ok, here's another question which i'm sure will get called stupid by a large number of fundamentalist who don't want to think about it. this is on the topic of free will. i'm curious, how do christians explain free will when you say things like, "god blessed me with a wonderful wife and great friends." isn't that saying that god put them there for you? didn't those people have a choice whether or not to be associated with you? didn't you have the ability to make them realize that being around you was a good thing? or are you truly undeserving of the good things you have in your life, and needed god to give them to you? there's over 6 billion people on this planet, is it really that hard to find a few descent people that you can get along with?
2007-05-02 06:43:17 · 21 answers · asked by just curious (A.A.A.A.) 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
edit: decent people, not descent people...
2007-05-02 06:44:35 · update #1
schneb, yes i believe i covered that. that's what i'm asking. i assume you have a wife. are you truly not deserving of her? is she not deserving of you? did you two just meet on the street and get married the same day? i hope not. certainly, you dated for a while and decided you two should be together. and you two probably weren't the first people that either of you dated. you had to find someone you can be with.
2007-05-02 06:50:12 · update #2
luvdalz, but you're saying god gave them. if they had free will, they would have the choice not to be given.
2007-05-02 06:51:56 · update #3
gui, you're comparing a person with a birthday gift. let's say your gift is a car. does a car have a free will to decide whether or not it wants to be your car? no. so if god gave me a wife. does that wife have free will to decide if she wants to be my wife? according to you she doesn't.
2007-05-02 06:54:34 · update #4
farid, if that's the case, then we don't have free will...
2007-05-02 07:05:11 · update #5
good question. personally, I don't believe in free will...and here is why:
* If God is omniscient, He knows what is going to happen in the future.
* If God is omnipotent, His power is limitless.
* If God knows what is going to happen in the future, then free will is an illusion.
* If everything is pre-ordained, and if God has unlimited power, then the illusion of free will is intentional.
* If the illusion of free will is intentional, and if everything is pre-ordained, and God wants everyone to love Him, but He realizes that not everyone will, then He is powerless (or unwilling) to change this.
* If He is powerless to change this, then His power has a limit and, by definition, He is not omnipotent.
* If He is unwilling to change this, then we are being held accountable for decisions that we did not make, or were not capable of making because they had already been determined due to lack of free will.
* If we are given then choice, however, between choosing to follow God or not [these are the only two options, really, due to the Law of Excluded Middle (something can not BE and NOT BE at the same time…except from a Quantum Physics point of view (Thanks Schroedinger!))] then God is not omniscient because there is no way that he could know what we would choose.
2007-05-02 06:48:21 · answer #1 · answered by latech76 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
This is not a stupid question. If it's important to you, then it's valid. Now, on this free will thing. That's the thing a lot of non-christians have trouble with, because they have this notion that if you become a christian, your will is taken over by God. Well, it isn't. If you have a genuine conversion experience with the Lord, it's not a matter of there being a set of rules we must follow, like a list of do's and don'ts. That's like the Old Testament Law, but now , we live by Grace, that is, we live for Him through the Grace of God & what Jesus did on Calvary, and all of a sudden we find there are a lot of things we just plain don't WANT to do anymore. As far as what you said about God blessing me with a good wife and great friends, God does not command them to be my friend just because I am His Child. These people are a result of me spending my time around other christians, instead of the bars, strip joints and such places I used to frequent. My chances of meeting a good woman and meeting good friends are greatly increased when I don't hang out with the wrong crowd. I am in no way being their judge, because I was there once. Now, I pray that these people(whom God loves as much as me ) find the Lord, and of their own free will, choose to follow Him, which results in the greatest happiness you can know !
2007-05-02 07:05:47 · answer #2 · answered by The Count 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello,
We're here for one reason and that is to please GOD! Everyone has a task to complete. Free will is basically whether to be good or bad there is no in between. Our lives are already predestined. Take job in the bible his life was very blessed. One day Satan asked God for permission to go after job. God said go ahead just don't kill him. Because he knew his servant well. Though job didn't know what was happening he knew God was responsible for his well being. And by the way we as people are undeserving of God's grace but he has mercy on us because we're human.
2007-05-02 07:06:09 · answer #3 · answered by hurricane k 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
okay, I wont say stupid but think about the question. God can bless people without it undermining their free will, understand what free will is, It is the opportunity to choose God or to believe a lie. This is the total of free will it gives you the choice to serve God. Does God bestowing blessings on someone interfere with that choice? Of course it doesn't.
2007-05-02 06:54:09 · answer #4 · answered by djmantx 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, God intervenes in a Christian's life. We have become His children. But not in a person's who is not a Christian. He is in our lives because we asked Him to be there and we appreciate His interventions. Free will. We are all underserving.
Getting along with other people depends upon your attitude. People will like you if you have a good one and they won't if you have a bad one. Peace.
2007-05-02 06:54:30 · answer #5 · answered by 4HIM- Christians love 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't believe that God who runs the Universe also has a dating service. Or does he choose our friends.
that is up to us to do. Find the wife you want and the friends your compatable with and the only thing he is concerned with is that we don't hurt ourselves or others.
He is like a loving parent, no father finds a mate for his children. He trains them to look for the right qualities in a mate. Tells us not to make any snap decisions about something that serious.
Like a good father he points out things that will ruin our life and what will make us happy.
But ultimately it is up to us to follow his advice.
2007-05-02 08:19:42 · answer #6 · answered by Steven 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Think of it like this...God created us and in everything that happens to us he gives us two options...for instance, he might give you the option to marry an awesome lady or he might give you the choice cheat on her and head down a road of chaos in your love life...we then have the free will to choose one option or the other. It is still our free will...God has different avenues for us to take, but it is always our choice.
2007-05-02 06:50:34 · answer #7 · answered by stakekawa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Free will is when to choose God.
If a Christian says the above, it is because he or she choosed God through His help and to choose God, we let him take care of their worries.
Anyone who chooses to have faith in God is helped by God after his submission.
That is why Jesus said we should pray for God's will to be done as it is in heaven for nothing good comes from the will of man. Our hearts are so decietful.
2007-05-02 06:52:40 · answer #8 · answered by talleymark 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God gave humans free will. That means we are free to choose to follow him, accept the friends he put in our lives, or we can search the globe for friends we think will be a better fit than what God provided.
2007-05-02 06:48:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
God gave them to you; you had the free will to reject the gift, but you didn't. Also, the wife's/children's free will was not violated. If it were, they wouldn't be gifts, but curses. God arranged for someone who would WANT to be with you, to meet you. It's still a gift.
2007-05-02 06:48:20 · answer #10 · answered by FUNdie 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋