Therefor, there is no such thing as free will. Agreed?
2006-10-25 17:23:07 · 56 answers · asked by Kathryn™ 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That's what religion tells us. So, according to you, God was aware that some of the men that he called to the priesthood were pedophiles and he also knows that the rectories contain 30/40% gay men. The beliefs of religion are caving in on themselves, because God did not create man but ancient , ignorant man who created God. And now the beliefs of ancient man (pretending to be God)are being proven wrong. How did Noah get to the Amazon Rain Forest to gather some of the 1 million different species of insects? These are the beliefs of ancient man being proven wrong.
2006-10-25 17:43:42 · answer #1 · answered by The professor 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
God, being God and not restricted by linear time as we are, already knows the decision you are going to make regarding His plan of salvation. The debate that has puzzled people for eons is, Did God choose some people over others way back in the beginning of time OR Does God already know the choice you are going to make? I personally believe the second. So is it still free will? Well:
2Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, rather be diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall never fall.
It seems that we can't just sit on our duffs and not make a decision because it is up to us to make our election sure. We still have to make a conscious decision to choose His plan or reject it. So yes, there is free will because:
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
This verse is saying that He wants ALL of us to repent and come to Him. The first part of that verse mentions a promise, that promise is Christs return and the Day of Judgement. That day is coming fast.
2006-10-25 17:45:07 · answer #2 · answered by prismcat38 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If that is true then there is no reason to do anything. Even accepting Jesus is unnecessary. Remember, anything you was predetermined by God so if you spend your Sundays sitting on the couch instead of going to Church then you are doing that because he pre-determined that you would. Same thing with killing, raping and kicking little old ladies across the street. It doesn't matter what you do - it's all God's plan.
Maybe your theory is right but it is a disaster as a life philosophy.
A
2006-10-25 17:27:14 · answer #3 · answered by Alan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have never heard that everything is predetermined, where did you get that from?
He is omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. He has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable exist
Omniscience is the capacity to know everything, or at least everything that can be known about a character/s including thoughts, feelings, etc.
Omnipotence (literally, "all power") is power with no limits or inexhaustible, in other words, unlimited power.
Omnipresence is the ability to be present in every place at any, and/or every, time; unbounded or universal presence. I
2006-10-25 17:41:45 · answer #4 · answered by Mike J 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, God is all knowing but doesn't know the future. Free-will is the force that keeps the future unknown, even to God. His role is to keep the balance of Free-will in place. His only action is a reaction due to the loss of man kinds free-will on a scale so broad that if a person is born they have no choice as to how they live. (Microchips,Satellite surveillance etc..)
See God doesn't have to know the future to still be the most knowledgeable entity in the universe. He just has to know more than anyone else. Since no one else can constantly see the future, his omnipotence is maintained.
In a symmetrical universe all actions have an equal and opposite reaction. All actions except for actions determined while free-will is in place. These actions cause the random, chaotic, unpredictable events that occur. So I know it lessens Gods powers by putting his role as a balance for our free-will, but perhaps that makes him just a bit more personal.
2006-10-25 17:37:37 · answer #5 · answered by Josh L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes and no. God is all knowing, yes. Predetermined, no. He does know the end from the beginning, but He did not make all of the decisions as to how that end would come about. We all have choices, and God does not interfere with those choices. He would never force anyone to love Him. We do have a free will. We can choose to turn away from the only One that truly loves and understands us, and gave His Life for us, or we can choose to keep His commandments, which is what love really is. "If you love me, keep my commandments". You have a will.
2006-10-25 17:33:47 · answer #6 · answered by Mark Fidrater 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. There is free will but the God knows about it. However He does not reward or punish unless the act is committed and the book is clsoed. The GOD is the most Just and He will therefore will bring all the record so everyone will see what they uttered and what they did.
Please read Quran which is the only divine book which is protected in it's original language for last 1450 years and logiocally had to be because it is the last and the final edition.
2006-10-25 17:28:50 · answer #7 · answered by pathowiz 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, there is such a thing as free will because we create our own destiny. For example, you couldn't say a man who went to Hell because he ignored Jesus was "destined" to go to Heaven, just as you couldn't say a man who went to Heaven was destined to go to Hell. Now let's look at that first man for a moment. Say he hasn't died yet, but he's been an atheist for his entire life. Then, right before he kicks the bucket, he prays for salvation. He's going to Heaven - because it was his destiny. If he hadn't prayed for salvation, he would have gone to Hell and that would have been his destiny. You see? Destiny is not predetermined, but rather, a mere result of your own actions on Earth. There's a difference between God KNOWING what will happen to us and God DETERMINING what will happen to us. As the saying goes, "you make your own luck in this world." And afterlife.
2006-10-25 17:46:59 · answer #8 · answered by Leroy Johnson 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kathryn,
It is only if you believe in a materialistic and deterministic universe that forgoes free will. God as a creator, by necessity, allows free will. Any other conclusion makes no sense.
The One Coin Example: A coin is a coin. If you look at one side you see heads. If you look at the other side, you see tails. However, the coin has both heads and tails. A coin is neither heads nor tails; it is both.
Life is life. On one side is potential (determinism), and on the other side is choice (free will). You get lost if you look at only one side. Certain personalities are attracted to determinism, and others to free will. Just like the example about time in the introduction. However, life is both.
Philosophy has frequently been confounded by focusing on one aspect of reality, like the heads side of the coin. This is not to say that there is a duality to a coin because it has heads or tails. A coin is a coin. Life is life. There is yin and yang in life, which are opposites and one.
“The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
A mobius strip is an excellent visual example of this. You can write free will on one side of the paper, and write determinism on the opposite side. You will find they are both written on the same side of the paper, for a mobius strip has only one side.
This is the formula to more fully develop or repair many concepts in philosophy.
No one knows the answer to your question. However, it can be reasoned, not proven.
2006-10-25 17:30:38 · answer #9 · answered by Cogito Sum 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you think Adam & Eve eating the forbidden fruit was predetermined? I doubt that very much - they were tempted and made a choice. Simple. Free will absolutely exists.
You have the free will to choose to write a question into Yahoo Answers - or not. Nobody predetermined that.
2006-10-25 17:28:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋