+Christ is risen!

Q: So, the question is: if the prophesies said that Judas would betray Christ, doesn’t that mean that he didn’t really have free will? Someone had to betray him, right?

A: Not really. So, there’s a difference between foreknowing and causing something. Knowing that something is going to happen is very different than making that thing happen. What is a prophesy? A prophesy is simply predicting something that will happen. A good prophesy is one that comes true, a false one is one that does not come true. So, saying that someone will betray Christ is not the same thing as saying that someone must betray Christ. What difference does that make? Well, saying that someone will simply says that “this is gonna happen”, saying that someone “must”, means that you are creating a role that someone has to fulfill. In that second scenario, free will is at stake. So, what is impressive is that all these prophesies were made about our Lord and about Passion Week, that simply came true. They came true not because someone was forced to do anything, but simply because the Spirit was informing people of what would happen, and it did. This is actually something that should greatly strengthen our faith. How many people get super excited about that Nostradamus sort of kinda alluded to the Twin Tower fall, and yet they’re not impressed at the huge number of prophesies about our Lord and His life, from various authors, and over various centuries that all came true?

Foreknowledge =/= causality —> therefore not in conflict with Free Will.