Omniscience of God

Definition and Meaning

The omniscience of God is the attribute by which God knows all things fully. The Korean term jeonji (全知) is a Sino-Korean word meaning "knowing all." The doctrine confesses that nothing lies outside God's knowledge, whether past, present, or future events, outward actions, or the inner thoughts of the human heart. Systematic theology treats it, together with the omnipotence of God and the omnipresence of God (His presence everywhere), as a principal topic in the exposition of the attributes of God. God's knowing in advance what will happen is specifically called "foreknowledge."

Biblical and Historical Background

Psalm 139:1-4 declares that God knows when a person sits down and rises up, and even every word on the tongue. Hebrews 4:13 states that no creature is hidden from God's sight. Also frequently cited are Matthew 10:29-30, which says that God takes note of the sparrows and numbers even the hairs of one's head, and Isaiah 46:10, which speaks of God "declaring the end from the beginning."

Throughout church history, the question of how God's foreknowledge and human freedom can both hold true has been debated at length. Augustine held that God's foreknowledge does not abolish the free will of human beings. Chapter 2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith confesses that God's knowledge is "infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature."

Practice in the Korean Church

Korean denominations share the confession that God knows all things. Where they differ is in their understanding of the relationship between foreknowledge and predestination.

• The Calvinist tradition, including the Presbyterian churches, connects God's knowledge with His decree (His foreordaining). It holds that God did not decree anything because He foresaw it as future (Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 3).
• The Wesleyan tradition, including the Methodist and Holiness churches, and Arminianism hold that God foreknows each person's faith and elects accordingly (Romans 8:29). They maintain that God's foreknowledge does not compel human choices.
• Open theism, which holds that future free choices are not yet settled and that even God therefore does not know them with certainty, has been proposed in the English-speaking world. In Korea's major denominations and seminaries, it is reportedly presented for the most part in critical terms.

In preaching and Christian life, this doctrine is applied in two ways. On the one hand, it serves as a warning that even secret sins are exposed before God; on the other, it offers comfort, encouraging believers to entrust themselves to the God who fully knows their circumstances. Matthew 6:8 says that God knows what is needed before one asks. This verse often prompts the question "Why pray if God already knows everything?", which is commonly addressed in catechetical instruction and Bible study.