Changing determined fate?

Question

I am LDS and had a discussion in Seminary the other day. Our Heavenly Father is all knowing, meaning he can see our past, present, and future. Let's say that according to Heavenly Father, I am not going to the Celestial Kingdom. He already knows that. How do we change what he already knows? I know it can change perspective for us, but how can we change it for him? How do we Change our Determined fate based on what Heavenly Father already knows?

God knows the future of what the free-will creatures choose. Free will does not stop becoming free because God knows what will happen. Is this True?

If he already knows everything though, how can it be that we make any different choices than what he already knows we will make?

Answer 1

Although our Father in Heaven is all-knowing, That can not, or at least should have any effect on us. If we are trying to change fate, then we must believe that we are destined to end up somewhere we don't want to be. Why not trust that our fate lies in the celestial kingdom and shoot for that? If we think that things are already decided, and that we cannot make it anywhere else, we are only going to end up shooting ourselves in the foot (on the eternal scale) by either getting disappointed and discouraged, angry, trying to "prove God wrong", or spending to much time worrying about these things instead of going out and doing good.

The Following is a quote from the lds.org website: The Fullness of the Gospel: Agency

We do not believe in a deterministic God—that is, one who determines in advance the eventual fate of His children. Rather, we believe in a God who has perfect foreknowledge of the choices His children will make. He may use this foreknowledge to guide us or even to warn us, but He does not use it to preempt our agency. He allows us to become what we truly desire to become. As Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote: “[God] knows what each will do under given conditions, and sees the end from the beginning. His foreknowledge is based on intelligence and reason. He foresees the future as a state which naturally and surely will be; not as one which must be because He has arbitrarily willed that it shall be.”

Thus, we do not need to "prove" anything to God, and although he does know what will happen under certain circumstances, and does not already have planned out exactly what will happen to us. If this were true, then the entire plan of salvation, and our time here on earth would be for nothing, and of no use, because he already knows everything, and we would just be his puppets.

If God indeed knew everything, the we would actually have no agency, meaning that he must have chosen everything. Proof against this viewpoint is the lives of wicked people who live contrary to his will, as a loving God would not choose to destroy some of his children, or doom them to go to a lesser kingdom.

@anonymous -- I hope this all helps, if I have not answered your question, please comment on my post to let me know.

Answer 2

The notion that because God knows your future, your fate is already decided is known as predestination (or predeterminism in philosophy). According to Mormons, predestination is false doctrine.

Let's say that according to Heavenly Father, I am not going to the Celestial Kingdom. He already knows that.

This is the premise of predestination which collapses in LDS theology. The original doctrine from the books of Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and 2 Nephi, and several epistles in the New Testament, declare that man was given to be an agent unto himself.

God does not choose whether you go to the Celestial Kingdom. You do, based your choices according to the Law of the Gospel. If you live a celestial law, the scriptures say, you will be risen to a celestial glory.

In this sense, God's foresight has nothing to do with determining one's salvation. If it did, we would not need the Plan of Salvation or the Atonement, or even earthly experience: our choices would not have any meaning and the Law would have no effect on us... everything would fall apart! In fact, this was precisely Lucifer's plan (Moses 4).

How do we change what he already knows?

Latter-day Saints, like most Christians, believe that God is omniscient: He knows everything; we know so little. Who are we to change His mind? I think, rather than changing what He knows, we would do better to pursue knowing what He knows.

How do we Change our Determined fate based on what Heavenly Father already knows?

As President Monson says, "Decisions determine destiny." (Read that whole talk, it's very relevant.)

Answer 3

Just because God knows what choices we will make, does not mean he wills for them to happen or that he has pre-decided our fate. The doctrine that God has decided in advance who will be saved is called predestination and is not a doctrine of the LDS Church.

Our choices determine our own destiny. If we choose Christ and his gospel, we will receive Eternal Life in the Celestial Kingdom. We decide if we will choose Christ or not, and therefore, we determine where we will end up.

From the LDS hymnbook, #240:

Know this, that ev'ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he'll be;
For this eternal truth is giv'n:
That God will force no man to heav'n.

He'll call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdom, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind.

God knows us perfectly. He knows what choices we will make. But he does not force us one way or the other, and therefore we do not have a determined fate.