I was listening to my good friend Tasy giving a spech on free will and it made me ponder whether we do, or do not have free will. Are we governed by our own mind? Or are there chemical processes that control simple tasks - instincts persay that delineate quick response to outside forces? I also wondered - do institutions control free will such as religion? Were we made as separate entities that have control of ourselves? Or no?
It just reminds me of the play Oedipus Rex - how Oedipus did not have free will but rather he was controlled by his destiny. Fate played an integral part of his life; however there are instances in which he did have choices to make. The crossroads is a great example. But is Sophocles trying to show that in the end we are not in control?
There has been research that shows that we immediately act upon instinct when we are shocked or hurt. There are mere milliseconds for us to think of what to do. I was fascinated by this.
What about God? Does God rule our lives? Or does he provide room for us to make decisions for ourselves? Sometimes I feel that our lives are predestined to go to purgatory, heaven, or hell. If people aren't religious, what happens to them? Don't they have the will to choose where they end up? Does there need to be a higher power that determines existence?
I believe that free will is compromised by determinism. By nature, instincts and the like.
So yeah.
What do you guys think?
Do we have free will or not?
Yes an no. I am a Christian, so my view might be somewhat biased towards God and the Bible, so take this how you want.
God is sovereign, so He knows everything - literally, everything - that will happen. Each breath I take, each leaf that falls, each decision made, each raindrop that falls - everything. Because He knows it all, it appears that we don't have free will.
On the flip side, we make choices to go after God or turn away from Him. Though He knows what choices we will make, we don't, so.......
Yah - it's tricky. I think that if we seek God's face, then He will show us what we are spposed to do and we will never be outside of His will, which is such a hard place to be. When we align ourselves to Him, then we are able to "see" what is the best decision to be made - kinda like supernatural future-seeing!
Read and comment as you like....http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/starving-musician
Does God know what I am going to have for breakfast tomorrow with 100% certainty? And could God, if he wanted to tell you what I am going to have for breakfast tomorrow? If he could then free will doesn't exist.
One apologetic for free will is that God knows us so well that even though we have free will he knows exactly what choice we will make. This apologetic makes no sense. If God knows what choice we are going to make with 100% certainty then it is 100% certain that we WILL make that particular choice. That is the choice we are going to make under those circumstances no matter what. But free will says that when we are faced with a choice we freely choose from alternatives.Both cannot be true.
Another apologetic is that God lives "outside of time" the reason God knows exactly what choice we are going to make is that he has seen it. The moment we faced with a decision we COULD have chosen from a number of alternatives and we did exercise our free will in coming up with the choice we DID come up with. God however, exists in the past and future as well as the presence. So he already knows what choice we will make and he knows without violating our free will. But if it is possible for God to tell you what I have for breakfast, then it can be known with 100% certainty what decision I will make BEFORE I make it. Therefore, I cannot possibly make any other decision than that. So while it may appear that I have free will, in actuality I don't.
So neither of these apologetics are valid. If God exists and he has 100% certain knowledge of the future, then ... no way around it ... we don't have free will.
Cheers,
DB
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If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. - Anatole France
Exactly what I couldn't say, just because I was shooting in the dark! It's a complicated issue that either makes God look bad or man not have freewill. Either way, somebody's getting side-blasted!
Read and comment as you like....http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/starving-musician
OK, my belief on this subject is kinda complicated. I believe that God gives us free will, but knows the outcome of whatever choice I make. For example, I'm trying to decide whether or not to go to the fridge and get some chocolate. Now, if I do choose to get the chocolate, then I don't know how that will affect me later on. I don't know if my mom's going to be upset or not when she discovers that I ate all the chocolate. If she does get upset, I don't know whether or not she will say something to me. If she does say something to me, I don't know if she'll act upset with me (or even punish me...ridiculous, but for the subject, let's just say...). Now, if I don't eat the chocolate, I don't know if I'll die from lack of chocolate, I don't know if one of my siblings will eat it. If one does eat it, then I might get upset. If I get upset, will I be upset with myself for not eating it earlier or will I be upset with them for eating it before I have the chance to eat it? Then there's always the whole, "well, maybe I should sacrifice eating it (for an end to abortion or in reparation in the grievances against the Eucharist)".
All that over whether or not I eat a few chocolate bits. Semi-sweet ones, at that, so they're not even that great.
However, God knows the outcome of me eating or not eating the chocolate. Of course, what happens also has to do with free will. For example, He knows that it might frustrate my mom. However, my mom has the free will in telling me that it frustrated her and how she tells me.
So to make a long story short, it's all complicated :-) Basically, I think there are two outcomes for every problem and God knows which path leads where. However, ultimately...it's up to you whether or not you eat the chocolate.
And now I'm craving chocolate.
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
You made me want chocolate haha
I made me want chocolate, too : P To the point where I went and researched the history of it ROFL:
http://progressiveu.org/blog/49369-history-chocolate-nectar-gods
RESPECT LIFE
http://progressiveu.org/blog/respectlife
Personally, I agree with CS Lewis' outside of time theory. I read what Darwins Beagle said, but I can agree to disagree in this case. People debate this all the time. I personally have found no proof in the Bible for "predestination" (obviously, I am a Christian too) - even the chapter in Romans everyone talks about has nothing to do with GOd "choosing" us, just foreknowedge. One book I read that kind of helped me with this was Ted Dekker's Blink. THe book is fiction, but really good. It really applies to this topic. The author is a good writer - I have read most of his earlier stuff. Its about this guy who is able to see all the possibilities he can possibly choose from and the outcome each choice will have. Its interesting. Read it and see what you think.
I think we have a God, and free will. That free will gives us the power to decide for ourselves to choose to accept or reject God, and even accept or reject the notion of free will. We can use our free will to do whatever we want, and God decides at the end whether we used that power responsibly.