How does christianity allow for a diety that knows everything you are going to do in life (Fitting into the "plan"), yet allow you to make decisions that are not already preordained? It seems to me that the two ideas are mutualy exclusive. For example, if it is in the "plan" for someone to reject the teaching of christianity, how can they accept that it is real? Or, if it was preordained for the terrorists to hit the towers and the Pentagon, are they being "rewarded" for following the plan of the christian god?
2006-07-11 19:25:06 · 12 answers · asked by paul_p_25 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
So, the main response is either that "god" knows what is going to happen, but we have free will. If someone knows you are going to do something because he or she has decided you are, that doesn't seem to be free will at all.
2006-07-15 14:57:31 · update #1
Johns responce #3
+
God can only interfere with our free will when it will save us from ourselves, However he can not directly interfere.
For instance Moses could have said no to God. He has free will to do so. But to help out the people of that time he had to find a messenger. He already knew that Moses would say yes (see John's example 3), but Moses still had free will.
2006-07-11 19:47:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is one of the great questions of Christianity. I had an entire month of Sunday School and Bible Study just dedicated to arguing how it works. In the end, there was no consensus on the actual relationship between freewill and predestination.
The most valid theory that I know of is that God is omniscient. He knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen. He had a plan and what he plans occurs despite any choices that are made. No matter what anyone does, it will not stop his plans from coming to fruition.
Now, in this scenario, God could make everything run perfectly like clockwork, but he doesn't. He created us not to be machines, but to have a personal relationship with him. FOr us to have a relationship with him, we must choose when and how we interact with him. Without free will, it would merely be God putting on a puppet play for himself.
Unfortuneately, the problem with free will is that we also have the ability to make the wrong choices. When the wrong choice is made, there are consequences. Sometimes the consequences are personal, sometimes they affect many people. These consequences can have an impact that lasts for many generations. For example, the consequence of the first sin was death. Not just death, but a curse on the whole earth where God no longer sustains it as he originally did, allowing things to go through the process of dying.
God has given us a big choice to make in this life. The choice is that we can accept what Jesus has done for us or not. This choice also has consequences. If you make the right choice, when the new heaven and earth are created you will live there in a new and perfect uncursed world. If you make the wrong choice, you will go to eternal suffering and seperation from God.
God had made and executed a plan for salvation. Are you going to choose to be a part of it? Only God knows.
2006-07-12 02:46:35 · answer #2 · answered by acaykath 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nowhere does it say that everything a man shall do is "pre-ordained". God knows what's going to happen, sure, but He does not pre-program events into every human being's life. He gives everyone a "free will".
There's no way to easily explain this "apparent-only-on-the-surface" idea to someone on the outside, (so to speak). In fact, even the Bible says that the things of God shall confound the wisest of men! It's truly a mystery how God works and only those who truly seek Him can ever know Him. That's His promise.
You will never know, and no amount of explanation will ever satisfy your curiosity in these matters, unless you dive in and get your own two feet wet by reading the Bible for yourself - for only therein lie the answers you seek.
I don't know how else to put it?
2006-07-12 02:42:32 · answer #3 · answered by love_2b_curious 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not we have fee will. Nothing is preordained, well except for possibly a few recorded events in the bible. Its not that God knows* what your going to do (let me finish before you say NO yes he does) he just knows* every possible outcome for every possible scenario. As well as I image to know your thoughts. Soo its like if you could read a persons mind and hes about to sneeze...you cant actually say its happened..till it happens just that you know it will happen.
There for God knows what your going to do, but until you do it..it hasn't been done. We have freewill, I've said this before but freewill is one of the only things we share in common with angels. The ability to choose. Weather or not someone knows what that will be is neither here nor there. Its still up to you do it.
2006-07-12 02:34:08 · answer #4 · answered by Darkmaven 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God is outside of time. God does not have a past or a future, every moment is present. The model of space-time in physics fits the concept quite naturally.
We are three dimensional creatures and therefore experience all of three so-called spacial dimensions (width, height, depth) simultaniously, but we experience the fourth demension, time, in a frame by frame way.
In this same way, God as an omni-dimensional being can experience all dimensions simultaniously. So time does not pass for Him. It just is.
2006-07-12 02:52:26 · answer #5 · answered by MikeD 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good question.
There are three different kinds of Christian responses to this question.
Response #1 -- God exists outside of our timeline. We make real free-will choices within our timeline. However since God is outside our timeline, he can see the entire timeline (like we can see the entire line that is drawn on a sheet of paper). Therefore even though we do make real free-will choices, he can see the end result (from outside of our timeline).
Response #2 -- some things are predestined by God's doing. Some other things are intentionally not predestined (by God voluntarily choosing to not predestine them) in order to preserve limited free-will for human beings. This is not a reflection on God's power (he could choose to predestine these things as well, but he chooses to not do so, in order to preserve the limited free-will).
Response #2A (a variant or extension of # 2 above) -- God has absolute foreknowledge and probabilistic foreknowledge. Absolutely foreknown things are fixed and predetermined. Probabilistically foreknown things are not predetermined absolutely.
Response #3: God does not predestine our free-will choices. However he loves us, and knows us so well (even better than we know ourselves) that he knows what our choices will be... like a mom who knows that her child is going to freely chooce strawberry icecream over vanilla icecream etc.
Cordially,
John
2006-07-12 02:28:12 · answer #6 · answered by John 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are built in a world of competition so if it means hurting one another then some people are going to do so. Organizations are another source of fighting as well starting with the 1st world war to the kluc kluz klan to street gangs (bloods and crips). Christianity is also an organization that some people believe in, and I'm saying all that to say this -no matter what group of people you are in if you are not right with God you are going to hell anyway.
2006-07-12 02:33:48 · answer #7 · answered by pepperspray 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the many questions that cannot be answered by religion only by bullshitting us.
Is like creating a robot with some degree of free will and blame it if malfunction.
2006-07-12 02:33:01 · answer #8 · answered by a theist 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think god sees all possibilities for any action or nonaction.
2006-07-12 02:29:48 · answer #9 · answered by judy_r8 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because everything in christianity is contradictory.
2006-07-12 02:30:35 · answer #10 · answered by )o(Moonbeam Maeve)o( 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋