Is there anything that we gain by having choices, that God could not have given us without free will?
2007-10-22 07:48:16 · 18 answers · asked by Eleventy 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
skeptic, no I don't want that.
2007-10-22 07:57:47 · update #1
I don't understand why people are saying that by having free will we gain the ability to choose. This is true by definition.
2007-10-22 08:06:13 · update #2
Are you asking this of your own free will?
Or did someone compel you?
2007-10-22 07:58:11 · answer #1 · answered by wefmeister 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Assuming God, then for a start no free will means we can't be moral. No choice, no judgement, no code of ethics, no love, no good, no bad, no nothing. We would be automata. And I think that by definition being unable to act as a moral agent would make you morally neutral. Can someone who is neither good nor bad, but just is, get into heaven? And why would it matter if they didn't have any choice? Without free will everything becomes irrelevant.
2007-10-22 14:54:56 · answer #2 · answered by Rafael 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No - we chose to be seperate from God - it is up to us to Choose to return to Spirit. Otherwise, what would be the point of humanity? Choice and Free will give us tremendous power!
God, like any Parent, does not want replicas of himself even though he created us in His image. The greatest gift He could have provided would be the ability to strive to walk with him. Without that journey, we would simply be mud puppets floundering... with the journey, we have the ability to reconnect with Him. Also, with the choice, it becomes more ..."real" in the sense that when given something, it loses it's dynamic appreciateion... when you work towards something, the realization of the gift is far more rewarding... I don't know, makes sense in my mind but I'm probably not explaining it correctly.
2007-10-22 15:57:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes there is , but it's complex.
Essentialy if god , the creator gave to us the Divine Spark (inteligence , free will , ect. ) then we have the abbility to not only observe the divine creation , but to appriciate it and even to change it to suit ourselves. This is acctualy a great gift.
immagin an artist creating a panting that was perfect , and could then change it's self. Each ittineration would be perfect in and of it's self, and the changes would be manefestations of the continual perfections. This work in it's glory could be enjoyed from within the work it's self. Taking samples of the work and partly separating them from the work would alow the ultimate prespective on the piece.
2007-10-22 15:03:14 · answer #4 · answered by james 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You must want the government to have total control over society so that anything remotely dangerous will be stopped, and we'll all be good little robots.
EDIT:
OK, sorry, your question just sounds, to me, like you think free will is a bad thing.
I'll say this, free will makes us appreciate what "God" gives us. If we don't have free will and can't make our own choices, then life would be completely meaningless. Our accomplishments would mean nothing because we had no option to fail.
2007-10-22 14:56:57 · answer #5 · answered by word 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He could not give us Life experience.
Knowledge of what making a mistake feels like and then the satisfaction we then gain from doing it right.
The satisfaction of knowing that we can choose between Path A and Path B. If Path A was chosen for me, I'd constantly see the value and missed opportunity of Path B. If I chose, i will know that even though Path B had potential, Path A was the one i chose, for reasons that are of priority to me- and not the person choosing for me.
There are alot of reasons why free will works to our advantage.
2007-10-22 15:09:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
we are raised constantly being reminded that we are evil because we are not born to live life according to some narrow minded set of rules we were not born to follow... We also wouldn't get the mixed messages we get when religion's values of good and evil constantly contradict right and wrong ... We'd stop being stressed after we've failed living up to walking on a high wire in the wind being as careful as if walking on egg shell without breaking one just to be able to believe I won't be going to some made up hell.... with free will.. which amounts to freedom from religion I will be able to learn about life through the natural consequences and benefits from my own personal experiences... it's less stressful and that means I will live longer...
2007-10-22 15:12:02 · answer #7 · answered by Gyspy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes we gain a lot. We gain the opportunity to relate with God not as carbon-based automatons but as individuals with a conscious choice. How would you like robots for children? How would you like a 40-year old man being spoon-fed by his father?
2007-10-22 14:59:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Freedom is good, control over our own lives.
Though, the more freedom you have to make choices the more miserable you can potentially become. Look up the ted paradox of choice video.
2007-10-22 14:54:12 · answer #9 · answered by rrrawwwr im a monster 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If, for example, we exercise our free will to reject oppressive dogmatic religions like Christianity, then we gain satisfying, productive lives. Wherein we can choose for ourselves what to feel and think. What books to read, what films to see, what art to enjoy, which philosophies to embrace and which to reject.
2007-10-22 15:52:43 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't choosing to be good instead of evil reward enough?
Without choice, there can be no meaningful compassion or philanthropy, or sacrifice.
2007-10-22 15:01:42 · answer #11 · answered by lunatic 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋