Determinism
According to mainstream religious views, God is claimed to be omniscient, thus in possession of perfect foreknowledge, and God is supposed to have granted humankind free will. As a result, a clear contradiction ensues; how can human beings possess free will when an infinite, omniscient God knows every action in the universe, both past and present? The answer is that the supposed exercise of humanity's free will is ultimately an illusion. Attempts to solve the apparent contradiction often involved attributing to God special properties, for example, being "outside" of time. However, the trouble with such solutions is that they are generally unsatisfactory on their own terms. Even more serious is the fact that they leave untouched the problem posed not by God's foreknowledge but that of any human being. Every day humans correctly predict the future through complex equations or simple inferences. If correct predictions are made with humankind's limited knowledge, then the infinite omniscience of God is fittingly applied to His understanding of all events in time. This concept of all events in time being determined is appropriately named Determinism, and directly contrasts with the notion of free will.
Determinism states that the way things will be is a result of how things are and the work of natural laws. In other words, if one were to know the state of all things in the present moment and the laws that govern how the universe functions, then the future can be derived. For example, the students of Notre Dame are passionate about football, and moreover if the Irish win then they are going to be happy. Conversely, if they lose then they are going to be in a miserable, depressed state. Thus, if the Irish recently defeated a foe, then it can be said that Notr ...