2007-01-09 13:37:20 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Both. Everyone has their own free will, but God lays out paths for us to take and opportunities for us to seize.
2007-01-09 13:42:28 · answer #1 · answered by ¥æ£Majik£æ¥ 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Predestination (actually, election) because the Bible teaches it. Our will is not "free" in the sense that we can choose whether to be saved or not. Other than that, we have a will. I think you are asking how we can make real choices while having God still knowing all. I cannot completely reconcile it to God's foreknowledge, but He is a whole lot smarter than I, so that should not be too surprising.
The alternative is much worse: take away God, and now you have a completely mechanistic universe, where we know that free will cannot operate. A combination of genetics and random chance does not leave any room for free will. At least with God, I can believe that God can work it out in some way that I do not (yet) understand. With atheism, it's just nonsense.
2007-01-09 21:45:28 · answer #2 · answered by Gary B 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Destiny is essentially fate, which is the belief that whatever is going to happen to you, is just going to happen to you; and you have no control over it (a belief generally common to the Normans and the Angles, as well as the Saxons). Destiny goes hand in hand with Predestination, which if you are a Christian, (more specifically a Calvinist) is the most biblical approach to the question.
From a Christian standpoint, God created all, controls all, and knows all: hence, God predestines you to your Fate, or your destiny. However, there is argument on the topic, and many Christians believe man has free will, because among other reasons, they believe that God is a reasonable and loving god, and thus would predestine no one to hell. Note: Not all go to heaven in the Christian faith; therefore the more liberal answer to the question is that free will, rather than predestination is more correct, on the assumption that God allows us to choose our own path because he is not an oppressive god.
However, I urge you to draw your own conclusion. Personally, I believe that God is all-knowing, and all-powerful, thus he chooses who will seek him as opposed to who will not. He essentially "predestines" us to our "destiny".
2007-01-09 21:52:55 · answer #3 · answered by Ken G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting question. Sometimes it's tempting (to some) to believe in "destiny" like--if I hadn't gotten on that elevator, I wouldn't have gotten the job, & I wouldn't have met & so on & so forth. For me, it's the consequence of one's choice/actions & nothing more. Like, who would I be if I weren't me? Hmmm. There often seems a pattern to our lives, but this doesn't necessarily mean "destiny." Guess I'd have to say free will. We make our choices & cope with the consequences, whether we think they're "good" or "bad"--which is in itself so totally subjective--oh phooey--I should be serious & I'm losing it!
2007-01-09 21:56:04 · answer #4 · answered by Psychic Cat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Destiny, in the sense that we are "hard wired" at birth and conditioned afterward. I believe that we are nothing more than what our brains allow us to be, and that the choices we make are determined by genetics, brain chemistry, psychological conditioning, and so on. In other words, although I might think that I am making a choice out of free will, the choice I make is actually predictable given the way my brain works.
2007-01-09 21:54:19 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe in both.
Sometimes, you try to pursue your free will and destiny steps in. Then there are times when destiny steps into your Life and you have no control. Free Will is independant of the real World.
We are pretty much strapped but I fight with everything I have!! I want free will at all times!!
Life is both.
2007-01-09 21:48:55 · answer #6 · answered by LN has3 zjc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both. I think that we have free will and make our own decisions. But destiny knew exactly what we were going to do. Its all prewritten the way we want it written. Confusing I know. I'm trying to say that, if someone asks me what I want on my pizza, whatever my decision is , was already prewritten, but its still my choice. Destiny or a higher divine power, knows me, and what i'll pick. I'm trying to say what jonathan â« is saying.
2007-01-09 21:41:31 · answer #7 · answered by Donovan G 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I beleive in destiny. maybe it's because i'm a christian, but everything in this world was meant to be. some may think they have free will, but even if they think they're acting up, or doing stuff out of what other people thought, god knew that you would do that in the end, so whether you knew it, your mind was already made up.
2007-01-09 21:42:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both. Free will leads to destiny. You choose your own destiny.
2007-01-09 21:40:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Destiny / Free Will is another of those binary oppositions artificially created by language. There are millions of them. In reality you almost have a mixture of both, sometimes more of one, sometimes more of the other. It's a continuum.
So I suppose I believe in neither ... or both. Sometimes I feel like an event is predestined, sometimes I feel like I am choosing my path.
2007-01-09 21:43:57 · answer #10 · answered by Eclectic_N 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
free will always free will because you can be carried to a destiny by fate but in the end you do have to choose it or deny it
2007-01-09 21:44:12 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋