When answering questions about theological contradictions (for example: "If God is benevolent and omnipotent, why does evil exist?") many theists answer that God (or gods) created human beings with "free will". Yet many (not all) of the same theists believe strongly in prophecy, especially in apocalyptic scenarios. If our destiny is predetermined through prophecy, can we truly have free will?
2006-08-07 13:07:04 · 11 answers · asked by Terry G 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Clearly free will and prophecies cannot both exist as the prophecy overrides any free will that contradicts it.
2006-08-07 13:11:57 · answer #1 · answered by quierounvaquero 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure. I have grandchildren. I can "prophecy" that they will write on the bathroom wall, steal cookies, fight over their coloring book, and torture the cat whenever they come to Gramma's house to spend the afternoon.
Did I "predetermine" this behavior? LOL, uh...NO!! Would I be happy if they left one or two of these things out, maybe just once? YES!! But, darn it, the little darlings have "free will"...even though corner time or spankings are in their future, they still want to exercise that free will...
(wipes chocolate off the three-year-old's chin)
I hope this helps to explain how free will can exist alongside of prophe...
WOOOOPS!! There went my bric-a-brac!! (Could have told you THAT was gonna happen!)
2006-08-07 13:17:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
god, in the biblical sense, is another topic that just doesn't impress me... god made us in his own image, for example, he is supposed to be "perfect" but we are not? can a perfect god make an imperfect being? rediculous! not possible! (just my opinion)
o.k. that said, this is my theory.... there is a story line written for all of our lives, if we do not deviate from the path at all, our lives will go according to plan. but, we were given "free will" by our creator (I call it the universe), you can call it god or whomever you wish. by using your "free will" you are changing your fate or destiny.
this in turn would change the state of things in the world, however, I believe, that even after using "free will" and every tool that we are given to be "free" as human beings, there is somewhere, written within all of us, a script, that we all knew/know, on some level, that we were always going to follow.
free will?
in the end, I am not quite sure that it matters
we all go through this life, making decisions that will hopefully better ourselves and our families
but in the end, the script is being acted out, "the original script."
2006-08-07 13:23:38 · answer #3 · answered by amber 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that our small amount of free will is not enough to alter major life events.
You see, when we think of existence as being a single human life, we cut the huge movie-picture screen into a tiny square, where we cannot see "the big picture".
We are as old as the Lord himself, but our minds (which dominate our daily lives) are only as old as the numbers on our drivers' liscence say we are.
Therefore, when we try to make sense of existence based on 80 or 90 years at most, we're doomed to miss the mark.
2006-08-07 13:15:38 · answer #4 · answered by ThatGuy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have freedom through the Lord, when we don't accept the Lord, we pay the punishment for evil, and sin, we can only be forgiven our sins through Jesus Christ when we are saved, and turn from our old ways of the world. Evil exists because satan continues to live in the world, until revelations when Jesus returns and destroys satan and all evil.
2006-08-07 13:11:58 · answer #5 · answered by bryton1001 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes of course . God gave man free will to do as he sees fit . He can follow God's plan or he can live in sin and be condemned . If you think about it , what is better , love or hate ? God is love . Peace to you
2006-08-07 13:14:05 · answer #6 · answered by robinhoodcb 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i try to think of it like this
we are born .. we die ... we travel from A to Z
what we do from A to Z .. how we get there ... what decisions we make is up to us..
we may want to go around the mountain to get from A to Z or we may want to go up and over the mountain
so yes our birth and death may be predetermined but there are wonderful choices along the way
2006-08-07 13:16:05 · answer #7 · answered by Peace 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
considering causality (events happen as a result of other events and factors) we can logically deduce that we do not have free will. everything is predetermined by variables that have arisen in the past.
2006-08-07 13:11:45 · answer #8 · answered by curlyr3d 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Free will is choosing either the right path or the wrong one!
2006-08-07 13:13:09 · answer #9 · answered by just42day 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
2006-08-07 13:10:52 · answer #10 · answered by None 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋