If you believe we dont have free will ( religiously speaking) do we have any will at all?

Question

this stems off of other questions ive asked previously

Answer 1

yes we do have free will. Where did you get the idea that we don't. If we did not have free will, then we would have no choice in anything. We make choices everyday. God even allows us to choose if we will follow Him or not.

Answer 2

It can be argued that free will is both a myth, as well as something that we perceive and live with, despite it being a myth.

Assuming the Big Bang really occurred, all physical objects were imparted with the energy and vectors at that time. Simultaneously all energy was emitted with its value and trajectory.

Since all energy and matter adhere to strict rules (even though we don't entirely understand those rules yet...), everything that follows the Big Bang is both predetermined and predictable if one had a system advanced enough (and a complete understanding of the laws of physics) to process the information.

However, since we exist in a particular moment in time... and have no sense of this predetermination, we have the illusion of free will... and that illusion is what we must live with, as it is how we perceive the world around us.

The contrary argument would be that Heisenberg's (spelling) Uncertainty Principle eliminates the predictability element inherent in the theory above.

So - in that sense, free will becomes a possibility.

Just my .01

-dh

Answer 3

I answered why we have no free will (religiously speaking) on your other thread. As for an atheistic look at free will, my take is:

I think we have an illusion of will, simply based on the fact that nobody arbitrarily makes choices in a vaccuum. That is, the outcomes of our deicisions is not made on what we feel, but is the culmination of our experiences and knowledge. Thus the choice we make is actually *determined* by previous choices and outcomes. Which, in my narrow definition of free will, is not free will.

Answer 4

Dear Gabriella,

People have freedom to choose a church, what color shirt they wear, what they eat for lunch, etc but they cannot choose to be saved. God's salvation plan is election (Romans 9). As you read through this chapter, you will find that the Lord loves only those whom He has chosen to salvation. Now the non-elect (unsaved) may have very nice lives--become a movie star, be a millionaire, have fame and fortune--these of course are the standards of the world. But thye were never chosen to salvation by the Lord and so will not go to heaven. On the other hand, many christians have had very hard lives-living in poverty, or under some dictator, or in severe illness--but they look to another land where they have an inheritance-heaven.
Let me say, that God is no respector of persons. If God is going to save a person, it will always be in the environment of hearing the word of God. "So then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." FAITH is a synonym for the Lord Jesus Christ--He is the only One who is Faithful (Rev. 19:11). So then, Christ cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Keep reading the Bible, and asking the Lord to have mercy on you. We have to wait on Him.

Answer 5

It depends on your point of view.

Free will is something that God has given us, but you need to realize that it has its limitations.

Christianity teaches that our free will is so powerful that it can supersede the will of God. This is simple nonsense. God loves us too much to ever allow this to happen.

Our free will is constrained by the choices God makes available to us. That is all of the possible choices that are available to us, lead eventually to the exact same outcome. Some take us in more circuitous pathways but all of the possible choices eventually lead us back home to God.

So the answer is actually yes and no. We do have free will but it is constrained by the choices God allows for us to pick from. God simply loves us too much to allow us any choices that would allow us to become permanently lost to Him.

Many religions teach that this is not the case, that we can become forever lost due to our choices. This is a simple lack of faith in Gods love for us. A simple misunderstanding No more no less.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 6

the rest of the world has free will but the christians do not have free will thay are ruled by the churches with there out of date rules and there fairy tale god

Answer 7

No. As I understand things; God created us and he gave us 'free will'; without it would would not have him so we would not exist as we presently know ourselves.