Even if we were to allow the necessity of free will for happiness, God could have created humans with free will who did not have the ability to choose evil, but to choose between several good options.
God supposedly has free will, and yet he does not make imperfect decisions. If humans are miniature images of God, our decisions should likewise be perfect. Also, the occupants of heaven, who presumably must have freewill to be happy, will never use that freewill to make imperfect decisions. Why would the originally perfect humans do differently?
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2006-08-17 10:55:26 · 11 answers · asked by Atheist 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Its all because Eve ate the apple. Quit making it so complicated.
2006-08-17 11:01:33 · answer #1 · answered by Marrs G 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Imagine you're watching an ordinary guy playing chess with a grandmaster of Kasparov's or Fischer's caliber. You'll find its easy to understand the ordinary guy's moves but you can't "read" the meaning behind the GM's every move. You might even say he made a bad move or a blunder but since you are so limited in the knowledge of the game then you can't really question the soundness of his moves because the GM's thinking ability is many times deeper than yours.
It's the same thing about God. We say God made a mistake because of this and that but remember, God, by definition is perfect. In fact, it may be accepted that God is imperfect for the sake of argument but still, that doesn't give us any clue where He made a mistake. So you can't really tell he made a mistake in making us imperfect. The fact that he made angels perfect doesn't prove He made a mistake when he made us. That only says one thing, that He can choose diversity. He is the ultimate GM and therefore, it's not logical to measure Him in terms of our limited brains. It's just not rational to say this move by the chess GM is wrong or right when you barely understand chess, much less understand how the GM's brain operates.
2006-08-17 11:39:25 · answer #2 · answered by Romeo 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, the presence of imperfections in the universe are because of sin, a condition God gave us the answer for.
Perfection, by the way, is not an objective condition. You may walk into a room and say the temperature is perfect, I might be cold so there is no perfection in that room for me. Imperfections in the universe (which I am willing to bet includes Christians in your eyes) are not the same for everyone...
2006-08-17 11:04:26 · answer #3 · answered by chris 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, please define imperfect. All is as it should be for a purpose. God has given us free will that we may experience a broader range of emotional outcomes. How dull would the world be should everything be, as you define it, perfect. We are all a part of God. Ask yourself this could you know what light is without darkness, black without white? A thing, thought, action or emotion cannot exist without it's extreme opposite. this is an undenialbe law of physics, is it not? How can you know good without it's oppsite - Evil.
Take some time and read - Conversations with God by neale Donald Walsch. It's a non-denominational book.
2006-08-17 11:07:52 · answer #4 · answered by Rob 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is it free will if you only have the option of choosing good? Perhaps, the imperfections in the universe prove the perfection of the creator. Let's go back to the beginning.
God made man in His image. What does that mean? Did Adam look exactly like God? No. It is refering to our spiritual nature. God is a tri-unity and so is man. God is comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Man is comprised of a body, soul, and spirit.
Yes, God is sinless and man was created in a sinless state. But, man was not created with the same characteristics or attributes as God. Man is not all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, and ect. Without all the attributes of God, man had the ability to choose to sin. And, one day, man made that choice. That sin resulted in a cursed universe, hence, the imperfections we see today.
Your assumption that free will is a gift from God to make us happy is incorrect. God gave us a free will to make Himself happy. Without our free will, God would only have puppets. He did not want puppets. He wanted beings who would choose to love and worship him. There is no honor for the one worshipped if the worship is forced.
Indeed, why would the originally perfect humans choose to sin? First, let's redefine what the original humans were. The Bible doesn't teach that they were perfect, only innocent. They were sinless, but because of their free will, had the capacity to sin. They were decieved by Satan (the serpent). James teaches that a person sins when he allows lust to grow and acts upon that lust. This is what happened. Note, that the Bible indicates that they were not "like God". They lusted because they could be "like God" if they ate the forbidden fruit (at least they thought they would be like God). Then, they acted upon that lust.
God does have a free will, but, unlike man, His free will is tempered by his other attributes. His character does not allow Him to sin. Man, however, never had those attributes.
So, how do the imperfections in this universe prove the perfection of its Creator? Only an all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, righteous and perfect being could rightfully curse the universe because of another's sin, and, in the end, bring good out of it.
What good will God bring out of this sin-curse world? First, He as provided a way for all people to be saved from the personal curse of sin. Romans teaches that all have sinned and the wages of sin is death. Revelation goes on to teach that this death is not just physical death, but also spiritual death. In Hebrews this spiritual death is called the judgement. It says, "it is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgement." We learn elsewhere that this is a two-fold judgement. There is the judgement of the saved (they are judged by their name being written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They are found to be righteous because they accepted Jesus' sacrifice as payment for their sins.) and the judgement of the lost ( they are judged first by their name not being written in the Lamb's Book of Life and then by their works, being shown that they were sinful and therefore unfit for the kingdom of heaven. These people are cast into the Lake of Fire, in Revelation chapter 21).
The good that God will bring out of this sin-cursed world is righteous judgement. Because they accepted the gift of salvation that Jesus offers, the believers will be properly declared righteous. Because they refused the gift of salvation that Jesus offers, the non-believers will be properly declared unrighteous. Who but a perfect God could devise such a perfect plan? Who but a perfect God could provide a perfect sacrifice?
2006-08-17 11:46:59 · answer #5 · answered by Terry K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there were several good options in the Garden of Eden....many things for them to eat .... there was only one tree from which they couldn't eat. They picked from the forbidden tree.
--- We are created in his likeness/images...that doesn't give us God's Power. Since the Fall --- all mankind is born spiritually dead to God, that's why we don't naturally commune or have thought of Him...
The occupants in Heaven: The ones there know what came of Lucifer and the other angels that sided with Him..... when they exercised their free will.....They know God is all powerful and worthy to be praised!
2006-08-17 11:28:13 · answer #6 · answered by jaimestar64cross 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everything humans do is perfect because everything exists on a tenious thread of probibility and actuality. When an event happens or exists, it is perfect because it IS. It irrevocally happened, and therefore is perfect and in perfect balance with all law, known and unknown. If something isn't perfect it didn't happen, or at least wasn't perfect in the "this here-and-now" context.
2006-08-17 11:04:44 · answer #7 · answered by neuralzen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Free will isn't about doing what we want. It's about God testing us as we must choose between good and evil. It's about proving that we are dedicated to him and will choose to do his will over our own. If we just had good choices to choose from we would never be tested, and we would never learn or grow. Adversity makes us stronger.
2006-08-17 11:02:42 · answer #8 · answered by ask the eightball 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humans are fallen from that nature which God first created them.
We made ourselves imperfect, our sin seperated us from God.
2006-08-17 11:03:33 · answer #9 · answered by Adyghe Ha'Yapheh-Phiyah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your forgetting about the Fall of Man and the Plan of Salvation.
2006-08-17 11:02:11 · answer #10 · answered by Angel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋