i was raised in a very christain family while i dont agree with their belief it is what it is and i can't and wont try to change that or anyone else's beliefs. anyway the question... they always told me that god gives you free will yet he knows what you're going to do in any situation...how does that work? isn't it not really free will then. i say again i'm not out to attack anyone's belief system this has just always bothered me
2006-09-03 16:13:19 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
thanks alot every time i asked my folks about it they just say something along the lines of dont worry about that
2006-09-03 16:21:28 · update #1
Here's one of my examples: if my kids are faced with a choice of eating brussels sprouts or chocolate cake, there's no doubt in my mind which one they'll choose. They have the freedom to choose, but I know good and well what that choice will be!
2006-09-03 16:19:42 · answer #1 · answered by jewel_flower 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This isn't a paradox or a contradiction at all. While people have free will, that doesn't mean their actions are random and unpredictable. If you were to live your life a thousand times in the same circumstances you would make the same choices each time, even if they seemed spontaneous at the time. As an omniscient being, God would be able to predict the choices people make with perfect accuracy. He would be able to analyse every element of what was going on in your mind and would be able to predict what you would do, even before you chose to do it. If he existed, that is.
2006-09-03 18:26:36 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They way a teacher of mine in college explained it is as follows:
Free will doesn't exist. There are 2 reasons I can remember that he used to back it up. The first is that all actions are responses to stimuli. You don't make decisions so much as respond to the options and outcomes available to you.
The second part was about God. God is all knowing, all good, all powerful, and existed before time and will continue forever.
So you could conclude that God knew 10 billion years ago that you were going to do/not do something in particular. If he knew that all the way back then, when the time came... how could you have possibly picked any other option...
2006-09-03 16:24:08 · answer #3 · answered by danucles 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As long as God doesn't interfere with your decisions, you still get to make them. He just knows what it's going to be already (according to your parents' beliefs). It's not really a paradox at all. But other parts of the Bible suggest that we don't have free will. Jeremiah 10:23 and Ephesians 1:4-6 are two examples that I know of.
2006-09-03 16:19:12 · answer #4 · answered by Landon H 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
think of it this way, it always helps me understand it: when we read the Bible, we can see every part of it, we see every character and every situation, we see all the decisions and all the mistakes that they make, however, we have nothing to do with those decisions. God sees us the way that we see the Bible. Think of it as time backwards, He had it all written before any of it began and He gave us the first part, the Bible, after it happened, He has the future part with Him. He knows what we will do because it has been foreseen, and after every mistake we make He provides a way for us to get back to Him. Great question! God can be so mysterious but that makes Him all the more wonderful:)
2006-09-03 16:18:42 · answer #5 · answered by malsvb6 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't think God knows what you're going to do. Behavior, as SCIENCE, wonderful BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE shows, can be extrapolated after observing a given person for a while and learning their psychological patternrs.
I mean, let's a take a classic. We all KNOW or can GUESS very closely what Archie Bunker will do in a given situation!
We all know what Meat Head will do in a given situation.
Now, perhapse, if this concept is true, you have hit on something here if MAN doesn't do what God expects.
Maybe that's what GOD is looking for!
The exception tot he rule.
The man who doesn't take advantage, lie cheat or steal.
2006-09-03 16:39:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Somethings are hard for us to understand, but int he end all things will be revealed. When you are presented with a choice, lets just say to turn left or right, God may want you to go right. He will send signs, He will tell you, but you still have the choice. If you go left, there will be something to let you know hey you went the wrong way, you need to turn back. God knows weather or not we will turn back and He knows what it will take to make us turn back; a roadblock, someone telling us or what ever. That's why we go through trial in our lives, to lead us back to God.
2006-09-03 16:21:21 · answer #7 · answered by 4CHRIST 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that God knows all possible outcomes, but leaves it to us to make the final decision on the direction we want to go. Nothing is stronger than free will, God gave it to us as a gift. Even Jesus had the option of rejecting his mission.
2006-09-03 16:20:29 · answer #8 · answered by Slimsmom 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Free Will means that You have the choice to do what you want to do. God will never make you do anything you don't want to. That's the meaning of Free Will. Yes God see's everything that we do, but, we still have a free choice.
2006-09-03 16:18:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
God is a mystery. Just because he knows what you will do doesn't mean he is controlling your decision. He knows your mind and your heart. Do not misunderstand God's love because of error in human interpretation or understanding since being human is to err. And besides, it's more like free expression not free will. (or that's my spin on it.)
lol
Peace.
2006-09-03 16:21:35 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋