If humans have free will, that means it is possible, even likely that they will behave in ways contrary to the will of God. This means that humans can thwart the will of the triune God.
Let the cognitive dissonance and circular argumentation begin.
Let’s consult the infallible, inerrant Word of God.
And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:53-58)
Here we find Jesus healing people and working other miracles (mighty works). Jesus wanted to help everyone, but he couldn’t. Why? Because of unbelief. This means, then, that humans can, by refusing to believe or have faith, thwart the will of God.
Conclusion: God does not have free will.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Free Will is a concept I both love and hate. It’s a great point to bring into conversation (philosophical that is, probably not over beers with friends!) because it takes the conversation in so many different ways. People are often outraged by the suggestion they have no free will because they fail to grasp the point, and usually see it as being prevented from doing what you want. Of course, what you want is outside of your ability to control, just as you can’t will away a headache or a toothache. In the case of these what you ‘want’ is an aspirin tablet to take away the pain but what you ‘really want’ is for the pain to go away, so you even your ‘wants’ aren’t clear. Oh dear, this is why I both love and hate the idea!
As for God exactly the same constraints must apply. Never mind Jesus couldn’t cure people because of their unbelief, what about all the other issues of God uncertainty? God spends its whole bible life trying to force people to do what he says is its will, but without certainly as to outcome. It tested Abraham by telling him to kill his son. What would have happened if Abraham hadn’t tarried, and just committed the act prematurely? What if Abraham did what he should have done in the first place, and told God to bugger off? Either way God’s will would have been thwarted.
Free will is an interesting concept. It seems to me that free will is limited in capacity. Each human has certain constraints. We are constrained by what we’re exposed to, our culture and location, access to resources, access to knowledge, innate abilities, and practiced skills. There are certain things I have the free will and desire to do – like being the world’s fastest marathoner – but that thing is way out of my reach no matter how hard I work or what expert team I may have helping me. Free will is limited – i think it’s more appropriate to say we make choices within the constraints around us.
As for the free will that evangelicalism spoke of, were those of us who were thoroughly indoctrinated into evangelicalism REALLY able to make a decision to reject it while we were immersed in the system? No, it wasn’t so easy. For myself, it was a series of many small steps and decisions and exposures which, adding them up over time, gave me the tools to say no more. But within the system, there was so much pressure from family, the community, threats of destruction and failure and suffering and eternal torture that there was no other choice.
I believe that our decisions are driven by knowledge, experience, and the near-subliminal scripts we all accumulate in the back of our brains as we grow. Those are created by a mix of culture and growing experiences. So yes, in any given moment, I can THINK I am making a decision based on reason/intuition/understanding of the situation, but those scripts in the back of my mind are playing without me noticing them. So it’s pseudo-free-will at best.
Sometimes those scripts compete with each other. I was raised Catholic by a devout mother and a Lutheran father who wasn’t particularly devout, but believed in a code of conduct that Jesus would absolutely approve of. I attended Catholic schools from 1st through 12th grade, taught by liberal nuns. Especially in high school, I became aware that the scripts my mother had written in my head were different from the ones the nuns were writing in my head. An example is that my mother believed in being generous toward anyone who deserved it; she, of course, was the judge who determined who was deserving. My nuns taught that Jesus intended for us to be generous to one another, no strings attached. I remember being sent on my bicycle (which had a big basket on the front) to bring excess from my family’s veggie garden to neighbors. Mama would go on and on about WHY those particular neighbors deserved our veggies. It took all my self control to not blurt out, “Mama, we have more than we can use and they can use it! Why isn’t that reason enough?” It would’ve gotten me slapped.