Isnt the idea that you have free will a complete Paradox?

Question

If god is all knowing, in every sense and is all powerful without limitation the idea of free will seems contradictory. God creates you knowing what path you will walk, and knowing how you will choose (to follow or not to follow)... since you are HIS creation and he knows all that you will do, ist it fair to say that hre created you to do it?

Lets say he is creating a man who he knows will grow up to be a serial killer. From the very moment the mans heart first beats god knows he will be a killer... the man grows up and becomes a killer... wouldnt you say that god then created him to be a killer?

The only way that Free-Will could exist, is if God doesnt know what you are going to do.... or if God has no plan for you... or God has no hand in how you are created...

Its like me dropping a penny into a well. I know it is going to fall to the bottom, I set everything in motion for it to do that... could you say that I threw it into the well, or I mearly let go and it dropped itself in?

And if god does have a plan for you, and He is all powerful... how could we possibly not complete gods plan... Are we more powerfl than god... If I am to be a great revivalist... and yet I do not, have I bent the will of god? I would really like someone to answer this... I have read the bible many times, I have been to many religious schools. Yet, I still see inconsistencies and no one has been able to answer them... "God works in mysterious ways, or we cannot understand the will of God" does not an aswer make.

I can see that perhaps there is a larger system at play, and perhaps we are unaware of the larger symphony of the Universe, but I feel there is too much gray area... I like the Idea of Deism or pantheism, which does not take god out of the equation, but takes the dogma out of the reverence... God is great... and that is enough...

Be a good person live a good life. Treat people well and do your best to make the world better than when you arrived...that seems the way to go

Answer 1

Yes, you are correct. It's a contradiction that proves that the god that so many people claim to worship doesn't exist.

In the following argument, the author does not assign god a gender, therefore god is referred to as "it" instead of "he" or "she".

"The problem here is that God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen. Its knowledge cannot be wrong. There is not a single event that it has not foresaw. Given that it created the Universe the way it did, do we have free will? Consider that when God made the Universe it could see every possible result of what it was doing. Which means: it could not create something without knowing what the results would be, and without knowing how it would be affected (and effect) the things around it.

Let's say that Fred has a choice that will save his life, to accept God or not to accept God and the final choice is to be made tomorrow. God knows already what choice he will make - God cannot be wrong therefore Fred cannot choose otherwise to what God has predicted. When God created the chain of events that made Fred it also knew that it was making Fred's choice for him, and knew how the various circumstances and character would make him choose either right or wrong. Fred would go forth and make that very decision that God knew he would make, and by virtue that God knowingly set up all the factors that affected his decision, it was not up to Fred but to God to decide how Fred would fare.

This argument does not imply that God does not exist. It leaves us with three results, two of which have to be wrong.

1. God created everything with full knowledge and we have no free will to change it
2. God does not have full knowledge
3. God did not make the Universe or there is no God"

- Written by Vexen Crabtree

Answer 2

Do YOU know what you will be doing in the future?

You have "plans" but your birth certificate does not have an expiration date on it.

I have no control over what you do with your life, that is your free will. Someone could have a plan for your life to go to China and make millions. If you choose to stay where you're at, that's free will. But if sit and watch what you do for the rest of your life and have a plan for you...does that mean I created you as a serial killer.
It will always be your choice what path you walk, true Christians know God has the best plan for their lives.

Answer 3

Not at all. I believe that God exists, and that He knows everything. I also believe that the Bible is his word passed down to mankind.

In the Bible, it says that God wants all men to be saved and that He wants all of us to become his children. The "free will" allows us to either accept that path that he wants us to follow or not.

J T, since you don't believe in a deity or that you have free will, then who or what is controlling your life? What is it that you are blindly following? Are you not able to make decisions for yourself?

I can accept God or reject him, that is the exercise of my free will.

By the way, "Be a good person live a good life. Treat people well and do your best to make the world better than when you arrived...that seems the way to go" is a Christian philosophy. You can choose to keep and accept it, or you can choose to throw it away. Use your free will.

Answer 4

Instead of Paradox, consider it a mystery.

God is fully able to create a universe peopled with beings capable of making moral (and other) decisions without His direct guidance. That is Omnipotence. He is also fully able to look at time from OUTSIDE of it, to see all the decisions as they are being made--freely. That is part of being Omniscient.

Being omniscient doesn't interfere with the ability to be omnipotent. They are not in opposition to each other.

Also, God is not creating individuals anymore. He created 2 (Adam and Eve) and commanded them to multiply, and they did. The people you see around you are not direct creations. They are descendants. The freedom thing doesn't only apply to choice, it applies to existence also. The mechanism of this creation continues to work on it's own, and will until the energy powering it runs out. The sun burns, the planets revolve and rotate, water evaporates, rain falls, grass grows, cows eat grass, men eat steak.

The Omniscient God is able to give His creatures free will, and watch them make the worst decisions imaginable, and still let them remain free.

That makes Free Will the scariest gift in all of creation.

Answer 5

Well, God knows what will happen to you in life and in death, but you still make the decision. Like, someone could offer you the chance to go to China or wherever to make millions, and you could not go. Because that's what you chose. But if you chose to go, that's your choice. Either way, you can only choose on, and what you choose will always come out the same, because you can only choose one thing. What I've just said is hard to understand, but still, if you think about it, it works.

Answer 6

The only way "free will" could exist is if humans did not get hungry, thirsty, cold, hot, sick, tired, driven by the need to procreate, or any other human biological need or urge.

The idea that humans have "free will" is a ridiculous idea on the face of it. All animals have as much "free will" as humans.



BTW, I didn't bother to convolute the argument by introducing "God," since he (it?) is irrelevant to the fact humans (animals) do not have "free will" in the first place.

Answer 7

I believe that God gave us the choice to choose our actions. Actions bring about reactions. God lets us make mistakes to learn lessons so that we can grow in Spiritual love for one another by teaching us compassion and forgiveness.

Answer 8

no,wrong o
God had our lives planned out as to what he wanted us to accomplish here on earth,but you have choices to make,that determines if you go there the easy way or the hard way or at all,but it's all your chose,there's always many roads that lead to the same destination,its our chose which one we take

Answer 9

The entire purpose in life is to have people wanting of their free will of choice to want to live for and accept Jesus as their savior, so the Christian Church becomes Jesus bride that He takes to heaven to present to His Father, the Almighty God.
Now what you rather have... A spouce that was force to be married to you and hate you and is miserable with you, or spouce that would do anything in life for you, love you unconditionally and make them selves worthy of being with you, and make you the happiest person alive?
Life is one grand test to weed out the bad and keep the worthy and obedient, and respectful Christians who are willing to live up to the standards of Jesus and of God so they can become Jesus, the Lamb;s bride.It's not that complicated. You wouldn't want a spouce forced upon you that did not want you or love you.. Well, Jesus wants only those who choose Him and prove them selves worthy of becoming His bride. That's God's way, and that is the way it is. Its a choice of wanting to be a part of Jesus Chrisitan bride or being the property of satan for all eternity.
Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Jesus promises you eternal paradice, and riches beyond your wildest dreams, and satan can't even offer you a cold drop of water in hell with him.
Now here's God's plan for you. He convicts your heart,( meaning He leads you in the right dirrection) and the Hloy spirit moves you towards Jesus. You know when its happening, because you can actually feel it. That's God's plan for everyone. But you make the choice yourself to either accept Jesus as your savior,and live eternally in heaven, or not choose to accepet Jesus , and automatically pick satan for rejecting Jesus.
Every bit of your post is wrong and you are using the ignorance of logic instead of faith, which you obviously do not have. you see, God moved me to share this with you, but it's up to you as to whether you choose to accept it ,and in turn , accept Jesus as your savior or not. In the end, it was not God who condemns those who reject Jesus, but those who choose not to accept Jesus, who condemns themselves.
You along with the rest of us were given the ability to choose good over evil. It is what you choose that determines where you will spend eternity. You and you alone control that. Stop blaming God for your own failures.

Answer 10

Not a paradox if you are an atheist...