is it possible to have freewill AND believe that hell exists?

Question

christians are alwasy wittering on about freewill - but doesn't christianity remove freewill (as far as belief in god is concerned)

ie once u believe in god and the punishment for disbelief in that god - then arent u irrevocably locked in to that belief? This type of freewill is analogous to a pirate making you walk the plank. You either jump in the ocean or get sliced - yet the pirate could reasonably say that he didnt didnt make u jump in the ocean- it was ur freewill to jump.

Isnt god like the pirate - in that he gives us the freewill to believe in him - but then tortures us if we dont?

Ultimately what im asking is - is freewill lost - once your parents have convinced you that hell exists - and that you will go there if you do not become a christian

prophesy
isnt the term "free gift" a tautology? Arent all gifts - by their nature free?

Answer 1

God has given us all free will. And there is no such place as a fiery hell.
A loving God wouldn't invent such a place (1 JOHN 4:8)
The word is mistranslated & means the common grave of mankind

The only worry you should have is whether you are pleasing to God or not & the only way you can find that out is by examining those beliefs with the scriptures.
If you see that what you believe & what you read in the bible conflict - then change. God requires humble people who are willing to do this.
If you aren't humble - you are unacceptable to God, and, at Armageddon - you will be removed along with Satan. You will not be tortured for eternity - just removed.

The choice is ours -
we still possess free will to make the choice just as surely as we have the choice of whether to put our hand into a fire or not. We wouldn't moan if someone told us not to would we?

Answer 2

Belief creates mental boundaries which the believer cannot go beyond and keep their belief. Why do you think religious people refuse to accept factual evidence about thier religion if it contradicts the religious dogma they have been fed.
Everyone believes in something but the trick is to be flexible and be able to change as new evidence/information becomes available should you wish to, this is freewill. This is what religious leaders don't want their followers to do.

Answer 3

It's a question of loyalty. We always have freewill, we must choose to remain loyal to God. Loyalty to God means love all, forgive all, show mercy, judge no-one. I do not get your pirate analogy. If we drift away from God He tries all He can to bring us back apart from using any kind of force. That is what the stories of The Prodigal Son and The Lost Sheep are about. If anyone goes to hell, it is because, time after time after time, they decided to after a lifetime of rejecting Jesus Christ.

Answer 4

think of of it this type, the strategies is rather complicated, yet you nor i'd desire to remedy some thing common which includes seventy six x 40 six.34 without stable quantity of concept. yet a calculator can remedy this interior of a 2d. there's a component the place some thing gets so clever that they or it is not waiting to remedy common issues without processing it various cases. God did not make us to be suited, he made us to be human, and as astonishing as that sounds that's what it quite is to maximum. God isn't a device or some style of processor, he's a few thing else way previous our comprehension, i don't comprehend and neither will any human beings. And for you "final component" you purely get into Heaven via believing in Jesus, yet via believing stable works would desire to stay with.

Answer 5

Of course. Hell is designed for those who deny their own free will. Where in the Gospels does it say that free will is forbidden.

Love God is the first commandment.

Love your neighbour as yourself, is the second commandment.

These two Commandments of Christ transcend the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament.

So exercise your will freely, as long as you harm no-one else, and as long as you have respect for God. Whichever God you have respect for, is your own business. That is why, for example, it should be, (and increasingly is) acceptable to be Gay in the Church of Christ. I'm hetero (I hate the term 'straight' - it implies that Gays are wrong). Christ condemned no-one except hypocites - Pharicees and Saduccees.

Answer 6

God created freewill to create true love.

There is but One Truth. To say that you have truth different than my truth would make both false. Logically.

So, parents can not hide the Ultimate Truth from their grown children. Being an adult completely, is making your decisions based on ALL factors, not just environment.

There is always this personal decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

I believe that whether a person goes to heaven or hell has NOTHING to do what what relegion you are,but what kind of person you are.
There are truly awful people out there that are Christian or Catholic and i dont think god will protect them JUST because they chose this faith.
On the other hand, there are Hundreds of wonderful, happy people who don't belive in god (many who may never HEARD of god) and i believe they can still go to heaven.

Answer 8

Free will has nothing to do with parents. Free will has to do with coming to the understanding of the law. Until one comes to the knowledge of sin we are free from the law of sin and death. That is why it is assumed that children who die go to heaven. They don't know they are sinners. But as Paul taught when the law comes and you here it and know in your heart that you are a sinner then you face the decision of what you will do with your life. Scripture says that "God is not willing that any should perish but that all men would be saved" If God is willing that means means then you must be willing to believe the truth in order to be saved. I'm sorry you don't like the fact that you must choose to believe or to not believe on Christ, but God at least gave you a way out. He could have decided to just play us like pawns and pick and choose who lives with Him forever in Heaven or who lives forever in Hell, but instead He provided a sacrifice that all you have to do is to receive as a free gift of His grace.

You are just playing with words my friend. A gift must be accepted from the one giving it, Christ offers it freely if you are willing to accept it.

Answer 9

Hmmm - I think that you think a lot about these things and that is good.

Free will is basically your ability to make a choice ONCE YOU SEE WHAT THE CHOICES ARE!

God doesn't punish people who never could have the chance to choose.
Actually, hell, gehenna, hades, whatever you call it, was NOT created for humans but rather for Satan and those angels who chose to rebel against God along with him.

Therein lies the key as to who will end up there. In order to go to hell, you have to first have been presented with enough information that you can make a choice - then you must choose to walk away from what you clearly recognise as being the correct choice - namely to serve God.

Not only that, but, because God is a loving God and desires that everyone end up in heaven, He will not abandon you just because you chose incorrectly once. He will, through the Holy Spirit, continue to "arrange" circumstances in your life so that you must continue to make that same choice over and over again until you one day die.

So, you see, hell is not a destination arrived at by accident or mistake. In essence, you must choose to go there by continually choosing to walk away from God.
Not as easy as it has been made out to be.

The Bible teaches us that is possible to live a wretchedly evil life and still get to heaven because God presents one last chance to choose Him (at the so called eleventh hour - meaning your last few minutes of life). This last opportunity does not have to be obvious to those observing the dying person. No one alive can thus ever be able to say for certain that a departed loved one went to hell. Of course, a person who so chooses has missed out on the truely wonderful life that serving Christ gives on Earth but they will not miss out on heaven

Why not wait until you know you are dying to accept God's plan of salvation? Mainly because you do not know the "when" and you may not be able to respond but more importantly, those who live life away from God develop a resistance to His choices so much that by their dying day they may not even recognize the choice that God is presenting - a sorry state for anyone to be in.
In that case, they cannot chose to serve God because the choices they have made for years to walk away have "hardened" or "blinded" them - both terms used in the Bible.

BTW, God does not "torture" anyone or "punish" anyone. Satan does and even his power is limited by God. In fact, Satan can do nothing without God allowing it.

Often it is we who torture or punish ourselves when we realize that where we are and what we have become is a direct result of bad choices that we made earlier in our lives.

I too made bad choices and Satan would still use them to "torture" me with guilt - IF I would let him. But I know that the God who lives in me is more powerful than Satan or any of his demons so I am off limits to Satan's workings.

I still have free will, however, even as a Christian, and can at any time choose to walk away from God - He has not made me a "robot" just because I follow Him. Each day, each hour, sometimes each minute, I must make choices that would please God or, by inference, I am serving Satan.

Hopefully, this has been of some help?

Answer 10

The free will you have means you can change your mind.

So stop complaining.

Free will is not lost, but to be a Christian, you must surrender your free will to Jesus, and do His Will.