3 things set the bounds of our humanity. Why are Christians satisfied with just one?

Question

1. Freedom of will
2. Freedom of thought.
3. Freedom of action.

Please, folks all you ever say is God gave us freedom of will or free will which means the same thing. I hear or read nothing about thought or action.

They are not the same thing. Jesus has the free will to ask not to be crucified, but he was not allowed freedom of action. In many religions you can sin in thought alone even if the thought never comes to fruition. Therefor there is not freedom of thought.

Answer 1

Well, personally I have no objections to that. But most people don't understand the term "Intention." We know this is a crossroad in our mind. A prime example would be you are asked to do something that you know, deep down in your heart, is wrong. But you will either profit, or gain some sort of whatever your looking for. (Note in situations like this you seem to also lose friends.) Now knowing well the full intention, you do it. It's almost like saying "You've made your bed. Now sleep in it."

Answer 2

Actually, it's freedom of thought that is sometimes the only one of the three a person has, depending on his/her culture. As far as Christianity is concerned, there is both freedom of will and freedom of thought. People are not always free to act, though, due to external factors (those living under oppression and tyranny, for example). Our own will and thought can also constrain our actions as we evaluate whether an act itself is worth the possible consequences (as in breaking a law).

Show me someone who has free will, freedom of thought, and freedom to act in any way they please WITHOUT consequences -- social, legal, health-related, spiritual, what-have-you. You left out the other half of the human equation: With freedom also comes accountability.

Answer 3

Funny thing is
Free will and God's sovereignty go hand in hand.
I have no idea how, because I was taught this by one of my teachers.
But we Christians believe in a god we cannot comprehend or fathom.
Because of we could understand God, He wouldn't be the God He said He was in the Bible.
It's a faith thing, because you can't ever rationalize your faith.

Secondly, we have freedom of thought and action.
We just choose to do and think what is right, just like plenty of other people do.
Sure, it may make us look like robots and may seem like we don't have freedom, but it's not like God's holding strings and forcing us to think pure thoughts while we work at charity bake sales.
We still get to choose, kind of like some Christians pick and choose what parts of the Bible to follow and which ones to ignore.

"Jesus has the free will to ask not to be crucified, but he was not allowed freedom of action."
Jesus did ask God when He was praying in the olive grove before He was arrested.
He asked that He be spared if there were another way to save humankind.
But He also loved humanity enough to go through with it, He chose to be sacrificed.
According to Scripture, He went like a willing lamb. He did not protest to the crucifixion.
As the son of God, Jesus could have used his "super powers" to prevent His death, but He refrained.
Jesus knew all along that He would be sacrificed. In Gen. 1:1, "Word" is considered Jesus, and since Jesus was God, He knew all.
He knew exactly what He was getting into when He created Adam and Eve.

Answer 4

My friend, you are free. If you choose your freedom over God, not to believe in Him then you wont live by the rules God created for this world however if you do choose Him over your freedom then you will be subject to the laws that God created sacrificing your freedom to fall under Gods rule to serve Him.
But remember that every life has an end and at the end comes judgment, for you will be judged accordingly.

I sacrificed all that I had to Follow the good Lord on the missions field, but looking back I didnt sacrifice anything. I overcame fear and now I am truely free.

The choice is yours, God bless you my friend.

Answer 5

I'm a christian and I know God gave us all three. I have the freedom to think about God or not, and I have the freedom to act in a Christ-like way or not. My will can choose to follow Jesus or not.

Answer 6

Hmm, this sounds loaded. I honestly sounds like you are trying to say something, not ask a question. But I suppose I'll give an answer anyways.

Interesting generalization, why are christians satisfied with just one? I think most would say that God gave us all three. In fact, it is the entire point of existance, for us to choose, improve, and learn by out choices. God wanted his children to grow.

However, loving them, I wouldn't expect him to just dump them on earth with zero information. He gave guidelines to improvement and a good life, that is all his commandments really are. They are guidelines to being happy. He grants freedom of will, though, and action, and allows us to make our own choices, rarely doing anything overt to infringe on those freedoms. Jesus in fact DID have the freedom of thought and action to not go through those things, but he used his freedom to choose what he did.

What we do not have freedom from is the consequences of our action. A common question is "why would a loving father cast his children into fire & brimstone etc. etc." It is a pretty common misunderstanding of the text.

Brimstone in its original connotation (lava, magma, etc.) implied fire from within. Some type off inner torment. The bible states that "no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of god". What would the reason for that be? Because he hates his children who don't repent?

I think most of us have been in the presence of our parents, or some other loved one, when we have done something truly bad. The guilt the anguish. Multiply that exponentially. Would a loving father force his children to endure the torment of being in his presence? One would hope not. So, he provides a way for us to repent, to atone, to be clean again, that of course being his son. To the rest, he does the most merciful thing he can, and puts them away from him.

So yes, we are free, we can do what we want, when we want. We have been given help and instruction, and can choose what we want. He would like it if we followed him, but gives us the freedom to do otherwise. On rare occasion he has intervened rather dramatically for the greater good of all mankind, but for the most part he lets us make mistakes and learn on our own.

So you ask why I am satisfied with just one? A loaded question, and a false one at that. I can think will and act how I choose. I choose not to smoke and drink, and have a happier fuller life becauase of it. I choose to excersize some sexual restraint for similar reasons (and hundreds of phsycological tests would agree with me). I'm honest in my dealings because it generally leads to more success in life. I work hard for similar reason.

In the end, most of us follow Christian values because they lead to success and happy lives, not as blind sheep.

This is just them Mormon view, and a lot of church's doctrines are different. But that is my answer to your loaded question. Why would anyone follow christian values? Why would they restrict themselves? How have these idea's survived 2000 years (and longer if you group in hebrew values)? Because they are smart, they give you more freedom in life. They give you power and strength. Self control doesn't detract from freedom, it enhances it.

Answer 7

Because free will includes all those. We are free to act and we are free to think.
No one denies this. What we also add is that we will be held accountable for our actions and our thoughts if those thoughts are followed by certain actions.

Answer 8

I tend to think of #2 and #3 as being subsets of #1.

Answer 9

Would you care to explain why, for example, #2 is one of the bounds of humanity?

HTH

Charles

Answer 10

LOL!!!! Terry! What did you expect??!!
These are Christians we are talking about!!
The same ones who allow themselves to be spoon fed their information, from a really bad story!
Come on now!!!




lol!!!
xxx
Ariel
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