OF THE OMNISCIENCE OF
GOD
John Gill
Having considered such
attributes of God, which belong to him as an active and operative Spirit; as
the Life of God, and his Power, or Omnipotence; I proceed to consider such
perfections, which may be ascribed to him as an intelligent Spirit; to which, rational spirits, endowed with understanding, will, and
affections, bear some similarity. God is said to have a "mind" and
"understanding", #Ro 11:34 Isa 40:28 to which may be referred, the
attributes of "knowledge" and "wisdom", which go together,
#Ro 11:33. I shall begin with the first of these. And,
1. Prove
that knowledge belongs to God, which is objected to, and called in question, by
impious and atheistical persons, #Ps 73:11 particularly with respect to human
affairs; the grounds of which doubts about it, and objections to it, seem to
arise, partly from the supposed distance of God in heaven, from men on earth, and
partly from the thick and dark clouds which intervene between them, #Job
22:12-14 and which are easily answered by observing the
omnipresence of God, or his presence in all places; and that the darkness hides
not anything from his all-piercing, all-penetrating eye, the darkness and the
light being alike to him, #Ps 139:7-12 #Jer 23:23,24. Let it be further
observed, that in all rational creatures there is knowledge; there is much in
angels, and so there was in man, before the fall, both of natural,
divine, and civil things; and since the fall there is a remainder of it,
notwithstanding the loss sustained by it; and there is more, especially divine
and spiritual knowledge, in regenerate men, who are renewed in knowledge. Now
if there is knowledge in any of the creatures of God, then much more in God
himself. Besides, all that knowledge that is in angels or men, comes from God;
he is a "God of knowledge", or
"knowledges", of all knowledge, #1Sa 2:3 the source and fountain of
it, and therefore it must be in him in its perfection: knowledge of all things,
natural, civil, and spiritual, is from him, is taught and given by him;
wherefore strong is the reasoning of the Psalmist, "He that teacheth man
knowledge, shall he not know?" #Ps 94:10. His knowledge may be inferred
from his will, and the actings of it; that he has a will is
most certain, and works all things after the counsel of his will, which cannot
be resisted, #Eph 1:11 Ro 9:19 and this can never be supposed to be without
knowledge; it is generally said and believed of the will of man, that it is
determined by the last act of the understanding; and it cannot be imagined that
God wills anything ignorantly and rashly; he must know what he wills and nills,
and to whom he wills anything, or refuses, #Ro 9:15,18 and
it appears from all his works, from the works of creation, the heavens, earth,
and sea, and all in them; which are ascribed to his wisdom, understanding, and
knowledge, and could never be made without them, #Pr 3:19,20 the government of
the world, and the judgment of the last day, suppose and require the same, #Ro
11:33 1Co 4:5. Without knowedge God would not be perfectly
happy; the blessed one, and blessed for ever, as he is. It is knowledge that
gives men the preference to the brute creation, and makes them happier than
they, #Job 35:11 and the spiritual knowledge which good men have, gives them a
superior excellency and felicity to bad men; and their happiness in a future
state will lie, as in perfect holiness, so in perfect knowledge, or "to
know", as they "are known", #1Co 13:12. In
short, without knowledge, God would be no other than the idols of the Gentiles,
who have eyes, but see not; are the work of errors, and are falsehood and
vanity; but the portion of Jacob is not like them. #Jer 10:14-16. I go on,
2. To show
the extent of the knowledge of God; it reaches to all things, #Joh 21:17 1Jo
3:20 and is therefore with great propriety called "omniscience", and
which the very heathens {1} ascribe to God; and extend it to thoughts. Thales
{2} being asked, Whether a man doing ill, could lie hid to, or be concealed
from God? answered, No, nor thinking neither. And Pindar {3} says, If a man
hopes that anything will be concealed from God, he is
deceived.
2a. God knows himself, his
nature and perfections: somewhat of this is known by creatures themselves, even
by the very heathens, through the light of nature, and in the glass of the
creatures, wherein God has showed it to them; even his invisible things, his eternal power and Godhead, #Ro 1:19,20 and which
are more clearly displayed in Christ, and redemption by him; and more evidently
seen by those who are favoured with a divine revelation: and if creatures know
something of God, though imperfectly, then he must know himself in the most
perfect manner: and rational creatures are endowed with knowledge of
themselves, of their nature, and what belongs to them, as
angels may reasonably be supposed to be; since even men, in their fallen and
imperfect state, know something of themselves, of the constitution,
temperament, and texture of their bodies, and of the powers and faculties of
their souls; what is in them, in the inmost recesses of their minds, their
thoughts, purposes, and intentions, #1Co 2:11. "Nosce teipsum, Know
thyself", has been reckoned a wise maxim with
philosophers, and the first step to wisdom and knowledge; and good men,
illuminated by the Spirit of God, attain to the highest degree of it; and if
creatures know themselves in any degree, infinitely much more must the Creator
of all know himself. God knows himself in all his persons, and each person
fully knows one another; the Father knows the Son, begotten by him, and brought up with him; the Son knows the Father, in whose
bosom he lay; and the Spirit knows the Father and Son, whose Spirit he is, and
from whom he proceeds; and the Father and Son know the Spirit, who is sent by
them as the Comforter; see #Mt 11:27 1Co 2:10,11. God knows the mode of each
person's subsistence in the Deity, the paternity of the Father, the generation
of the Son, and the spiration of the Holy Ghost; that these
three are one, and one in three; three persons, but one God; which is a mystery
incomprehensible by us; but inasmuch as God, who knows his own nature best, has
so declared it to be, it becomes us to yield the obedience of faith unto it: he
knows his own thoughts, which are the deep things of God, and as much above us
as the heavens are above the earth, and as much out of our reach; but he knows them, #Jer 29:11 that is, his decrees, purposes, and
designs, as he needs must, since they are purposed in himself; he knows the
things he has purposed, and the exact time of the accomplishment of them, which
he has reserved in his own power, #Eph 1:11 Ec 3:1 Ac 1:7.
2b. God
knows all his creatures, there is not any creature, not one excepted,
"that is not manifest in his sight", #Heb 4:13. Known unto him are
all his works; all that his hand has wrought, #Ac 15:18 when he had finished
his works of creation, "he saw everything that he had made", looked
over it and considered it, and pronounced it good, #Ge 1:31 and his eye sees
all things in their present state and condition; he knows
all things "inanimate", all that is upon the earth, herbs, grass,
trees, &c. and all in the bowels of it, metals and minerals; all that are in
the heavens, not only the two great luminaries, the sun and moon, their nature,
motion, rising, and setting, with everything belonging to them, but the stars
innumerable; he "bringeth out their host by number", or them as a
mighty army, and numerous; and yet, as numerous as they
are, "he calleth them all by names"; such a distinct and particular
knowledge has he of them, and that because he "hath created" them;
and he upholds them in being, "by the greatness of his might", so
that "not one faileth", #Isa 40:26 he knows all the
"irrational" creatures, the beasts of the field, "the cattle on
a thousand hills"; "I know", says he, "all the fowls of the
mountains", #Ps 50:10,11 as worthless a bird as the
sparrow is, "not one of them falls" on the ground without the
knowledge and will of God, #Mt 10:29 he knows all the fishes of the sea, and
provided one to swallow Jonah, when thrown into it; and which, at his order,
cast him on dry land again, #Jon 1:17 #Jon 2:10. And if Adam had such knowledge
of all creatures, as to give them proper and suitable names, #Ge 2:19,20 and Solomon, a fallen son of his, could "speak of trees, from
the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall"; and
"of beasts, fowl, creeping things, and fishes", #1Ki 4:33 even of their
nature, properties, use, and end; can it be thought incredible that God, the
Creator of them, should have a distinct and perfect knowledge of all these? he
knows all "rational" beings, as angels and men; the angels,
though innumerable, being his creatures, standing before him, beholding his
face, and sent forth by him as ministring spirits: the elect angels, whom he
must know, since he has chosen them and put them under Christ, the head of all
principality and power; and confirmed them, by his grace, in their happy state;
and who stand on his righthand and left, hearkening to his voice, and ready to
obey his will; and are employed by him in providential
affairs, and in things respecting the heirs of salvation. Yea, the apostate
angels, devils, are known by him, and are laid up in chains of darkness,
reserved to the judgment of the great day, and are under the continual eye of
God, and the restraints of his providence: the questions put to these by God,
#Job 1:7 and by Christ, #Mr 5:9 do not imply any kind of ignorance of them; the one is put to lead on to a discourse concerning
Job, and the other to show the greatness of the miracle wrought in casting them
out. God knows all men, good and bad, all the sons of men, the inhabitants of
the earth, wherever they are, in all places and in all ages, #Ps 33:14 Pr 15:3
he knows their hearts, for he has fashioned them alike, and is often said to be
the searcher of them; he knows the thoughts of the heart;
as his word, so is he a "discerner" of them, #Heb 4:12 Ps 139:2 which
is peculiar to God, and a strong proof of the Deity of Christ, the essential
Word, #Mt 9:4 #Joh 2:24,25 Heb 4:12,13 the evil thoughts of men, which are many
and vain, #Ps 94:11 and the good thoughts of men, as he must, since they are of
him, and not of themselves; and he takes such notice of them, as to write a book of remembrance of them, #2Co 3:5 Mal 3:16 he knows the
imaginations of the thoughts of the heart, the first motions to thought,
whether good or bad, #Ge 6:5 1Ch 28:9 he knows all the words of men, there is
not one upon their tongues, or uttered by them, but he knows it altogether, #Ps
139:4 the words of wicked men, even every idle word, which must be accounted
for in the day of judgment; and much more their
blasphemies, oaths, and curses; and all their hard speeches spoken against
Christ and his people, #Mt 12:36 Jude 1:15. And the words of good men,
expressed in prayer and thanksgiving, and in spiritual conversation with one
another, #Mal 3:16. And all the works and ways of men, #Job 34:21 their civil
ones, their downsitting and uprising, going forth and coming in, #Ps 139:2,3
#Ps 121:3,8 and all their sinful ways and works, which will
all be brought into judgment, and for which an account must be given at the bar
of God, #Ec 12:14 2Co 5:10 as well as all the good works of God's people, who
knows from what principles they spring, in what manner they are done, and with
what views, and for what ends, #Re 2:2,19.
2c. God
knows all things whatever, as well as himself and the creatures: he knows all
things possible to be done, though they are not, nor never will be done; such
as have been observed under the preceding attribute; and this knowledge is what
is called by the schoolmen, "Knowledge of simple intelligence" of
things that are not actually done. He knows what "might" be, and in
course, "would" be, should he not prevent them by
the interposition of his power and providence, and which he determines to do:
so he knew the wickedness and treachery of the men of Keilah to David, and that
if he stayed there, they would deliver him up into the hands of Saul, and
therefore gave him notice of it, that he might make his escape from them, and
so prevent their giving him up, acccording to his determinate will, #1Sa
23:11,12. God knows the wickedness of some mens' hearts,
that they would be guilty of the most shocking crimes, and that without number,
if suffered to live, and therefore he takes them away by death; and that such
is the temper of some, that if they had a large share of riches, they would be
so haughty and overbearing, there would be no living by them; and that even
some good men, if they had them, would be tempted to abuse
them, to their own hurt, and therefore he gives them poverty. Moreover, God
knows all things that have been, are, or shall be; and which the schools call,
"knowledge of vision"; an intuitive view of all actual things; things
past, present, and to come; so called, not with respect to God, with whom
nothing is past nor future, but all present; but with respect to us, and our
measures of time. He knows all former things, from the
beginning of the world; and which is a proof of Deity, and such a proof that
the idols of the Gentiles cannot give, nor any for them, #Isa 41:22 43:9 all
past transactions at the creation, the fall of Adam, and what followed on that;
the original of nations, and their settlement in the world; with various other
occurrences to be met with only in the Bible, inspired by God; which, as it is
the most ancient, so the truest and best history in the
world: nothing that has been can escape the knowledge of God, nor slip out of
his mind and memory; oblivion cannot be ascribed to him; could he forget past
facts, or they be lost to him, how could everything, open or secret, be brought
into account, at the day of judgment, as it will? #Ec 12:14. Forgetting the sins of his people, and
remembering them no more, are attributed to him after the
manner of men; who, when they forgive one another, do, or should, forget
offences. God sees and knows all things present; all are naked and open to him,
he sees all in one view; all that is done everywhere; as he must, since he is
present in all places; and all live, and move, and have their being in him. He
knows all things future, all that will be, because he has determined they shall
be; it is his will that gives futurition to them, and
therefore he must certainly know what he wills shall be: and this is another
proof of Deity wanting in heathen idols, #Isa 41:22,23 44:7 46:10. And this is
what is called:
"Prescience" or
"Foreknowledge"; and of which Tertullian {4}, many hundreds of years ago, observed, that there were as many witnesses of it
as there are prophets; and I may add, as there are prophecies; for all prophecy
is founded on God's foreknowledge and predetermination of things; and of this
there are numerous instances; as of the Israelites being in a strange land four
hundred years, and then coming out with great substance, #Ge 15:13,14 of their
seventy years captivity in Babylon, and deliverance from
thence at the end of that time, #Jer 29:10 with many other things relating to
that people, and other nations; the prophecies of Daniel, concerning the four
monarchies; the predictions of the Old Testament, concerning the incarnation of
Christ, his sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, and session at God's
right hand. And what is the book of the Revelation but a prophecy, and so a proof of God's foreknowledge of future events, which should
be in the church and world, from the times of Christ to the end of the world? and
this prescience, or foreknowledge of God, is not only of the effects of
necessary causes, which necessarily will be, unless prevented by something
extraordinary; and of which men themselves may have knowledge; as that things
ponderous will fall downwards, and light things move
upwards; and that fire put to combustible matter will burn; but of things
contingent, which, as to their nature, may or may not be, and which even depend
upon the wills of men; and which, with respect to second causes, are hap and chance.
Indeed, with respect to God, there is nothing casual or contingent {5}; nothing
comes to pass but what is decreed by him, what he has determined either to do himself, or by others, or suffer to be done, #La 3:37,38
that which is chance to others is none to him; what more a chance matter than a
lot? yet though that is cast into the lap, and it is casual to men, how it will
turn up, "the whole disposing of it is of the Lord". #Pr 16:33. What
more contingent than the imaginations, thoughts, and designs of men, what they
will be? and yet these are foreknown before conceived in
the mind, #De 31:21 Ps 139:2 or than the voluntary actions of men, yet these
are foreknown and foretold by the Lord, long before they are done; as the names
of persons given them, and what should be done by them; as of Josiah, that he
should offer the priests, and burn the bones of men on the altar at Bethel, see
#1Ki 13:2 2Ki 23:15,16 and of Cyrus, that he should give orders for the
building of the temple, and city of Jerusalem; and let the
captive Jews go free without price, #Isa 44:28 45:13 Ezr 1:1-3 all which were
predicted of these persons by name, some hundreds of years before they were
born: how all this is reconcileable with the liberty of man's will, is a
difficulty; and therefore objected to the certain foreknowledge and decree of
God; but whether this difficulty can be removed, or no, the
thing is not less certain: let it be observed, that God's decrees do not at all
infringe the liberty of the will, nor do they put anything in it, nor lay any
force upon it; they only imply a necessity of the event, but not of coaction,
or force on the will; nor do men feel any such force upon them; they act as
freely, and with the full consent of their will, whether good men or bad men, in
what they do, as if there were no foreknowledge and
determination of them by God; good men willingly do what they do, under the
influence of grace, though foreordained to it by the Lord, #Eph 2:10 Php 2:13
and so do wicked men; as Judas in betraying Christ, and the Jews in crucifying
him; though both were "according to the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God", #Lu 22:22 Ac 2:23.
There is another sort of
"prescience", or "foreknowledge", the Scriptures speak of;
on which the election of persons to eternal life is founded, and according to
which it is, #Ro 8:30 1Pe 1:2 which is not a foreknowledge of faith, holiness,
and good works, and perseverance therein, as causes of it; for these are
effects and fruits of election, which flow from it; no bare
foreknowledge of persons, but as joined with love and affection to the objects
of it; and which is not general, but special; "The Lord knows them that
are his", #2Ti 2:19 not in general, as he knows all men; but distinctly,
and particularly, he loves them, approves of them, and delights in them, and
takes a particular care of them; while of others he says, "I know you
not", #Mt 7:23 that is, as his beloved and chosen
ones. But as this belongs to the doctrine of predestination, I shall defer it
to its proper place.
3. Though enough has been said
to prove the omniscience of God, by the enumeration of the above things; yet
this may receive further proof from the several attributes
of God: as from his "infinity"; God is infinite; he is unlimited and
unbounded as to space, and so omnipresent; he is unbounded as to time, and so
eternal; and he is unbounded as to power, and so omnipotent; and he is
unbounded as to knowledge, and so omniscient; there is no searching, no coming
to the end of his understanding. From his eternity; he is from everlasting to
everlasting, and therefore must know everything that has
been, is, or shall be. Men are but of
yesterday, and therefore, comparatively, know nothing; "ars longa, vita
brevis"; science is of a large extent, and man's life but short, and he
can gain but little of it. Likewise from the "omnipresence" of God;
he is every where, in heaven, earth, and hell; and therefore must know every
creature, and everything that is done there, #Ps 139:7-12
and it may be observed, that what is said there of this attribute, follows upon
an account of the onmiscience of God, and serves to confirm it: it may be
argued from the "perfection" of God; if any thing was wanting in his
knowledge, neither that, nor he himself, would be perfect. If the circuit of
the sun is from one end of the heaven to the other, and nothing is hid on earth
from its light and heat; and hence the heathens {6}
represent it as seeing all things; then much more may be said of God, who is a
sun, that "he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole
heaven"; see #Ps 19:6 Job 28:24. From each of the works of God his
omniscience may be inferred; he has made all things, and therefore must
perfectly know them; every artificer knows his own work, its nature, composition,
parts, use, and end.
God upholds all things, and is present with them, and therefore must
have knowledge of them; he governs the world, orders, directs, and disposes of
all things in it; provides for all his creatures; feeds them, and gives them their
portion of meat in due season; and therefore must know them all: all the deeds
of men, good and evil, public and private, will be all brought into judgment by
him; which to do, requires onmiscience; see #Ec 12:14 1Co
4:5 Re 2:23.
4. The manner in which God
knows all things, is incomprehensible by us; we can say but little of it,
"such knowledge is too wonderful for us", #Ps 139:6 we can better say
in what manner he does not know, than in what he does: he does not know things
by revelation, by instruction, and comnmnication from
another; or any way by which men come at the knowledge of things from others;
for "shall any teach God knowledge?" or "who has taught
him?" #Job 21:22 Isa 40:13,14 all things were known to God from eternity,
when there were none in being to inform him of anything: besides, to suppose
this, is not only contrary to his eternity but to his independency;
for this would make him beholden to, and dependent on another, for his
knowledge; whereas "all things are of him, for him, and through him".
Nor is his knowledge attained by reasoning, discoursing, and inferring one
thing from another, as man's is; who not only apprehends simple ideas, but
joins and compounds them, and infers other things from them; but then this
implies some degree of prior ignorance; or at best,
imperfect knowledge, till the premises are clear, and the conclusion formed;
which is not to be said of God: and this method of knowledge would be contrary
to the simplicity of his nature, which admits of no composition, as well as to
his perfection: nor does he know things by succession, one after another; for
then it could not be said, that "all things are naked and open to him"; only some at one time, and some at another; which
would also argue ignorance of some things, in one instant and another; and
imperfection of knowledge; and would be contrary to his immutability, since
every accession of knowledge would make an alteration in him; whereas with him
"there is no variableness"; he sees and knows all things at once and,
together, in one eternal view. In a word, he knows all
things in himself, in his own essence and nature; he knows all things possible
in his power, and all that he wills to do in his will, and all creatures in
himself, as the first cause of them; in whose vast and eternal mind are all the
original ideas of them; so that the knowledge of God is essential to him, it is
his nature and essence, and therefore is incommunicable to a creature, and even
to the human nature of Christ; which, though united to a
divine person that is omniscient, yet does not thereby become omniscient; and
though the human soul of Christ may know more than the soul of any man, yet not
everything; see #Mr 13:32. The knowledge of God is also infinite, #Ps 147:5 he
knows himself, that is infinite; which he could not, unless his knowledge was
infinite; for it is impossible, as a Jewish {7} writer
observes, that he should know what is perfectly infinite, if his knowledge was
not perfectly infinite; for what is finite, can never comprehend that which is
infinite; and he knows all things "ad infinitum"; there is no
searching of his knowledge; it is perfect, and nothing can be added to it, #Job
36:4 and it is not conjectural, but certain, depending on his will; he knew
from all eternity, most certainly, that all things would
be, that are, because he determined they should be; and his will cannot be
frustrated, nor his power resisted, #Job 42:2.
{1} panta idwn diov ofyalmov
kai panta nohsav, Hesiod. Opera et Dies, l. 1. v. 263.
{2} Apud Laert. Vita ejus,
Val. Maxim. l. 7. c. 2. extern. 8.
{3} Olymp.
Ode l. so Epicharmus apud Clement. Stromat. l. 5. p. 597.
{4} Adv. Marcion. l. 2. c. 5.
{5} "Mihi ne in Deum
quidem cadere videatur, ut sciat quid casu et fortuito futurum sit; si enim scit
certe, illud eveniet; sin certe eveniet, nulla fortuna est, Cicero de
Divinatione, l. 2.
{6}
heliou, os pant' efora, Homer. Odyss. 11. v. 108. & 12. v. 323. Vid.
Sophoclis Trachin. v. 102.
{7} Joseph Albo in Sepher
Ikkarim, fol. 68. 2.