... perform action B, event A has already occurred. Therefore event A has occurred whether or not we decide to perform action B. B therefore cannot be the cause of A, as in order to avoid a contradiction, at least one of our three precepts must be false. When formulated in these terms, the logical impossibility of backward causation is inescapable. Dummett1 discusses a different way to affect the past without direct backward causation. The concept of retrospective prayer introduces the possibility of communication with an intelligent agent who can act at some time in the past. Because God is omniscient, He will know that at some time in the future, a believer will perform action B (prayer), and can therefore act before the occurrence of A (the death of a relative), in order to prevent it. This formulation is just as unsatisfactory as the previous one, however. All we have ...

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