Does a murderer have free will or God's instructions?

Question

The main theory in the belief of God is that He gave free will to us humans, but...

A murderer dies and he meets God, and God says, "You did evil, you must be punished,'
The murderer says, "You, my God, gave me free will, and I chose this, so why does that make what I have done, wrong? Surely it is up to me what I do, as you, my God have granted me this free will."

Why should the murderer be punished for his free will, and if so, then why would a God create this person in the first place, knowing (as a God would) what this person is going to do?

But, if the God didn't know what the murderer was going to do, then he couldn't judge such a person, because he granted them that free will to kill.
If he did know the murderer's plans, then we, the human race, are nothing more than puppets or actors reading our lines.

arewethereyet - I quote you:
“You think that free will means the choice to do as you wish in all matters with no consequence, but that is not true. Your choice is only whether you choose to love God. If you deny His existence, then you are lost. Period, end of free will, that IS your choice.
I do believe you are misled in what you think free will means. For instance, here in America we have freedom of speech. Welcome to maturity!”

So even though you advocate freedom of speech (which is what my question was), if I deny God’s existence (which I never have), then I am lost, and my free will is gone… And YOU question my maturity?

Answer 1

Put the bible down and read the funny paper! You are straining you brain!

Answer 2

God never EVER gave you free will to murder. You think that free will means the choice to do as you wish in all matters with no consequence, but that is not true. Your choice is only whether you choose to love God. If you deny His existence, then you are lost. Period, end of free will, that IS your choice.

"Thou shalt not kill" is pretty plain, no second-guessing what He means, no "well maybe sometimes it's okay" conjecture there. All 10 of His commandments are like that. Even a small child understands what it means.

I do believe you are misled in what you think free will means. For instance, here in America we have freedom of speech. We all think we have the right to say any old thing at any time we want. But that's not true. If you yell "Fire!" in a crowded movie theatre and people are trampled in the ensuing rush, you are definately held accountable for your speech.

So if, according to your little theory, we have freedom of speech, then why should someone be held accountable because they did that very thing and your family was trampled to death? Why should they be punished for their constitutional right to free speech?

Yeah, consequences. Now you're getting it ... there are consequences to your choice, no matter which one you make. Welcome to maturity!

Answer 3

I appreciate reading such a thought- full question.

Yes a murderer, does have free will. If an individual chooses to exercise free will and commit murder, then that person is subject to punishment, by criminal law and the law of God.

Each individual is responsible for their own actions. The mis-use of free will is the individuals responsibility, not God's nor society.

Therefore it is critical for everyone in the human form of life, to know what proper activities are, otherwise that individual may be living very dangerously.

If anyone with a human form of life, does not understand the difference between human activity and animal activity, then their future is indeed bleak.

The murderer is not being punished for his free will, he is subject to punishment for mis-using his free will.

Everyone has the potential to mis-use their free will, if you could not choose to something wrong, then you couldn't choose to do something right, right and wrong would have no meaning.

If God did not grant free will, then there would be no choice's, we would then indeed be puppets or robotic, programmed entities, love is unconditional, you cannot force someone to love you, if you could it would be meaningless, without that individual making a personal choice.

God is omniscient, he knows all that is happening in the past, all that is happening in the present and all that is happening in the future, within the infinite world's.

Although a person has commited murder, they can still be rectified by attoinment, certainly that individual soul will be forced to endure the same degree of suffering that they themselves have inflicted, in an equel and opposite manner. In Christian theology it is stated "The measure that you give, will be the measure that you get", or in Vedic terms, Karma or cause and effect, which is experienced over past lives and future lives.

You are responsible for your own actions, choose the right actions and make your human life successfull.

To discuss further:- Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari ([e-mail])

Answer 4

As a Christian, I believe that God does give free will to human being. The reason is God wants children who can loves Him back freely not acting like puppets. However, He also draw a bottom line for us not to cross over the limit. So when Adam & Eve did cross over the limit, God has to show His rightous - send them away.
In this case, God said clearly that nobody should kill but the muderer choose to kill then he had to bear the consequency. On earth, God will use punishment like go to jail or even dealth sentence. However, the most utimate punishment will be from God when the time has come - which will lead to punishment forever.
I believe God knows what the results will be whether he kills or not. But He won't interfence the natural rule. He wants us to chose to obey him. Not forcing us to obey Him. God gives us a good heart to guide us how to get along with each other. But most of all, He is also righteous so the murderer cannot argue that God gave him free will therefore he killed. Because God can also says, "Well, I also give free will to everybody and they including you also know that nobody shall kill but you chose to disobey me whereas the rest didn't so you have to bear your punishment."

Answer 5

If you were God, would you promote murder? You're probably saying that it doesn't matter because he promotes free will. True, but think about the word 'trust'. It's like when a parent lets a young, impressionable teenager hang out with his friends late at night. They're giving him trust that he'll do the right thing, even though they know he may not.

If we were puppets, the world would be perfect-in God's eyes. But it's just that-we'd be puppets. Free will gives us the ability to just live. It's our own choice to kill. Just because God knows we are going to do it doesn't mean a thing.

You ask why would he create the person in the first place? Our free will gives us the ability to create people through sex. God didn't do that. It's our free will that makes us kill. God didn't do it.

You say God couldn't judge a person with free will. God judges us because we CAN choose. And if we choose to do the right thing, his judgment will be that we're good in his eyes. It's that choice that lets us do the right thing. We brought sin upon ourselves as a race. It was inevitable, and God knew that too. But now that sin is here, we can choose to avoid it.

Answer 6

This would be a choice of Free Will... Now on the matter of where God stands on these issues is not for us to ponder or worry our hearts over. But pray that the murderer may seek Jesus into his or her life. That my friend is there only salvation.
We also don't know God's plans of intricate proportion. "like did he want this person to die to affect another person so they do this... and so on and so forth" He knows every hair on your head Yes... Remember This out of the book Ecclesiastes Chapter 12
on wondering about what God's intentions are and all his works. How doing this is wasting time. GOOD QUESTION THOUGH

Ecclesiastes 12:8 -14


8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. [a]
"Everything is meaningless!"

The Conclusion of the Matter
9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

Note " Including every hidden thing" this will be the ultimate "ANSWERS.GOD.COM" in heaven

Answer 7

We have free will-- a gift from God really as the angels do not have it-- to make our own choices.

I wrote this the other day, but I will do it again.

You come to the end of a road. You can go right... or you can go left. If you go right, God knows what will happen. If you go left, God also knows where that will lead to as well. However, God as left it up to you to make the choice. This is free will.

The workings of God are really beyond us. Take your murderer. He kills a father of three girls. One of the girls grows up, becomes a police officer and arrests a drunk driver. However, if the father had not been murdered, the girl would have never became a police officer, she would have been a stripper instead, stuck in an abusive relationship. See, it was her father's murder that gave her the drive to become an officer of the law, her father's memory that got her through police school. If she did not go to police school, if she would have not been on duty the day she pulled over the drunk driver. If she had not pulled over the drunk driver, he would have driven into a playground and killed 9 kids.

See. That is an extreme example, but sometimes we do not understand God's plan for everything.

Free will is a gift, but you will have to answer for your choices. God has laid out the laws plainly. "Thou shalt not murder". God said it, but it is up to you to obey it. Like a father who punishes his children when they do something wrong, that is God.

If you had a son and left him home alone. He could watch tv, or he could invite his friends over to do drugs and have an orgy. Lets say your son chooses the latter. You come home and catch him in the act. But then the son says to you, "But father, you are the one who left me home alone? If you did not want me doing drungs and having orgies, why did you leave me alone? In truth father, this is your fault."

Would you agree? Would you take the blame and let your son off with nothing? Or do you still punish the son?

Something to ponder...

T.

Answer 8

The reason we are given free will is so that we may work towards our rewards in heaven...if a shop assistant steals from the the till, no-one says "Oh, it was the employer's fault for hiring them in the first place". No, if a man or woman chooses to murder then they are responsible for their own actions. We are given free will on the basis of love trust and hope, but if we take another's life we are breaking that trust...of our own choosing..it boils down to the old fashioned struggle between good and evil..if you choose to follow evil paths it will lead you to ruin...in life, if you break the rules, you get punished, and you cannot expect to lead an evil life and then be rewarded in heaven for it..No-one would want to think of Mari Hindley and Ian Brady, or Fred and Rosemary West going unpunished in the next life...killers are evil through and through...and deserve what comes to them for what they have done...

Answer 9

God made me do it, right? If this won’t work in a civil court, it certainly won’t work on Judgment Day. Even with an expert defense lawyer, it would take a pretty inept judge to fall for the old "God made me do it" defense. We are responsible moral agents. The "buck" stopped at Adam. He tried to blame both God and Eve for his sin; Eve blamed the serpent. It is human nature to try, but it doesn’t work with God.

"A brilliant young man questioned Dr. Henrietta Mears about surrendering his life to God. He was convinced that becoming a Christian would mean the destruction of his personality, that he’d be altered in some strange way, and that he’d lose control of his own mind. He feared becoming a mere puppet in God’s hands.

"So Miss Mears asked him to watch as she turned on a lamp. One moment it was dark, then she turned on the switch. She explained, ‘The lamp surrendered itself to the electric current and light has filled the room. The lamp didn’t destroy its personality when it surrendered to the current. On the contrary—the very thing happened for which the lamp was created: it gave light.’"

Answer 10

"God"s instructions is written in our genes. It explans why we are overly focused on sex for it's in our gene's instructions to procreate and multiply. In the complexity of our being is our brain with the ability for rationality and the capacity to memorize. We are also endowed with a subconscious that I suspect instinctual imprints resides. The interplay of genetic predisposition, instinctual reaction, societal conditioning, and intellectual reasoning, among others, governs the exercise of "free will". So in a sense we are free but not totally free.

The scenario you painted could very will happen..in the murderer's mind. In which case whether punishment is meted or not depends to some degree on the murderer.

The question it seems presupposes that "God" is bound by our precept of good, evil, and fairness. Perhaps the real question is "did God created us, or did mankind created God'?

Answer 11

My problem with it is this.

You are deemed a sinner from birth. Even if you haven't done anything wrong. God knows everything you will ever do, so is it really freewill? He already knows if you are going to hell supposedly.

There are so many holes and not enough answers to fill them all. There should be at least some level of proof. But quite simply, that some level does not exist.