Is it possible for God (all knowing) to create a being who has free will?

Question

I'm not quite sure what free will is supposed to mean. But God creates us exactly how he wants and he knows what we will do, completely. If there is still a chance we will go to Heaven or Hell, where does that chance come in? In what way can we affect the outcome---what way has God left that to us?

Answer 1

He already did.

Answer 2

I think you have the wrong perception. What you are talking about is ''predestination'' that has been an aspect of the old times, telling people that they are ''predestined'' to go to hell or heaven, and they should try to do good works to ''redeem'' themselves, that is just a manipulative way that the government used long ago, on the people.

God created Adam and Eve, to look similar to himself, as in...eyes..nose...hair..you know general features, but he gave them the free will to do what they like, that is why Eve was convinced by the serpent to eat the Forbidden Tree of good and evil.
Anyway, God doesnt create us exactly how we want, logically we are how we are physically cuz of our parents's genes, he doesnt know what we will do, because he gives us the choice to make our own choices.
That is why you see two types of people in this world, good or bad, because they choose to be the way that they are.
Many people challenge christianity with the argument that,
"If god created humans, why didn't he just make them all good''
God "loves" his children, therefore he gives them free will., chances are everywhere.


As for me, im catholic, and many people based there faith solely on the bible, and everything that the bible says. That is all that we have left to look at as evidence. I am a very liberal person, although I am catholic, I believe in god's works, and also believe that the bible are all written by people, and people are biased. I take what they write, and try to make my own opinion and interpretation on the bible. Thats the good way to go.

Answer 3

"Free will" is obviously impossible to human beings, or at least illusory, if God is all-powerful and all-knowing. If He has known the choices you'll make from Eternity, and actually created you (as He must have) with the germ of all your choices, "good" and "bad," already within you, then your acting out of those choices is a mere automatic formality. You're nothing but a puppet. The remarks of "Father K" above merely gloss over this bedrock fact, while "Answergirl" thinks she can dodge it by calling free will "agency." Nothing is much worse than the diabolical disingenuity of the so-called "religious."

Answer 4

I'm one of the few that does not believe in free will, i.e. the ability to look to God for salvation. Think about it, if man has a sin nature, and is not worthy of heaven, then why do we keep giving ourselves credit for an ability to seek God out? That's ridiculous, we cannot. And, let's take this a little further, if man is naturally sinful, where do you think he is headed? Logically, the salvation must come from outside of himself, changing his heart, man cannot and will not ever change his own heart by his own (perceived) ability.

Your "chance" comes from God who loves his own in spite of themselves. "Acceptance" is a misguided response to what the Holy Spirit does in people's hearts. We can never authorize God to do anything, he is the one that rules the universe, he is the one that has power over us. In this way, you can now reread the predestination, foreknowing, etc. verses at face value without having to redefine them so that you have the advantage over the Almighty.

Hopes that answers your question -- man cannot choose God at all, it is God who loves his own and chooses his own and saves his own.

Answer 5

God sees the totality of time simultaneously, for all eternity. It isn't that He knows what we will do "before we do it", for from God's perspective there is no such thing as "before" or "after". From all eternity God has seen every movement of every atom in the universe, even before He created them. At this very moment (from a human perspective - God has no "moments" since He is outside of time) God is seeing the creation of the universe; the death of His Son on the cross; my birth and death; the births and deaths of my descendents 5,000 years from now; and the second coming of Christ. Therefore it isn't a matter of God "knowing things in advance", but rather a matter of God having actually seen our choices of free will, and therefore knowing them, just as I would know your choice if I observed you making it. This does not in any way compromise the freedom of those choices, any more than my seeing you make a choice would compromise your freedom. The only difference is that I would observe your choices of free will in time and space, in a linear fashion, while God views them from outside time and space, in an eternal fashion. Still, watching someone make a choice does not involve any control over that choice. Therefore our choices are completely free.

Answer 6

The body is the "world-consciousness," the soul is the "self-consciousness," and the spirit is the "God-consciousness." There are five organs in the body which afford man the five senses. This physical body enables man to communicate with the physical world. This is why it is called the "world- consciousness." The soul comprises that part in man known as the intellect, which makes man's existence possible. The part of love generates affections toward other human beings or objects. Affections originate from the senses. All these are parts of man himself; they form the personality of man. Hence, they are called the "self-consciousness." The spirit is the part with which man communicates with God. With this part man worships God, serves Him, and understands his relationship with God. Hence, it is called "God-consciousness." Just as God dwells in the spirit, the self dwells in the soul, and the senses dwell in the body.

The soul is the meeting point; here the spirit and the body join. Man communicates with God's Spirit and the spiritual realm through the spirit and receives and expresses power and life in the spiritual realm through this spirit. He communicates with the outside world of senses through the body; the world and the body interact with one another. The soul lies in between these two worlds and belongs to these two worlds. On the one hand, it communicates with the spiritual realm through the spirit, and on the other hand, it communicates with the physical world through the body. The soul has the power of self-determination; it can make decisions concerning the things related to it in the environment and can choose or reject them. It is impossible for the spirit to control the body directly; it requires a medium. This medium is the soul, which was produced when the spirit touched the body. The soul is in between the spirit and the body; it binds the spirit and the body together as one. The spirit can rule over the body through the soul and subject it under God's power. The body can also induce the spirit through the soul to love the world.

Among the three elements of man, the spirit is joined to God and is the highest. The body is in contact with the material world and is the lowest. In between the two is the soul. It takes as its nature the nature of the other two. As such it becomes the linkage of the other two parts. Through the soul the two parts can fellowship with each other and can work together. The function of the soul is to maintain the spirit and the body in their proper order so that they will not lose their proper relationship with one another. In this way, the body, which is the lowest, will submit to the spirit, and the spirit, which is the highest, will be able to control the body through the soul. The soul is indeed the chief element in man. The soul looks to the spirit for the supply which the latter has received from the Holy Spirit and communicates to the body what it has received so that the body may partake of the perfection of the Holy Spirit and become a spiritual body.

Man's spirit is the noblest part of man; it dwells in man's innermost part. The body is the lowest and remains outside. The soul dwells between the spirit and the body and is the medium of the two. The body is the outer shell of the soul, while the soul is the outer shell of the spirit. When the spirit tries to control the body, it has to do so with the help of the intermediary soul. Before man fell, it was the spirit (through the soul) that controlled the whole being. When the spirit wanted to do something, it communicated to the soul, and the soul activated the body to follow the order of the spirit. This is what it means for the soul to be the medium.

The soul is potentially the strongest part because both the spirit and the body are incorporated into it, take it as their personality, and are affected by it. But in the beginning, man had not sinned, and the power of the soul was fully under the control of the spirit. Hence, the power of the soul was the power of the spirit. The spirit could not drive the body by itself; it had to do so through the soul. We can see this from Luke 1:46-47: "My soul magnifies [present tense] the Lord, and my spirit has exulted [perfect tense] in God my Savior." Here we see the change in tense according to the original language, which indicates that the spirit must first exult before the soul can magnify the Lord. The spirit first communicates the exultation to the soul, then the soul expresses this exultation through the organs of the body.

In conclusion, the soul is the seat of personality; man's will, intellect, and emotion all lie in the soul. The spirit is the part with which man communicates with the spiritual realm. The body is the part with which man communicates with the physical realm. The soul is in the middle of these two parts. It exercises its judgment to determine if the spiritual realm is to rule or if the physical realm is to rule. Sometimes the soul rules through its intellect and senses; when that happens, the psychological world rules. Unless the soul yields its rule to the spirit, the spirit cannot rule. Hence, the soul has to authorize the spirit to rule before the latter can rule over the soul and the whole body. The reason for this is that the soul is the origin of man's personality.

The soul is the master of a person because man's will is part of the soul. When the spirit controls the whole being, it is because the soul has yielded itself and has taken a lower position. If the soul rebels, the spirit will not have the power to control it. This is the meaning of "free will" in man. Man has the absolute right to make his own decisions. He is not a machine which turns according to God's will. He has his own faculty of deliberation. He can choose to obey God's will, and he can choose to oppose God's will and to follow the devil's will. According to God's arrangement, the spirit should be the highest part and should control the whole being. Yet the main part of man's personality, the will, is of the soul. Man's will (soul) has the power to choose to let the spirit rule, to let the body rule, or to let the self rule. Because the soul is so powerful, the Bible calls it "a living soul."
-The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee

Answer 7

God has created humans with free will. That is why we sin. Going to heaven or hell is up to us.

Free will is the ability to chose your actions. Yes, he creates us as He wants and He knows what will happen in our lives. But there will always be a bit of knowledge that we cannot comprehend because he are only human.

Answer 8

God knows the future of what the free will creatures choose. Free will does not stop becoming free because God knows what will happen.
If we are going to choose" something, then we really are making the choice -- otherwise it wouldn't be logical to assert that God knows what we are going to choose. Choice implies the ability to decide between different options. if God is knowing what we are going to choose, then He knows what we are going to choose between options...otherwise we are not choosing anything and the statement is illogical.

Answer 9

He created Adam and told him not to eat of one tree, but Adam chose to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He was made with a free will. He didn't have to disobey God. You have a free will, You can believe and trust that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins and go to heaven when you die or you can reject Him and go to hell. 1 Corinthians 15: 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 1 Corinthians 15: 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Answer 10

The free will of man and the sovereignty of God work side by side......no one can fully explain that. There truly are some things that have to be left up to faith....and predestination, free will, and the sovereignty of God are some of those things.

Yes we do have free will......but God is the one who ultimately has to prompt a person to believe in Him. We must have an outside source....because of our sinful selves. We could never choose Christ on our own.....our sin is in the way.

It is quite a quagmire when you try to break it down....I just leave it up to Him.

Answer 11

Just because He knows doesn't mean He decided for us. He loves us and allows us to have free will. He allows you that chance to come to Him through Jesus His son. We're linear and don't see the outcome and although He knows, YOU are the one who makes the choice. He wants our love but it isn't love if it's forced. Free will is the only way to accomplish our willing love of Him who first loved us.