Boethius, in his guise as a character in the book, initially claims that those who think that God could have foreknowledge of events that are unnecessary or uncertain are just confused. He thinks it is self-contradictory to speak of foreknowledge of what is not necessary. That’s because “the outcome of something known in advance must necessarily take place” (106). If it is known that something will be, then it necessarily must be. Thus foreknowledge of what is not necessary is self-contradictory because it involves one and the same thing as necessary and as not necessary.