events....
We urge that God does know in advance the choices of his
free creatures. ...We cannot think of the infinite and
perfect Spirit as devoid of knowledge of his creation in
any respect. A God without a knowledge of all the choices
of his free creatures would be without power to guide or
control the universe.” –E. Y. Mullins, The
Christian Religion in Its Doctrinal Expression
(1917) |
| “God’s
knowledge is not limited by time... There are no
surprises that come to God out of the future...God’s
knowledge is not the result of inference on his part...He
knows directly...God foreknows also directly the free
acts of men.” –W. T. Conner, Christian
Doctrine (1937) |
| “God has all
knowledge. He knows all things simultaneously. His
knowledge is immediate, without the processes of thought,
reason, or inference. His foreknowledge of events does
not necessarily mean that He predetermined them. He knows
the workings of His natural, physical, moral, and
spiritual laws which work towards definite ends.
Individuals are free to choose in the light of them, but
are responsible for their choices. God knows these
choices beforehand, but does not predetermine them.”–Hershel
Hobbs, Baptist Faith and Message,
Revised Edition (1996 commentary on
1963 edition of Baptist Faith and Message) |
| “Baptists affirm
that God is limitless in power, knowledge, wisdom, love,
and holiness. He suffers no limitations upon His power or
His personality. He is not constrained by external force
or internal contradiction. We reject any effort to
redefine God as a limited deity.”–Report
of the Southern Baptist Convention Presidential
Theological Study Committee (1994) |
| “God is all powerful
and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all
things, past, present, and future, including the future
decisions of His free creatures.”–
Baptist Faith and Message (2000) |
| (Compiled by Mark
Rathel) |
|
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