Free Will and Religious Doctrines: Critics and Survey of Western Scholar's Answers to the Issue of Fatalism

The issue of free will is influenced by religion as by science. The two religious doctrines of ‘infallible divine foreknowledge’ and ‘divine providence’ are threatened by fatalism. If God foreknows all future events including man’s actions and everything which occurs is under His control, how can we do other than we actually do? Human freedom requires the ability to do otherwise. If we lack the power to do otherwise, then we are not free. The issue has been debated extensively in the history of western philosophy. Some philosophers have denied divine foreknowledge, some have argued that free will is an illusion, and yet some have tried to show that they are compatible. The present article intends to study the issue of fatalism and the western philosophers’ answers to the questions raised in this regard.