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If God Knew that Man would Sin, Why Create Man?

If God foreknew that man was going to fall in sin, then why did He create the world?

Answer # 1: The alternative positions to Christianity must be considered, first of all.
  1. Atheism. According to it God doesn’t exist; therefore, the problem of ‘why’ He created the world also doesn’t exist. However, the atheist must admit that ultimately ‘why’ the universe exists also is a meaningless question. Thus, lacking any eternal and absolute ground of existence, morality and justice are illusory concepts. In fact, the above question presupposes morality; for the question implies that God, by creating the world despite foreknowing its misery, appears to be evil rather than good. However, if an absolute such as morality doesn’t exist, then it would be meaningless to either convict or justify God. Thus, the question itself would be meaningless. In that sense, the atheist would have to rid himself absolutely of any moral obligation at all.

  2. Pantheism. According to it all is God and God is all; therefore, evil is a part of the nature of God. Consequently, there is no ultimate line of division between good and evil.

  3. Polytheism. According to it a motley of deities exists; therefore, since the deities are imperfect and not omniscient, imperfection is expected in their enterprise.
Answer # 2: The question commits the error of applying space-time categories to the infinite God. First of all, the word ‘foreknowledge’ is conceived in terms of someone knowing something beforehand, that is, in the past. However, God cannot be considered to be conditioned by past, present, and future. Therefore, since the question is wrong, an adequate answer cannot be expected. For if the value of the question is zero, the value of its answer will be zero as well.

© Domenic Marbaniang, 2007

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