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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ani0IGMTpquNhz46VaQtWI_sy6IX?qid=20070326171150AAjtGBo&show=7#profile-info-cntumHb2aa

Most Christian responses are BS, saying we have "free will." Yet if God can see all, he already knows what we will do with our free will, thus defeating the purpose of free will. Just like Alexander the Great had the free will to not conquer persia, but he did, AND WE ALL KNOW IT because it has already happened. To an all-seeing God, everything has already happened.

So free will and an all-seeing god cannot be combined when formulating excuses for the bad in the world.

2007-03-26 13:28:57 · 9 answers · asked by Jedi 4 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

it's always fun to pick a point in Christianity and continue until "reduction to contradiction." It's quite commonly used by mathematicians to disprove things...works here too.

2007-03-26 13:36:40 · update #1

So GOd knows your free choice, so to him all the possible universes were allready determined.

Are you telling me God can't create something with free will and intelligence to say No to satan?

2007-03-26 13:37:53 · update #2

9 answers

Nice, and I agree for the most part.

2007-03-26 13:33:42 · answer #1 · answered by juhsayngul 4 · 0 1

WOW!!! Now, here is an enigma wrapped in a conundrum, ..LOL

I remember being exposed to Dr. Moody's explanation of this issue: which, by the way, has been the source of a lot of debate and conflict in the church (and elsewhere) Predestination of ALL people/souls.

First, many are called and few are chosen. The called can readily be robbed of their faith, they can easily take the wide path to perdition and their lives (and choices) are not crucial 'for the Kingdom'.

The chosen are another matter, their lives and choices are epoch making and changing. One example, cain. If he had NOT murdered his brother, if he had mastered his rage and envy as God Himself counseled him to do...THEN, the magnitude of man against man would be dramatically reduced. Instead, throughout history, "man is a wolverine to man" and this planet drips with blood. And don't say it's all on account of Christians; go look at any period of history on any of the continents (that were not Christian). War has always been waged.

Regardless, Dr Moody proposed that mankind is like a baseball team...and God knows who (in advance) will join the team, who will be at the practices to smoke ganja and hit on the girls and who will try out...then quit...ergo...predestination.

I didn't accept it then and I don't now. As above, the called say 'yes' or they 'no' to salvation. Free will means you can say 'yes' or 'no' if you can't say 'yes/no'; then you are an animal; who can ONLY do God's will. Jesus' 'yes' to the cross means nothing; if 'no' was not an option.

With the chosen, I believe, God has to live by faith too. As below, so above. And there are crucial tasks for the chosen (the outcome of which God does not know in advance). One example, if Abraham had not been fully prepared to plunge the knife into Issac; if the lad wasn't on the slab and scared out of his wits, if Abramham was not torn in pieces about what he purposed to do...THEN, God would not have had to intervene; yell 'stop' and show Abram where the ram was. If God 'foreknew' that Abram was not going to go through with it, why snag the ram, why stand by close to stop the sacrifice???? Of course, if Abram had not been willing to do this: God would not have sent Jesus. As above, so below.

There are too many times in the Bible that the lesson/s from the archetypal stories HAVE to be true; because NO ONE could 'think up' the surprises and twists that have occurred; and many of these surprises, make it appear that God has failed. For example, Jesus, The Anointed One, tortured and crucified and laid in a tomb. End of story, right!!! Wrong, beginning of story!!!!

Note: alex the greek..he was not great...Job WAS a great man!! alex was just a meglamaniac, alcoholic who made a vow to dad at age 9 to hate the persians....he did 'go through' persia, raping, plundering and killing. That part is true. When this brilliant lad's army mutineed and said 'we are not going to do this for another 10 years'...Like a pouting brat, he led them across the desert and bunches of them died....he lasted until baghdad and then died...malaria and a dissipated body from too much demon rum....

2007-03-26 21:48:52 · answer #2 · answered by Bill S 4 · 0 0

and your free will has guided you to a very brutal marijuana batch...you should consider changing vendors...

your free agency is YOURS...JUST BECAUSE GOD KNOWS WHAT YOU WILL DO BEFORE YOU DO IT....

will not affect the fact that if you want to do something..you will probably do it regardless of whether he is looking or not...

you DO have free will..but you also have accountability and responsibility for every choice you make as well as every choice you DON'T make..

acts of commission and omission are both decisions made with consequences...but are both part of your ability to choose what you want...nobody is twisting your arm to make that decision...

once you make the deicison though..it is yours..and consequences good or bad...will follow..

2007-03-26 20:36:39 · answer #3 · answered by juanes addicion 6 · 0 1

that's because free will is an off concept. everything that's ever going to happen is set in motion already. there are some people who say that free will and the other way (determinism) can fit together, and they call it compatibilism, but it's basically a wishy-washy no-answer.

2007-03-26 20:38:28 · answer #4 · answered by car of boat 4 · 1 1

although God is all-knowing and he knows the past present and future. he gave us free will bc he doesnt want to control us. he hopes that we make the right decisions.

2007-03-26 20:56:15 · answer #5 · answered by Lauren 2 · 0 0

Predetermined knowledge by God does does not remove our freedom of choices which can condition how our future is effected............<>< <><

2007-03-26 20:46:11 · answer #6 · answered by Barbara J 3 · 0 0

God gave us choices, and since he is all knowing he does know our choices, but he does not control us.

2007-03-26 20:36:50 · answer #7 · answered by pepsiolic 5 · 0 0

Someone once said, "A closed mind gathers no wisdom." You're rejecting every answer before it's given.

2007-03-26 20:42:24 · answer #8 · answered by kaehya2003 4 · 1 1

Yes. I agree.

Edit: I love how so few people have a retort to this.

2007-03-26 20:34:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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