Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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Now that Philosophy has laid the foundation of the true nature of knowledge, she can discuss God’s nature, so we can see his knowledge. God is eternal, possessing perfect life forever, possessing all of time as his “now.” Therefore, God knows all things simultaneously, discerning between events that occur out of necessity and those that do not, so that we act freely, even while God knows perfectly what we will do in advance. No human being can evade God’s all-encompassing foreknowledge, which never changes, and indeed which is logically prior to future events, controlling them. But because God’s knowledge does not force people to act, they still have true free will; God can justly reward and punish the righteous and the wicked; and we can pray effectively. We must then pursue virtue with reliance on God, living before him.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Philosophy discusses the differences between types of knowledge: Some animals only know through Sensation (like mollusks), while others know through Imagination (like mobile animals). Humans know in both ways as well, but also know through Reason, which is superior. God alone knows through Intelligence, which is the most superior knowledge of all. Because Reason is superior to Sensation and Imagination, it grasps more of the whole of the knowledge of something. God’s knowledge is as superior to Reason as Reason is superior to Imagination and Sensation. Therefore, we must not think that God knows in the same way we do; we must yield to his superior knowledge, not assert our own. If we can ascend to the level of God’s knowledge, as much as we are able, we will see that there is no contradiction between it and free will.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Philosophy asserts that human reason cannot attain God’s simple foreknowledge, and for that reason Boethius is confused by the contradiction between foreknowledge and free will. She will now unravel his difficulties, and then help him grasp the simplicity of God’s foreknowledge.

If some events do not occur out of necessity, then the contradiction between foreknowledge and free will is resolved. For example, there are actions that unfold before our eyes that are not compelled by outward necessity, such as skilled chariot-driving. Just as our knowledge does not compel events to happen as we watch them, so God’s perfect knowledge does not compel future events to happen as he watches them.

But can events that by their nature are not certain to occur be foreknown? Yes, because whether an event is necessary or not does not affect God’s foreknowledge of it, since knowledge is based on the nature of the knower, not the nature of the event. Philosophy illustrates this by explaining that Physical Sensation, Imagination, Reason, and Intelligence grasp man’s nature in different ways, Intelligence being the highest of all, with the purest and most perfect insight. The knowledge of man these faculties gain is based on the nature of these faculties, not on the nature of man.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Boethius is still bothered by the contradiction he sees between Philosophy’s teaching on God’s foreknowledge of all things and on the existence of free will. If God accurately foresees every event, what he foresees will infallibly happen, which means man cannot have free will. Some argue that the inevitability of an action causes God’s foreknowledge. But those events are still necessary, and thus, in either case, free will is impossible. Also, if God’s decrees are that events may or may not happen, what kind of foreknowledge is that? But if his foreknowledge is certain, where is human freedom?

The moral result is catastrophic: Good cannot be truly rewarded, or evil punished, because people acted out of necessity, not their own choice. Virtue and vice would cease to exist. Further, vice would be attributed to God, since he is the cause of all things.

The practical result is destructive: Hope and prayer are both pointless. And since prayer is the only interaction people can have with God, we would thus be unable to be joined to him, cut off from our source of life.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Within this plan of Providence, does free will really exist? Yes, because each reasonable creature is able to discern between desirable and undesirable things, and thus to pursue the former and avoid the latter; in other words, they are able to will or not to will. However, humans who are embodied, and especially those who pursue vice, have lessened free will; their use of their will has enslaved them to vice.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Boethius asks Philosophy whether chance exists. She demurs at first, lest this matter weary him so he cannot complete his journey back to his spiritual home. Then she defines chance not as an outcome without a cause, but as an unintended and unplanned outcome of combined events—unplanned humanly speaking, since all things happen as Providence has planned.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Therefore, Philosophy concludes, every fortune is good. For the righteous to improve in virtue is good, and for the wicked to be punished or corrected is good. So a wise person will not resist when Fortune grates against him, since such difficulty helps him deepen his wisdom. So he should respond rightly to harsh or pleasant fortune to gain happiness.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.

Written in the 6th-century from a prison cell as the author awaits execution for a crime he did not commit, The Consolation of Philosophy is a dialogue between Boethius and a mysterious woman—Lady Philosophy—who helps him rediscover wisdom and virtue.

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You’re invited to join the companion course that dives deep into each of the five books. There, we’ll explore each chapter, with guided readings, discussion prompts, and study tools to enrich your journey. Enroll today.