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Omniscience is the property of possessing maximal knowledge. InHinduism,Sikhism and theAbrahamic religions, it is often attributed to a divine being or an all-knowing spirit, entity or person. InJainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. InBuddhism, there are differing beliefs about omniscience among different schools.
The wordomniscience derives from theLatin wordsciens ("to know" or "conscious") and the prefixomni ("all" or "every"), but also means "all-seeing".[1]
The topic of omniscience has been much debated in various Indian traditions, but no more so than by the Buddhists. AfterDharmakirti's excursions into the subject ofwhat constitutes a valid cognition,Śāntarakṣita and his studentKamalaśīla thoroughly investigated the subject in theTattvasamgraha and its commentary the Panjika. The arguments in the text can be broadly grouped into four sections:
Some modernChristian theologians argue that God's omniscience is inherent rather than total, and that God chooses to limit his omniscience in order to preserve the free will and dignity of his creatures.[3]John Calvin, among other theologians of the 16th century, comfortable with the definition of God as being omniscient in the total sense, in order for worthy beings' abilities to choose freely, embraced the doctrine ofpredestination.[4]
In theBhakti tradition ofVaishnavism, whereVishnu is worshipped as the supreme God, Vishnu is attributed with numerous qualities such as omniscience, energy, strength, lordship, vigour, and splendour.[5]
God in Islam is attributed with absolute omniscience. God knows the past, the present, and the future. It is compulsory for aMuslim to believe that God is indeed omniscient as stated in one of thesix articles of faith which is:
Say: Do you instruct God about your religion? But God knows all that is in the heavens and on the earth; God is Knowing of all things
It is believed that humans can only change theirpredestination (wealth, health, deed etc.) and not divine decree (date of birth, date of death, family etc.), thus allowing free will.
Omniscience is an attribute of God, yet it is also an attribute that reveals sciences to humanity:
In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute “The Omniscient” issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
InJainism, omniscience is considered the highest type of perception. In the words of a Jain scholar, "The perfect manifestation of the innate nature of the self, arising on the complete annihilation of the obstructive veils, is called omniscience."[6]
Jainism views infinite knowledge as an inherent capability of every soul.Arihanta is the word used by Jains to refer to those human beings who have conquered all inner passions (like attachment, greed, pride, anger) and possessKevala Jnana (infinite knowledge). They are said to be of two kinds:[7]
Whether omniscience, particularly regarding the choices that a human will make, is compatible withfree will has been debated bytheologians andphilosophers. The argument that divine foreknowledge is not compatible with free will is known astheological fatalism. It is argued that if humans are free to choose between alternatives, God could not know what this choice will be.[8]
A question arises: if an omniscient entity knows everything, even about its own decisions in the future, does it therefore forbid any free will to that entity?William Lane Craig states that the question subdivides into two:
However, this kind of argument fails to recognize its use of themodal fallacy. It is possible to show that the first premise of arguments like these is fallacious.[11][12]
Some philosophers, such asPatrick Grim,Linda Zagzebski, Stephan Torre, and William Mander have discussed the issue of whether the apparent exclusively first-person nature of conscious experience is compatible with God's omniscience. There is a strong sense in which conscious experience is private, meaning that no outside observer can gain knowledge of what it is like to be meas me. If a subject cannot know what it is like to be another subject in an objective manner, the question is whether that limitation applies to God as well. If it does, then God cannot be said to be omniscient since there is then a form of knowledge that God lacks access to.
The philosopher Patrick Grim[13] most notably raised this issue. Linda Zagzebski[14] argued against this by introducing the notion ofperfect empathy, a proposed relation that God can have to subjects that would allow God to have perfect knowledge of their conscious experience. William Mander[15] argued that God can only have such knowledge if our experiences are part of God's broader experience. Stephan Torre[16] claimed that God can have such knowledge if self-knowledge involves the ascription of properties, either to oneself or to others.
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