Fate vs. Freewill?

Question

Can you control your fate?
I need book examples of this.

Answer 1

You're asking a question which has baffled philosophers for eons, and what you're really addressing is the issue of Determinism vs. Free Will. First of all, regardless of what is or what isn't, there was no god who assigned us free will, contrary to the myths that abound in religious philosophies. For the most part, I believe that pure free will is an illusion since we are the products of an almost infinite series of causes. Yes, we can choose vanilla over chocolate, no problem! But the preference is determined, in large part, by your genes.

This is a topic way too huge to tackle in this teeny forum. I suggest you do some research. By the way, there's a famous court case from 1924 tried by Clarence Darrow where Darrow defended two young murderers (Leopold & Loeb), arguing that they should be spared the death penalty because, in essence, they couldn't help what they did. He based his argument on Determinism. Check it out. Here's one link:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/leoploeb/leopold.htm

Answer 2

According to the Bible, everyone's fate would already be determined before they are even born. It's just not known to the person. Revelations 20:15 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. If your name isn't in the book of life, you're done. Yet no one would know if their name is in the book or not. The names of the people who would be "saved" would have been in the book since before the world was even made (Ephesians 1:3-14). There are a number of other Bible passages that make it obvious that the view was God "chose" people. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole free will argument is ridiculous, because if you have a God that is omniscient and who has a plan, obviously that plan would be shaped around what humans are going to do. And if God can't be wrong, than the people *have* to do what he has foreseen. They would be destined to do it. There's no other way about it.

Answer 3

I don't have any book examples of this, if any even exist; however, predetermination is subjective. Some people believe in fate, therefore they exercise little "authority" over the course of their own lives because they believe it to be predetermined. Others who believe in freewill are more active in living out their lives and whatnot.

Here's the messy and sort of tricky part: if you look into all aspects of physics, biology, chemistry one could argue that based off of scientific fact and formula, everything is predetermined.

Ex. A rude person spills their hot beverage on you.

You react.

How you react is dependent on certain chemical reactions taking place within your body and brain. These determine if you become upset, forgiving, if you speak or not -- everything can be mapped out by science. If you consider all possible factors based off of bio-chemistry and physics, one could arrive at the conclusion that everything is indeed predetermined.

Answer 4

I cannot give book examples but think about this:-
Fate is a wild river Freewill is the canoeist trying to not hit the rocks

Answer 5

I fear we cannot prove or disprove this. The fundamental dichotomy involved is the question of predetermination. If all is predetermined, then even if we think we have free-will, we are doomed to live out our programmed fate.

For myself, I believe in free will, and believe that some people can exercise it in greater measure than others. People who feel obliged to live in obedience, to the state, to religious precepts, to societal norms, will not much exercise free will, and their fate will be determined by circumstances beyond their apparent control.

However the person that is truly free of the need to blindly obey, who can make decisions based on internal reflection, has a greater shot at shaping their future.

None of that, however, can account for volcanoes, falling pianos
and passing cataclysm.

Answer 6

We do control our fate. Book examples, huh?

Answer 7

Define fate.

Answer 8

Freewill.

You might like to think that fate is real. But it's all random, everything is totally random.

Don't believe all that religious jargon either. How the hell God
'saves' people is beyond me. I have yet to see anyone be saved by God.

Answer 9

if there was a concrete answer, you wouldn't be asking this question, would you?

there's no such thing as fate. people do what they want to do, and the world marches on.

Answer 10

This is yet another trick of Satan. If you want truths then read the BIble and follow God. If you want to live in sin and buy the worlds lie, then follow the foolishness of the world. See where it leads you in the end.