Christians: If god gave us free will to make any choice we want?

Question

Then why does he punish people to go to Hell?

Here's an example:

During a major black-out, a person is faced with a choice, use the opportunity of the downed security systems to steal a lot of stuff from the nearest store, or go down to the store and make a legal purchase.

Let's assume this person chooses to steal. If god didn't want that person to steal, why would he give him the option? And after giving him that option, why punish him for it? And also, since god is omnipotent and knows everything that is going to happen, why even allow people to try for salvation if He knows they will reject it and go to Hell anyway?

Answer 1

Hi Professor,

I totally agree with you, I once asked myself the same
question; If I have been given freedom of volition,
then why should I be judged? If I have to pay a
penalty for my actions, then my free will acts against
me, then why should I REPENT? Then freedom
also is'nt really free at all, it comes with a PRICE!

Answer 2

First off your assuming that hell is a place like Dante's Inferno. The problem is Hell like that where people are tortured for eternity does not exist and does not exist in the earliest writings in the Bible. It was a bad translation and Dante that created the modern perception of Hell. The correct Biblical Hell is was actually a vast garbage dump which may or may not have smoldered (often massive garbage dumps do burn) and the expectation was that if you were not a good person (good Jew actually sense it was the old testament that gave us Hell) then you would not be buried in the customary way for a future resurrection. Instead you would be tossed in the garbage dump... somewhere along the line bad translation after bad translation and you get Hell with a little red dude and a pitch fork.... Funny but if Satan was God's best angel that fell from grace wouldn't that mean all angels were little red dudes with pitch forks too?

Answer 3

A) You seem to be suffering the Dantesque delusion; ie, that "hell" is a place and one of physical torment.

B) Think about it. There's no physicality eternity. It's the torment of the soul that Jesus likens to a lake of burning fire.

C) Why that burning? Because every person in "hell" is there because they deliberately put themselves there by steadfastly refusing God's mercy.

D) We don't TRY for salvation. That's a fait accompli. Christ accomplished it some 2,000 years ago. All you have to do is ask and you're forgiven. Salvation is yours the moment you respond positively to Christ's invitation to,
"Come. Follow Me."
If you spend your life refusing that invitation, believe me, you aren't going to be happy in heaven, since that is where God most IS and you don't want any part of Him, remember? So you go to where He most isn't, where there is nothing and no one but self and you realize that that's all there's ever going to be for you. Self. Think about it. Just you, forever. Stock up on memories because they're all you'll have. That burns.

E) Why the "option"? Because free will is what makes us His children instead of merely another creature in the universe. We have the "option" to choose to accept that destiny or to refuse it. But a refusal carries with it consequences and that includes the responsibility for your own loss of redemption. DO NOT blame God because your own pride got in the way of your good sense.

F) There is a major difference between knowing something will happen and CAUSING it to happen. God knows: YOU cause!

G) "Hell" is not punishment. It is the natural outcome of choosing to reject God. You gotta go somewhere and heaven is out because you refused God. What does that leave? It leaves YOU, all alone by yourself in your own little bubble for always. *shudder* Just you. Only you. Without sight, sound, smell, taste or touch or even cognizance of the presence of any other being....ever.

Answer 4

As soon as you say, "God wants," He's already lost his omnipotence. And once you give God the qualification of knowing how everyone will decide, you cannot backtrack and say that he can do nothing about our decision. He already has -- he created us! Logically, this is now becomes double predestination, and it is even biblically defended somewhat by the "hardened Pharaoh's heart" and "making a vessel for destruction" verses. But free will is already out of the picture by that point, and we even have a reversal if we maintain free will -- that is, God being subject to us.

The only logical solution I found -- besides atheism and denying God in the first place (which brings up even more problems philosophically), is the Calvinist viewpoint of Adam's "original sin" tainting man's heart to the point where he cannot look to God for salvation at all. This leaves him completely in the dark, save for God's grace. In that sense, free will is maintained, but only a free will to do evil, which quite naturally places us in the position of condemnation before God and deserving hell right from the start.

So, back to your scenario, during our major blackout, you've philosophically presented a "Gyges' Ring" that mankind is prone to take advantage of, and although it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone would be as evil as they could possibly be, the only thing stopping the hatred of God AND neighbor is a loving God himself, who turns things around for his own, . But others are simply left in their sins, no matter how "good" they try to be in attaining Heaven on their own.

This means that the Christian has no more claim to Heaven than those who simply go their own way, and this results in a humility rather than a hubris, a joy in what the Lord has done for them rather than trying to shove salvation down everyone's throat.

So theologically, I don't believe we have free will in the sense of being able to choose our own salvation. Rather it is God who gives it to us, no receipt necessary, and it simply opens our eyes to the truth.

Answer 5

God isn't a control freak.

In your blackout analogy, the person knows that stealing is wrong and that paying properly is right. If they willfully choose to steal, then they must suffer the consequences of their action -- say 3-5 year sentence, which would be about 14 months in jail if they earn time off for good behavior.

God isn't MAKING the person steal. The person is doing that on their own. One assumes the person gauges the consequences before acting and accepts the risk.

I don't know if you are a parent of not, but I am. I teach my kids right from wrong, but they have to be able to CHOOSE right from wrong on their own or I have not done my job. If I only give them "right" options, then when they are on their own, they won't know how to choose for themselves, right? And if I MAKE them always choose right, then they are just going through the motions like mindless robots. That would be really disrespectful of me -- my kids are human beings and they need to be afforded the dignity of being their own persons and making their own choices.

So God instructs us as to what is right. If we still choose to do wrong, we have to accept the consequences of our actions.

And even though God is omnipotent and could stop us, He treats us with respect and allows us the dignity of making choices for ourselves. Knowing everything that is going to happen isn't the same as MAKING everything happen Himself. Even knowing that some people will reject Him doesn't cause him to stop treating us with dignity and respect and allowing us to behave autonomously.

Answer 6

Because as far as i know, the one thing you can go to Hell for is not loving/believeing in God. If He hadn't given the choice of that, it would be like living under a dictatorship. The way it is now, you at least have the choice to go somewhere great - rather than living in a world with no choice.

as far as i believe though, God's not just gonna send you to Hell for stealing from a shop.

Answer 7

God gives you a choice because he wants you to make the right decision. When you don't you have to be punished. Think of it in a child and parent situation. The parent let the child walk to the park on his own, to teach independance. The child knows he is suppose to look both ways before crossing. He doesn't. He is hit by a car. When you make the wrong decision God will test you again, and again, until you get it right. So get it right the first time. He still loves you, he just wants you to want to do the God thang. Every parent wants to be able to trust the child. That parent has to test the child before releasing him on his own to make sure he will be fine.

Answer 8

He gave us all the option to get away from Him, so that when we turn to love Him we really mean it, and when we love one another it really means something.

He doesn't punish people who don't obey him. People who choose to get away from God merely walk down that path, they'll end up in a place where God isn't, and that is what i think hell really is, its just a place where God simply isn't, and it must be the worst place in the world, still God isn't punishing anyone to go there, people are just making choices

Paz de Cristo

Answer 9

First of all...God did give us the right of choice. But he also believed that we would know the difference between right and wrong.

Even though that person might have gone down to that store and stole some merchandise...the same person can also repent for his sins of stealing and God will forgive him.

In the Bible..God also gave one of his disciples 3 chances to prove himself and he did not.

Yes we have a right to choose but we also need to follow our instinct on what is right or wrong. Repent of your sins and God will forgive...you slate is wiped clean...start again.

Answer 10

People have free will, but with every action there is a reaction. We are not robots that have no choice but to worship God. God wanted people who would get to know Him through His word and love Him voluntarily.