12
votes
Is praying futile given that God respects our Free Will and is omniscient?
There are lots of complexities around prayer, but this is not one of them.
It's true that many of the things involved in you getting bread to eat involve your own decisions, but many do not. For ...
- 31.2k
11
votes
Accepted
What is the biblical basis for libertarian free will (no predestination)?
Although the Bible does contain a certain amount of direct, doctrinal teaching, much of its teaching comes in the form of stories. In the Old Testament, there are the various narratives of people and ...
- 8,506
10
votes
Accepted
Does God intend or call some people to live alone forever in their life?
Does God intend or call some people to live alone forever in their life?
The short answer is that it is very possible.
There are four basic states of life within the Catholic Church: marriage, ...
- 65.3k
10
votes
Accepted
How do Open Theists respond to Bible verses claiming God knows the future?
The quote from Jeremiah refers to God's plans. Plans do not require foreknowledge, only forethought. I doubt that Open Theists deny that God plans ahead. The question is whether He has one plan that ...
- 11.2k
10
votes
Is there a name for the belief that some individuals would always freely reject salvation no matter the world in which they are created?
Thanks to Isaac Middlemiss and Luke Hill's inputs, I can answer my own question. There are at least two relevant terms:
Transworld damnation:
The proposal of transworld damnation is not the doctrine ...
- 1,314
9
votes
Accepted
If it is better that we have free will than not, then why suggest it is preferable to not?
I'll try to answer from a Catholic perspective, so, for example, I'll take for granted that we actually do have free will.
Now why is free will a good thing, even though it makes sin possible? The ...
- 2,570
8
votes
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?
This question is answered directly in the text of the Bible.
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
...
- 31.2k
7
votes
Does the Catholic Church allow a professor in a Catholic university to support an idea which is seemingly contrary to Catholic teaching?
Following the commandment "Going therefore, teach ye all nations" (cf. Matthew 28:19 Douay-Rheims-Challoner Version), part of the mission of the Church generally is to educate—not only in ...
- 18.4k
7
votes
Romans 9:14 to 9:24 and free will
Do all Christians believe in predestination? No.
Do all Christians
believe in free-will? No.
Does the Bible teach predestination? Yes
Does the Bible teach Free-Will? Yes
Romans informs us ...
- 900
7
votes
Are there any other agreed-upon definitions of "free will" within mainstream Christianity?
If Libertarian Free Will means human wills are able to make decisions without any external compelling force, then there are a variety of Christian views which would claim they teach it, ranging from ...
- 19.7k
6
votes
What is the biblical basis for libertarian free will (no predestination)?
I don’t currently personally affirm libertarian free will, though I used to. It’s been a subject of great interest to me so I’ve researched it at length. If a strong case can be made from the Bible, I ...
- 569
6
votes
Accepted
What is the Calvinist and Hyper-Calvinist understanding of the "whosoever will" from Rev. 22:17?
The term "hyper-Calvinist" is a moving target, due to its pejorative nature, but several historical theologians are widely considered to fall under that label. I'll examine the views of two ...
- 42.2k
6
votes
Why don't many Christians follow this: " For all the law is fulfilled in one word... Love thy neighbour as thyself." - Galatians 5:14
I see that this question has already accepted an answer, but the comments suggest that some concerns still remain, so I'll attempt to provide an answer that fills in these gaps.
I would think that ...
6
votes
Accepted
According to Jacobus Arminius's definition of free will, did Pharaoh have free will?
It depends on what one means by “free will.”
If, by free will, one means, a person (in this case, Pharaoh) can make free choices ACCORDING to his nature, then yes, Pharaoh had free will. He had a ...
6
votes
Why did God create people who would reject him?
Several ways of answering this are possible, some of them less pleasing to the ears, others less pleasing to the mind, and all of them depending on your view of foreknowledge, free-will, and the '...
- 1,666
6
votes
How can God be loving and just whilest creating people for His wrath? I cannot wrap my head around Calvinism!
"Please help me understand how God can be characterized as merciful,
just, and righteous within the Calvinist framework."
I will do my best, for I have studied Reformed/Calvinistic theology ...
- 1,031
6
votes
Accepted
Is there a name for the belief that some individuals would always freely reject salvation no matter the world in which they are created?
On a quick Google, the idea that those who die unsaved would not have believed no matter what else could have happened is called Transworld damnation. You're not wrong that it is directly related to ...
- 1,679
6
votes
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?
You're switching your morality definitions between your premises.
One counter to your premises that shows this comes from divine command theory which, essentially, states that God's will is the ...
- 316
6
votes
How does Christianity define "character"?
The concept of 'character' has developed a certain way with the fairly recent trend that promotes individualism. Perhaps the question has been influenced by this, because I note that in Young's ...
- 25.7k
5
votes
Accepted
According to Reformed Theology, why do unbelievers deserve punishment?
The simple answer is that God has decided that the wages of sin is death. It is entirely up to God as to what punishment sin deserves, and the punishment God chose was eternal damnation.
The ...
- 1,349
5
votes
According to the Catholic Church, is there any supernatural (non-physical, non-mathematical, non-scientific) part of a human being?
The answer can be found here in the Catechism of the Catholic Church; in particular, it says:
366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced&...
- 59
5
votes
Accepted
Why don't many Christians follow this: " For all the law is fulfilled in one word... Love thy neighbour as thyself." - Galatians 5:14
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbour as ...
- 28.6k
5
votes
Accepted
How do Christians who believe in libertarian free will explain the large imbalance in the ratio of people saved vs. condemned?
Matt 7:13-14 is an empirical observation, not foreknowledge
I think you
overcomplicate things (by unnecessarily bringing God's foreknowledge vs. libertarian freedom)
neglected to consider the ...
- 21.8k
5
votes
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?
To paraphrase an idea from Dale Renlund, God does not simply want us to be well-behaved pets in the celestial living room, but to be full heirs of His glory (see Romans 8:17).
This life, then, is a ...
- 11k
5
votes
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?
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. -...
- 14.2k
5
votes
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 is a good question for highlighting various assumptions around God's purpose for humanity and the terms we associate with it like "perfection" and "character".
To begin, ...
- 81
4
votes
Accepted
What is the Catholic concept of "freedom to sin"?
To the extent that an act is compelled by an outside source, the actor is not responsible for it:
Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so ...
- 18.4k
4
votes
How does Ravi Zacharias reconcile prayer with free will?
Ravi Zacharias sort of assumes (but I don't think ever tries to prove) that God is sovereign, and in that sovereignty has decided to give us wills of our own.
To begin the chapter "Does Prayer ...
- 2,541
4
votes
What Scriptures tell us what man having free will actually means?
tl;dnr
The scriptures tell us we do not have free will. We cannot choose Christ unless God supernaturally causes us to desire him and so causes us to choose him. Further, we cannot make even the ...
- 141
4
votes
How do Arminians reconcile free will with God's omnipotence logically?
Arminians and other varieties of non-Calvinists reconcile the all-powerful nature of God with His allowance of free will to men, within the limits of physics he has given them, as God constrains ...
- 136
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible