If God knows everything, that means God knows what you are going to do. If God already KNOWS what you're going to do, then your "decision" to do it is, essentially, destiny. So how is there free will?
In a quasi-related question, what about brain chemicals? If the way your brain works is basically chemical and electrical reactions, isn't "free will" controlled by science?
2006-10-16 08:12:24 · 9 answers · asked by Sarah 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Well...
For an omniscient being, all of existence over all of time is laid out as a tapestry before him... past, present and future, down to the smallest detail of material, of thought and of deed, and all is constantly in his awareness. There is no past, present and future from that perspective... there is only an eternal 'now'.
If that is the case, since god already knows everything that will happen, then everything is already decided... and as we go along through life, we are merely doing what has already been seen by god. Since god knows and sees everything that will happen, NOTHING that we think or do can be contrary to what god already sees and knows. We might THINK we have free will... but since we are merely acting out what god already sees and knows, this can be no more than an ILLUSION of free will.
And yes, "free will" is controled by the drugs you might be taking, the imbalances you may suffer from, a short circuit, an injury, etc. You're not as free as you think.
2006-10-16 08:15:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I thought that we all answered this question already.
Let me explain it this way: if you put a rat into a maze, with only one route to the cheese, then you know what path that the rat will take because you made the maze. But from the rat's point of view, he choose his own path.
Another analogy is that since God is timeless, then he can see off of the past, present, and future at the same time. So he already knows what everyone will do, even though we cannot. If you have a football game on tape, you probably already know the final score, because you skipped ahead and saw it, but you did not force any of the players to act the way that they did, since they didn't know who would win while they were playing the game.
As for brain chemistry and free will, I don't think that anyone has a clue.
2006-10-16 08:20:01 · answer #2 · answered by Randy G 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You are absolutely right, but you've been getting quite a bit of doublespeak so far from people that cannot let go of the fact that God not only knows who his own will be, he has predestined them. It's NOT like a rat in a maze. If God merely "knows" what we are going to do, how can we possibly have free will when by definition it means that God cannot know for sure -- He only guesses. I cannot go along with that, it makes for a very weak God, a plaything man has power over.
The Bible tells us that we are dead in our ability to make a decision for Him. We cannot be partially dead! We can claim an ability to make a choice all we like, but the truth is that the faith must be injected into us in order to be able to RESPOND, not choose. We cannot put the faith into our own hearts, God must do this for us. Why would the Bible use the word "dead" if that's not exactly what it meant?
As for brain chemicals, nice theory, but until that one is proven, I'll go along with a promise of eternal life until Christianity is disproven. But my bets are on Christianity being right.
2006-10-17 10:27:26 · answer #3 · answered by ccrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God allows us to make our own decisions, He does not control us. That is what Satan does, control. Yes God does know everything, He also knows who is going to be saved and who is not. The thing is WE do not know, and God is not going to tell us. That is where free will comes into play, if you want to go to heaven bad enough you will obey God, no matter what. If, on the other hand you do not really want to go, then you will pick and choose which of God's commands you will or will not obey, that too is free will.
If science is the controlling influence, then that science is evil.
2006-10-16 08:20:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
In answer to your second question, probably.
It is probably the case that 'free will' doesn't actually exist. But as we have billions of neurons, predicting our responses is almost impossible. Thus it seems like we are actually 'deciding', but in all probability we aren't. It's just another facet of natural selection.
Am I comfortable with that? Well, if it's true, I don't really have a choice, right? It just is...
2006-10-16 08:17:30 · answer #5 · answered by XYZ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is one of the best questions I have ever encountered.
It delves so much deeper than which came first, the chicken or the egg. That is one of my favorite questions ever!
You really should visit www.losingmyreligion.com to find your answer about free will. It is there.
Now about the chemicals and science...you are what you eat. Therefore, your tuna salad sandwich controlled your decision to post this question, just as my asparagus controlled my answer to your question.
2006-10-16 08:17:56 · answer #6 · answered by shlomogon 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
G-d knows the future. The future is that which you will, in the future, CHOOSE to do. think of any science fiction film with time travel. just because someone knows what you're going to do, that doesn't make you do that.
regarding chemicals -- they certainly effect us, but I don't think they dictate our every move. consciousness itself is not well understood (in fact, in the literature its referred to as teh "hard problem".)
cheerio
2006-10-16 08:15:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok, one more time.... If I can travel one hour into the future and know what you will have for dinner, did i take away your ability to decide what to eat?
2006-10-16 08:16:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
good question.
2006-10-16 08:16:50 · answer #9 · answered by redreverser 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋