Omniscience

Omniscience (ɒmˈnɪʃəns) is the capacity to know everything. In Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are differing beliefs about omniscience among different schools. The word omniscience derives from the Latin word sciens ("to know" or "conscious") and the prefix omni ("all" or "every"), but also means "all-seeing". The topic of omniscience has been much debated in various Indian traditions, but no more so than by the Buddhists. After Dharmakirti's excursions into the subject of what constitutes a valid cognition, Śāntarakṣita and his student Kamalaśīla thoroughly investigated the subject in the Tattvasamgraha and its commentary the Panjika. The arguments in the text can be broadly grouped into four sections: The refutation that cognitions, either perceived, inferred, or otherwise, can be used to refute omniscience. A demonstration of the possibility of omniscience through apprehending the selfless universal nature of all knowables, by examining what it means to be ignorant and the nature of mind and awareness. A demonstration of the total omniscience where all individual characteristics (svalaksana) are available to the omniscient being. The specific demonstration of Shakyamuni Buddha's non-exclusive omniscience, but knowledge of Shakyamuni Buddha's is really infinite and no other gods or being can match his true omniscient. Attributes of God in Christianity Some modern Christian theologians argue that God's omniscience is inherent rather than total, and that God chooses to limit his omniscience in order to preserve the free will and dignity of his creatures. John Calvin, among other theologians of the 16th century, comfortable with the definition of God as being omniscient in the total sense, in order for worthy beings' abilities to choose freely, embraced the doctrine of predestination.