In an increasingly secular society it is becoming more common to question the conceptions of God that are created through the Bible. One such conception of God in the Bible is that God is omniscient. In Latin, we can break up the word into 'omni + scire,' which means 'one + to know,' or one who knows all. So, the definition of omniscient could be: all-knowing. We see examples of the belief of God as omniscient in both the old and new testament. According to the old testament in the bible: "His understanding has no limit."[Psalm 147:5] Also, in the gospel of John in the new testament, it states that: "He [God] knows everything."[John 3:20] One can interpret the Bible in different manners, whether literally or metaphorically, however for this essay I will be using clear and distinct quotations from the Bible so as not to arouse confusion. In these former quotes it is clear that they mean: God is omniscient. Although some may try to claim otherwise, for the purpose of this essay we will suppose that in the Bibles conception of God, God is omniscient. Other conceptions of God in the Bible are that he is omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent (he is everywhere) but we will not be examining them in the scope of this essay. Also, in order to further comprehend this essay we need to outline the Bible's conception of free will. In the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis, we comprehend that Eve chooses to eat the forbidden fruit, leading God to spite Adam, Eve, and the human race with the original sin. Also, in Ephesians, it is stated that: "you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is a slave or free."(Ephesians 6:8) It implies that if God is rewarding someone for doing something good then there is a conception of free will and morality in the Bible. Now that we have outlined the conceptions of the Bible that pertain to this essay, we can begin to examine the conflicts raised by these conceptions.
