Freewill vs. Destiny?

Question

Will someone explain their understanding of this? I feel I am always torn between both perhaps. This has always eluded me.

Answer 1

You were born with a set of potentials (like intelligence or musical ability), just like you were born with certain physical characteristics. These potentials influence (or predetermine) the outcome of your life to some degree.

Your personality is also molded by the experiences you have in life--especially in your early life--particularly in your relationships with other people. (If Mozart had been beaten repeatedly for writing music as a kid, he probably wouldn't have become a great composer.) These experiences can also have a "predetermining" effect on your present reality.

Ultimately, though, YOU determine the events and relationships in your life, apart from any outside influences on your choices. Nothing is truly predetermined; anyone can radically change the course of his life at any moment.

What you do in life is create a present reality for yourself by choosing from the possibilities "out there", based on the values you hold "in here"--in your mind set. Your beliefs are one kind of value you'll find "in there".

Beliefs are so powerful that, if someone really believes their life is predetermined, this belief will be reinforced by their life experience. But so will a belief in free will. Or anything else!

If you learn to overcome your beliefs, you can see what's really happening here: your reality is being created every moment by your mind set (including beliefs, opinions, assumptions, and so on).

Then the question of "free will" vs. "destiny" won't be an issue.

Answer 2

Now you want someone to solve an argument that has been going om for 1,000's of years?

OK try this - don't eat for a few days - you won't be able to think very well or do a lot of work etc a fundemntal change will occur in your thought and character patterns in a matter of days.

Now eat nothing but sugar - you will be excited etc another predictable controllabe change. Try not seeping for 3 days and you will likely be halucinating.

Take drugs -lithium - dope- crack- beer- doesn't matter there will be significant changes in perception and s forth .

All of the above are enviormental and "destiny" if you will - because of the circumstanes you were in at the time your reaction was governed by a lot if not all of the imediate surroundings etc.

Now you do have some control - don't shop when your hungary - a choice that is/can be made because you are acknowledgeing the effect of an uncontrollable circumstance -your hungary

Does that open the picture up ? You are in whatever time place and circumstance you are in but by being aware of the effects you can circumvent some of it. How aware are you of the impact your parents made on you growing up? This plays a parts to but it's the same thing.

If you want free will then awareness is the key but it will only get you so far you can't make yourself so aware that you remove yourself from the place you are in - so it will and must dictate to a certain level - it just doesn't have to be 100%

Answer 3

Freewill and destiny or gods plan are mutually exclusive ideas that cannot be reconciled with each other.

For example if you believe that gods plan includes the exact date and time that every one is going to be born and die. Then if someone goes and kills off a few hundred people you cannot escape gods plan and the mass murderer is just the tool of god. By this way of belief Hitler should have been sainted for all of gods work that he did. This is ridiculous.

On the other hand people claim that if god or Jesus showed up today and started pulling off miracles it would end free will. If it would have ended free will he wouldn't have been allowed to perform miracles in the first place.

Answer 4

Here's a quick explanation to a question that deserves a much longer one.

Some hold as their primary faith statement that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-etc...
By this belief, then God knows all that has ever happened, will ever happen, and perhaps even crafts the happening. So in that case, you are simply living out the destiny that God created for you.

Now, while others agree with the "all-" statements, they also believe that making that the primary way to understand our relationship with God makes our role in the relationship practically nothing. They hold that while God knows all, what God really knows are all the possible outcomes of everyone's choices and how they all interplay with each other throughout history. God's trying to move us toward final victory, but wouldn't force it on us. This gives us the freewill to make choices for or against God, thus making our relationship with God (and God's ultimate victory) more meaningful.

Answer 5

Here's how you can find out what you believe (trust me, it really works):

1) Clench your hand in a fist.
2) Say 'I am an idiot'.
3) Punch yourself in the face.

Now, after doing this, decide whether you were:

1) destined by 'God' or some higher power that this morning, you would get on a computer, inquire about destiny, call yourself an idiot, and punch yourself in the face

or

2) making a decision by your own free will to get on your computer, ask a question, and follow some stranger's ridiculous instructions.

If you believe the former to be true, you believe in destiny and a preordained existence; if the latter seems more reasonable, you believe in free will.

Answer 6

You have free will to make your own choices in life. The choices you make determine your destiny. If you had worked at the twin towers and you made a choice to go out and get drunk the night before 9/11 and then call in sick the next day, then the choice that you made would have possibly spared you from a death. So right there your destiny would have changed.

Answer 7

The way I understand this is as follows: certain things in your life are destiny, they were planned and decided beforehand, as a "framework" of your whole life, and some other things are your challenges, so you have free will to make a choice within this area. That means you should pay attention only to your every day challenges, try to be open to what destiny sends to your life, do your best, enjoy it, and become a better person in the process.

Answer 8

Deep question, man. I believe with more bible study and fellowship, you will find the two melding together. Meditate on Jeremiah 29:11 which says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Couple this with Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." and lastly remember to always trust in Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God." These scriptures give me peace and remind me to take my ego and expectations out of the equation: God's got it all in His hands and under control. Be assured that there is a perfectly planned future that exists NOW for God, but in a future time to come for US. Hope this has helped you. I surely feel your pain. God has given us freewill, but let GRACE be the abiding factor in how you dole out that will. As you do so, your destiny will be realized. Grace and peace to you.
James 1:5, Philippians 4:6

Answer 9

This is confusing. Destiny you cannot control for it is how your life is played out before you live, it is how it will happen or should happen. Just like a man marrying the love of his life is destiny. His freewill could tell him not to marry her, but then she wouldn't be the love of his life like destiny has made it. Does that make sense? Free will is sort of choosing your destiny.

Answer 10

Both exist. People tend to misidentify destiny such as when they hook up with a future mate and claim it was destiny that they met.

Destiny can be attributed to major things like death, illness, or catastrophic events which are obviously out of your control or the circumstances would have made avoiding it unlikely.

About 90% of life is choices, the other 10% destiny.