“Just because God knows everything we will do (and we don’t) doesn’t mean he causes us to do those things. We still have free will and chose to do them.”
It doesn’t matter whether he causes you do things, if he knows for certainty you’re going to do a particular thing that means you have no free will - you will do that thing.
If I know with 100% certainty that your going to rob a bank, that means it’s been predermined that you will rob the bank and you have no choice in the matter. Right?
Also if he knows your going to do a heinous act and he has the power to stop it (remember he’s all powerful) why doesn’t he?
I got a feeling that if you were in his place you would stop it, no?
I think your arguments about omniscience, causality and free will are either puerile or sophistry.
God is omniscient (in regards to our universe, specifically) because He created the time/space continuum in which we reside, but He does not.
Being able to know, see or experience the entirety of the space/time continuum in gestalt while also maintaining focus on each and every component is how I imagine God’s omniscience to work, ymmv.
I think that if I were in God’s place with His Creator’s Perspective, I would be in total agreement with Him on free will.
Why does an omnipotent God allow evil to exist? Probably for the same reason a parent allows a child to explore and learn from their mistakes. It should be noted that God says He is keeping records and that there will be a reckoning. We’ve been warned repeatedly, so just because a patient God doesn’t zap us in our shoes should not be interpreted as “allowing” anything.
I prefer to be a forgiven sinner rather than a condemned one.