Questions tagged [free-will]
The ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints
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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 is the Calvinist and Hyper-Calvinist understanding of the "whosoever will" from Rev. 22:17?
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev. 22:17 KJV)
I've heard that ...
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When the humans' freedom of choice was firstly stated in Christianity?
When and where was it firstly stated in the history of Christianity that a human being has a personal freedom of choice and that God respects it?
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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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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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How do monergists respond to Bible verses that support the doctrine of synergism?
How do Lutherans, Calvinists and other protestants that believe in monergism respond to biblical passages that seem to support synergism such as these?
For example:
"Be perfect, therefore, as ...
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What is the Calvinist view of Christians with different levels of loving God?
A) Scripture says no force or power can separate us from the Love of God.
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor ...
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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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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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What is the definition of 'free will' as explained in the Bible? [closed]
Reading a question on this site I suddenly realized that I do not know what 'free will' means. I cannot find a definition in other questions asked and my philosophy books clouded the whole issue. ...
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Is ex-nihilo creationism irreconcilable with the concept of individual free will?
Looking on this site in many answers involving the problem of evil I see affirmations of belief in free-will.
According to Calvinist Mark Hausam, who presented a paper at a conference on Mormonism, ...
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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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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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Does Christianity say that the events that happen to us are from God? [closed]
Does Christianity say that the events that happen to us are from God?
Is it all free will, or free will and God steps in to veto if he wants, or everything from God.
I ask because at the Church I go ...
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What Bible passages do Jehovah’s Witnesses use to support their view on free will?
I’m given to understand Jehovah’s Witnesses hold to something similar to libertarian free will, the belief that a person’s choices are free from the determination or constraints of human nature and ...
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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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Do Southern Baptist traditionalists agree with the Arminian view of prevenient grace?
Part of the "Arminian" position (as I understand it) is essentially as follows:
Fallen people are of such a morally corrupted nature that, when hearing the gospel of how they can and must be saved by ...
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The Epitome of the Formula of Concord- Free will in Lutheranism
On "Free Will" The Epitome of the Formula of Concord, on negative (rejected) doctrines, first paragraph states:
The delirium [insane dogma] of philosophers who are called Stoics, as
also of ...
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Is compatibilism compatible with the doctrine of the Catholic Church?
My usual reasoning was that it was not on the basis that:
Determinism would entail predestination, which is rejected by the Catholic Church;
The alternative - quantum mind - is trickier, but:
To my ...
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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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Did God create Adam and Eve with free will and knowledge of right and wrong (good and evil)? [closed]
I just want to confirm based on scripture if God made Adam and Eve with both free will and knowledge of good and evil (right and wrong) or if one came after the other when they ate the forbidden fruit?...
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What Scriptures tell us what man having free will actually means? [closed]
I have been given many different opinions as to what having free will actually means. Some have said that it means only that we have a choice of whether or not to accept salvation, others have said it ...
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Why did Jesus raise people from the dead, when they would have been in heaven?
The way I understand it from the bible is that you can live well you entire life, but if you lose your faith and then you die you won't go to heaven. So I'm sure that Satan would love the ability to ...
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Why does God punish us when He gives us free-will? [closed]
God gives us free-will. But why does God punish us for exercising our free-will in certain ways (disobeying Him, sinning)? Why even both to give us free will, if we are to be punished for exercising ...
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Old testament accuracy of God's Word [closed]
As has been discussed before there are differences between the old and new testament.
What I wish to know is this: How accurate is the word of God written in the old testament? How much of it is/was ...
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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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Election, Gods Sovereignty and Is Cain Saved?
Does Calvinism (and those who believe in Unconditional Election) teach that Cain was elected to Salvation?
This is my source for defining Unconditional Election.
Unconditional Election:
God does ...
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Looking for source for quote from Christian author
Some years ago I read in a book about Christianity an attempt to explain the apparent paradox between predestination and free will.
I have forgotten the name of the book and its author (it could be C....
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How does Ravi Zacharias reconcile prayer with free will?
I have been struggling with a question about prayer and free will. For background, please watch this 6 minute youtube clip where Ravi Zacharias answers a question about free will. The question asked ...
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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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How do molinists justify a world where not everyone freely chooses salvation?
Assuming not all humans on earth will become Christians. Many have lived and died that have not. The Bible is clear that many will fall away and perish.
If Molinism is true,
Then either:
A. There ...
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How can we defend our faith against the "Argument from Evil" or "Problem of Evil"? [duplicate]
Of all of the arguments against the Bible from a stance of pure logic which I have ever heard, the only one which seems to be able to stand up to honest, logical scrutiny in even the smallest way is ...
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What was John Wesley's view on Original Sin?
John Wesley was a supporter of free will and in opposition to Calvinism which taught predestination... What was his view on Original sin since by logic the baby is predestined to sin by just being ...
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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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Source of the view that the human will is necessitated but not coerced
Consider this excerpt from Aquinas:
Some have held that the human will is necessarily moved to choose things. But they did not hold that the will is coerced, since only something from an external ...
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Why does God punish people? [duplicate]
Suppose one was to believe God exists and God gave us free will, and that God punishes those people who sin.
If God gives us free will, why punish those that exercise their free will in a certain way?...
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In what manner does the Father draw men to Jesus Christ? John 6:44
This question is for Evangelicals who do not hold a Calvinist view
Jesus Christ states that the Father alone draws men to Himself.
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him”
...
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Did Calvin and Luther believe in free will?
According to the Roman Catholic Church, man’s will is in no way determined but that man has the self-power to will good or evil toward God.
Now it seems that Calvin and Luther didn't agree with that....
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From a Jehovah's Witness perspective, why don't we have the option to choose whether or not to come to this world?
I was one of Jehovah's witnesses and would still be one of them, but a question always disturbs me.
Sometimes I think about how life and all the pain and suffering we pass through from childbirth ...
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How did Erasmus reply to the free will arguments made by Luther in his "On the Bondage of the Will" book?
The 1524-1526 debate between Erasmus and Martin Luther on free will (plus related issues) conducted in print has been regarded as "one of the most famous exchanges in Western intellectual history&...
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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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If I seek God, does that mean that I MUST be elect, according to Calvinism? [duplicate]
I want to find God, at least I think I do. I struggle with the different interpretations of the path to salvation and even though I don't LIKE the idea of God electing some and giving others ...
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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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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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How do Open Theists respond to Bible verses claiming God knows the future?
These questions pretty clearly show that God knows the future:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:...
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Romans 9:14 to 9:24 and free will
Do all Christians believe in predestination? If not, for those who don't, how do they explain Romans 9:14 - 9:24?
14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! ...
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Genesis 2:17 and free will
One of the most flexible Christian answers to the Problem of evil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil) is that God must allow the possibility of evil for Men to be free (although I would ...
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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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Contradiction between God's mercy being greater than ours and Jesus' harsh words about who will end up in hell
We believe that God is supremely good and merciful, far more than we are. At the same time, I see in myself that I would not condemn anyone to hell, even villains like Hitler and Stalin. Perhaps I’d ...
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According to Reformed Theology, why do unbelievers deserve punishment?
I read this quote from John Calvin on some website:
"...we allow that man has choice and that it is self-determined, so that if he does anything evil, it should be imputed to him and to his own ...
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