Logic Puzzle: Try It, See What You Think

Many just accept the providence of God. But in some respect, they limit it by their own weak understanding of God's power and authority. They will say, God is in control of all things, but in some respect doesn't cause evil. He allows men, of free-agency, to make choices and then approves them.

This is called Middle Knowledge. In response to such a though that I wrestled with for most of my life I thought up a logic puzzle. There are four possible entries given God's omniscience and omnipotence.

Concerning the events of man;

• God plans to do something
• God plans to do nothing
• God plans to not make a plan
• The unkowable knowing

In so far as we understand information and can decode language, it seems reasonable to believe that if there is a fourth possibility, it's entirely mystical and not approachable through knowledge, logic or scripture. While it may be possible, it would contend that it is not possible to know for certain that any event was causally linked to this fourth occurence. For what would be the evidence of such a thing except to appeal to the unknowability of a thing. While I'm content such a thing is possible, again, I appeal to the unkowability of unkowability. If it's true, you would not know in anyway that it is the reason for such a thing to have occurred. Because the scripture makes plain God's eternal purposes in his actions. Not that all purposes are known or knowable, but simply for the revealed things, how can we know how God has chosen to bring them about? That is what the point of this writing is.

Consider the definitions:

God plans to do something - God in his foreknowledge and by his omnipotence, irrespective of mans actions or respective of mans actions, thoughts and decisions, plans to execute his plan to do something. Then, in so planning, exectutes the plan of his plan to bring about some event, so as to be the first cause of a thing to occur.

God plans to do nothing - God, in his foreknowledge and by active restraint of his omnipotence, foresees the actions of men, thoughts and decisions and does knowingly approve them to come to pass by actively restraining his right and power to thwart them

God plans to not make a plan - God in his foreknowledge only, knowing the actions thoughts and decision of man, does knowling abdicate and responsibility of a thing to occur. While it is said that he created the earth and all that is in it, concerning the event, God does simply ignore it to the affect that man is entirely free from his purpose and effect, since God neither upholds him, approves him, or restrains him from any and all that his heart has desired.

But, can it be said that in any way that God has not made a plan? No. In all three causes of action, God must plan to not plan. So then, it is unreasonable to believe that God can plan to not make a plan, because this is circular logic. The planning of not making a plan is in effect itself a plan to do nothing. But, can God plan to do nothing? If God plans to do nothing, it's to approve the something that would occur by doing nothing. In effect, he's planning the negative, by not affirming the affirmative. So planning to do nothing, is actually planning to do something by nature of the affect that nothing becomes something as soon as it's planned to do.

Then, God plans to do something concerning all events. The simple question is, is this based merely on foreknowledge or because he is in fact the creator of all things?