Questions tagged [free-will]
The ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints
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Does the free will rebuttal to the problem of evil still work for those who believe in old earth/evolution?
When asked "If there is an omnipotent and good God, why is there suffering in the world?", the most common response Christians give is something along the lines of "Suffering is a ...
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Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
If God respects our free will and doesn't interfere in our decisions, why should we pray for things (petition)?
For example, if I pray for my daily bread, God cannot force me to go to the store, buy ...
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What was the Early Church's (ante-Nicene period) view of the interplay between free will (or lack thereof) and salvation?
Did the Early Church (ante-Nicene period) believe in libertarian free will?
Did the Early Church (ante-Nicene period) believe in determinism?
Did the Early Church (ante-Nicene period) believe that ...
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Why do bad things happen to the innocent?
OK, so to start, I searched this topic on the exchange and found no answers that were satisfying. I am not questioning God, I just have a hard time coming to terms with why bad things happen to the ...
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How do "skeptic's prayer" advocates address the objection that the prayer is unnecessary because belief is a decision?
In my prior question, Is there scriptural support for the "skeptic's prayer" as a legitimate plea that God might be open to answering?, several responses concurred that this form of ...
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Is it possible for an unbeliever who is steadfastly unconvinced or skeptical to genuinely embrace a saving faith in Christ?
I often find it helpful to illustrate my point with extreme cases. Let's examine some well-known examples of unbelievers: Graham Oppy, a distinguished atheist philosopher specializing in philosophy of ...
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Is faith a skill that can be developed over time? [closed]
Is faith a skill that can be developed and made stronger through effort, following a method? If such a method exists, can it be tested, and by any human being? In other words, if the most skeptical ...
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Why make an effort to get saved if my life is pre destined by God?
The Bible does state vey many times that God already knows our earthly and eternal destinies. Jesus chose Judas Iscariot because he knew his destiny was to betray him. Jesus knew Paul would try to ...
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What scriptural examples exist of people converting to righteousness from overt wickedness on account of a miraculous occurrence (e.g. Paul)?
A brief bit of context (feel free to edit it out if it's not appropriate for the site, but I think it'll help clarify exactly what I'm trying to achieve with this question): I am currently studying ...
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Is there a theological link between the views of Cassian and Pelagius and Arminianism?
During the fifth century, John Cassian claimed that the initial steps to salvation were in the power of each individual, unaided by grace. He reacted against Augustine’s view of the irresistible ...
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According to Augustine, what's the difference between regenerate life and that before the fall?
In Augustine's four stages of the Christian life, is the Reborn Man in the same state as the Pre-Fall Man?
In which state was Christ the man while on earth?
[Editor's note: OP refers to the 4 stages ...
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When scripture says, God "knows all things", does that include every action and decision every human will choose to make in the future?
I've often heard of the concept of Omniscience which is based on scripture that states God knows all things.
Isaiah 46:10
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not ...
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How does Christianity define "character"?
Recently I've been partaking in multiple discussions regarding the concept of free will on this site (for the curious, see here, here, here, here), mainly because of its relevance in the context of ...
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How do Christians that believe in creatio ex nihilo answer the question of why human beings are not created with a perfect character from the outset?
This question is a spin-off of the previous discussion How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?.
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What is the basis for the belief "It is possible to have free-will and be incapable of sinning, but it is not possible to be created in that state"?
Some Christians believe that "It is possible to have free-will and at the same time be incapable of sinning, but it is not possible to be created in that state".
For example, in my recently ...
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Latter-day Saint understanding of James 1:13-15, God's omnibenevolence and God's free will?
In my previous question How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?, I presented the following ...
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Are there any other agreed-upon definitions of "free will" within mainstream Christianity?
I've frequently engaged in discussions about Christianity that have revolved around free will, particularly with regards to predestination (and recently as of writing this question, sinlessness) and ...
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How do proponents of the “free-will defense” against the problem of evil explain that God can be free and immune to moral evil at the same time?
The free-will defense is an argument commonly attributed to Alvin Plantinga, who developed it as a response to the logical problem of evil. However, in developing this argument Plantinga unwittingly ...
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Is there a name for the belief that some individuals would always freely reject salvation no matter the world in which they are created?
When God created the world, He had to accept the fact that some of His creatures would sin and ultimately fail to repent and be saved (I'm assuming that universalism is false, to be clear). For ...
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Why does God punish us for our will?
This is a huge question. Do let me know if its immensity makes it off-topic for this site. I will start out my question with a quote from Schopenhauer:
A man can do what he wills, but not will what ...
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According to the Catholic Church, is there any supernatural (non-physical, non-mathematical, non-scientific) part of a human being?
My previous understanding of the Catholic Church's teaching was that a human being is of two conjoined natures: physical and spiritual. Also, my previous reasoning was that things like consciousness, ...
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According to believers in libertarian free will, do all human beings have a genuine chance to freely choose to live a perfect sinless life?
Premise of this question: first of all, I'm basing this question on my common sense understanding that moral responsibility and judgement presuppose that human beings have the capacity to make free ...
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Is the will of God always fulfilled?
Is the will of God always fulfilled?
In Mark 14:36 it reads
And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take
away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou
wilt.
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How can God be loving and just whilest creating people for His wrath? I cannot wrap my head around Calvinism!
I just recently left a church that I attended for nearly a decade that is rooted in Calvinist beliefs. I am really struggling with their conception of the Lord and their understanding of the scripture....
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What is the Biblical basis for Conditional Election?
From Wikipedia:
In Christian theology, conditional election is the belief that God chooses for eternal salvation those whom he foresees will have faith in Christ. This belief emphasizes the ...
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According to the Church of England, if humans have free will, why do we ask for things in prayer?
How does the Church of England reconcile these three things, which seem at odds with each other:
The bible tells us to ask for things in prayer (ask for what we want / ask for bad things not to ...
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Does Predestination apply to all people or just the major characters God needed for His plans for us to unfold?
Certainly verses like Psalm 139:13-16 and Jeremiah 1:5 are about God and important figures agreeing that God created THEM as individuals with a soul and spirit before they were born (or even before He ...
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What is the Catholic understanding of Predestination and Freewill?
Is predestination a Catholic doctrine? If so, how does the Catholic Church harmonise the doctrine of predestination against freewill?
The Catechism of the The Catholic Church states:
"Not only ...
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What is the biblical basis for Semi-Pelagianism?
Broadly speaking, Semi-Pelagianism is the idea that while we are born sinners, we are capable of seeking God without a supernatural "override" of our nature, such as that of Calvinism's ...
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Are there Christian groups or denominations that believe that direct doxastic voluntarism is true (i.e. that atheists can choose to believe in God)?
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxastic_voluntarism:
Doxastic voluntarism is a philosophical view that people elect their own beliefs.[1] That is, that subjects have a certain amount of control ...
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Do any denominations teach that angels have, or do not have, free will?
With minor variations, most Christian denominations generally believe that:
Satan, Lucifer, the Devil, the Serpent, etc. are all the same being.
Lucifer rebelled against God.
One third of the angels ...
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According to Roman Catholicism, Mary loved God of her own free will. Does her love mean less to God because grace protected her from sin?
The Immaculate Conception shows that God could, in theory, protect each person from the contracting the taint of original sin. An argument as to why God allows His children to contract original sin is ...
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What is the Biblical Basis for saying that people determine for themselves whether they will be saved or not?
In trying to understand what the bible says on the topic of who decides whether we go to heaven, I was reading this page on What determines whether you'll go to heaven or hell. I found it to be a bit ...
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Arminianism's Human's Free Will in light of Proverbs 16:4 & Proverbs 16:33 (since said verses strongly suggest support for Calvinism's predestination)
Proverbs 16:4
The Lord has made everything for [c]its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
16:4 Hebrew OT: Westminster Leningrad Codex כֹּ֤ל פָּעַ֣ל יְ֭הוָה
לַֽמַּעֲנֵ֑הוּ וְגַם־רָ֝שָׁ֗ע ...
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What is the Biblical basis for Synergism?
From Wikipedia:
In Christian theology, synergism is the position of those who hold that salvation involves some form of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom. Synergism is upheld by the ...
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How do Christians who believe in libertarian free will explain the large imbalance in the ratio of people saved vs. condemned?
In principle, the decisions made by an agent endowed with freedom of the will (in the libertarian sense) are not determined. That is, a free agent's decisions cannot be the result of a sequence of ...
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What biblical support do Arminians and open theists find for libertarian free will?
Libertarian free will is the position that a person’s choices are free from the determination or constraints of human nature and free from any predetermination by God. Libertarians generally argue ...
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What is the biblical basis for libertarian free will (no predestination)?
I have seen several responses to theodicy questions revolving around the concept of "free will." I am not familiar with any self-contained biblical basis for this belief (that is, no extra-biblical ...
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According to Arminians, why do they find Calvinism distasteful or inaccurate? [duplicate]
R.C. Sproul, a Reformed thinker said in his book “Chosen by God” that: “Jimmy Swaggart has made it clear that he considers the Reformed view a demonic heresy.” (Page 7)
Obviously, disagreements can ...
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Is Judas liable for his betrayal sin?
In Luke, we are told:
Luke 22:3-4 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how ...
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Soteriology: How does God save free moral agents?
Gen. 3:1-7 shows that sin was a choice. How does the freedom of choice intersect with saving faith and the work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin? This question is for all who believe the Bible ...
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According to Reformed Calvinists, are all of a person's volitional states causally determined by prior causes in time?
From the Wikipedia article on Determinism:
Determinism is the philosophical view that all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history ...
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What is the biblical basis for NOT believing that everyone has a fair chance to be saved?
In my previous question If everyone has a fair chance to be saved, then how is this reconciled with Romans 10:11-17 & John 6:44?, I laid out two conditions for scoping purposes:
This question is ...
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If everyone has a fair chance to be saved, then how is this reconciled with Romans 10:11-17 & John 6:44?
This question is scoped to Christians who believe that:
humans have libertarian free will (or at least are given temporarily some form of genuine freedom of the will through divine grace in specific ...
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From a Roman Catholic view, after God creates a soul, does He let the soul to choose if they want to enter a body? Can a soul refuse to be embodied?
The Catholic Catechism says this:
366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does ...
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Could God allow all people to be born without the stain of original sin, as He did with Mary? [duplicate]
God was able to prevent Mary from being born with the stain original sin. If God can do this with one person, He can do this with everyone. This suggests that God forces everyone but Mary, against ...
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According to the Catholic Church, Does God create each new individual with original sin?
According to the Catholic Catechism, every spiritual soul is directly created by God. At the moment the individual is created by God, does it have original sin? Or is original sin added later?
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Why did God create people who would reject him? [closed]
God created people with free will, and some of these people will freely choose salvation, while some others will freely choose to reject salvation.
God could have chosen to create only the subset of ...
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Romans 9 from an Arminian Perspective
Arminians, how do you interpret Romans 9 from an Arminian perspective? Specifically, verses 13-23.
Specifically, the traditional Calvinistic understanding of Romans 9 is that it teaches predestination ...
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Does God intend or call some people to live alone forever in their life?
No. I am not talking about taking the sacrament of priesthood or brotherhood or being a nun who is called to live a holy life only for Christ.
I mean if a man tries hard to find a partner but it ...
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