Maybe you can settle this contradiction for me. Christians talk about two things that completely contradict each other: Free will and God's divine plan. The same people talk about both of these things. This makes no sense to me. It would seem that these two concepts would rule each other out. If everything is a part of God's divine plan, then we have no choice or free will. If we do have free will, then there can be no divine plan, because God won't know what we're going to do ahead of time. Explain, please?
2006-09-17 19:01:24 · 31 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm still not getting it, I guess. If he knows our choices ahead of time then they are planned before we make them, therefore, no free will, right?
2006-09-17 19:12:49 · update #1
I don't know whether God exists or not, nor am I a christian, but causality eliminates free will, in the absolute sense. Free will is an illusion created by our limited ability to understand and analyze the factors that determine our behavior. If an all-knowing being does exist, there is no doubt in my mind that it would know what we're going to do, before we do it.
Personally, I just find it funny. The people you're talking about. "Oh yeah, God created us all, (so there is no denying that everything we do is a result of how he created us) and he knows what we're going to do before we do it...but he's not controlling us! He gave us free will!". That's pretty much the answer you'll get. He knows what you'll do with it, but he's not literally forcing you to do it.
kingreef777: Get off your high horse, you arrogant ****. "Oh my god, you said it's a contradiction! You think you know it all!" Shut up. Maybe if you weren't so pretentious, you could see this for what it really is, a simple question.
2006-09-17 19:08:07 · answer #1 · answered by Master Maverick 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God love teaches us when we are really young to "do the right thing"...by doing so we are learning that the power of "free will" is always at our fingertips and even if we don't always choose the way that is right and we make mistakes...it is also a way to look at the power of "free will" in that we have learned valuable lessons. Life lessons..at best. I believe that God has a devine plan in mind for all of us. If you want to look at it like a personal choice, individually ...is an option. Or if you want to look at it like it is a universal "all" for everyone, then be it. It is all good. I can see where it seems that they might rule each other out, but if you can believe that "there is a time and a place for everything" devine love reigns. And being in that time and place is your own free will. Good luck with this, it can be confusing.....
2006-09-18 02:09:29 · answer #2 · answered by chatterella 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Miss lemon drop there is no contradiction... GOD having a divine plan does not mean that we can't exercise free will. GOD knows the past, present and future... he knows what any person in the whole world will do in any situation that arises in their life....and it all fits in with GOD'S divine plan.
GOD sees into the future miss lemondrop.... he already knows what is going to transpire.... and by the way the nucleus of GOD'S divine plan is CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED... that is the good news for the world, that is how GOD is reconciling the world back to HIMSELF !! PRAISE GOD!! WHAT AN AWESOME GOD TO SERVE!! GLORY BE TO GOD!!! JEESSUSSS!!!!!OK I'm better now... I get a little excited when I think about JESUS and what HE has done for me...
~GOD BLESS YOU AND JESUS LOVES YOU~
2006-09-18 02:39:19 · answer #3 · answered by wordman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God is omniscient, not you and I. We have free will, that is, to choose or reject God's way and throughout our lives we are constantly challenged to exercise this freedom of choice...obviously, it would be a different world if we made the right choice. Anyway, to get back to your question, while free will and divine plan appear mutually exclusive within our finite understanding, in God's realm it is not so...even the physicists today have realized that for example Newtonian laws do not have universal applicability, and quantum physics is posing the kind of challenges that once pertained only to philosophy.
2006-09-18 02:15:02 · answer #4 · answered by peace m 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What they mean by Devine plan is, if you were to get in a car and you crashed into mush, that's God's Devinne plan.
You are free to choose to drive the car that will crush you into mush drunk out of your mind.
Now you have, your free will and God's devine plan.
Did that answer your question?
It's just bull.
You see here in this Great Country of ours, we also have freedom of speech, the land of the brave. However be careful because anything you say or do will be held against you.
So where is the freedom?
We are led to belief what ever fits for certain people, religion or not.
It is all the same.
2006-09-18 02:19:22 · answer #5 · answered by Maria C 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, without free will there can be no devine plan. Free agency is essential to the plan of salvation.
You might plan for your children to go school, get a good education, attend a good university and graduate with top honours. You may also see their potential to achieve these goals. However they will never grow unless they are able to make choices for themselves. You can't do the learning for them.
God has put us here on earth to learn and progress. He knows our divine potential but he lets us make our own choices, our own mistakes so that we can grow. He probably even knows us so well that he knows how we will turn out, but unless he gives us the freedom to make our own choices, we can never reach our full potential.
2006-09-18 02:29:48 · answer #6 · answered by uselessadvice 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
God's divine plan does not mean that He has every second of every day planned out for us. His plan is this:
Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version)
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.
He has an overall plan, but we have the free will to make the moment-by-moment choices.
Many use their free will to choose not to follow God's plan and end up living miserable lives with no hope and no future.
2006-09-18 16:33:53 · answer #7 · answered by _me_ 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
One of the many contradictions in the bible. How can god condemn us for following his plan in which we have no control over? It says we should repent, but god already knows and has planned for us if we have or haven't. So, in this sense, can we even truly save our souls since they were either damned or accepted to begin with?
2006-09-18 02:08:05 · answer #8 · answered by ronintama 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmmmm
That can be hard to understand, but myself I believe it means that God has a plan for all of us that he would prefer we follow, but he gives us a chance to make that decision. He knows if we will or not, and in the course of our lives there will be events that will take place that are meant to bring us back to that plan.
God does not force us into a choice, but gives us a chance to live either life and in doing so he knows that if we ever live a christian life and stray, that we will come back to it once we realize that our lives were actually better at that time.
I hope I helped.
2006-09-18 02:18:15 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
they like to think they have a free will but because their god is divine they will do anything in the name of their religion they just accept this. you are right it does contradict each other.
2006-09-18 02:07:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋