"Free Moral Agency"

[Gendou Ikari]

This poll is simple, do you or do you not believe in the ability for humans to exercise "free will."

 

[Loren Michael]

This poll is simple, do you or do you not believe in the ability for humans to exercise "free will."

there's no non-free-will option without god. i operate under the assumption that there is no free will simply because of the nature of the universe, but there is such an overwhelming illusion of free will that it really doesn't matter.

 

[Collier]

My take on it is that God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9) but many will follow the path of destruction (Matthew 7:13). God is all powerful and since He doesn't want any to perish but many will, it stands to reason that He gave us the choice to make.

 

[Drew]

I respect where Loren is coming from, but I still cling to the belief that we indeed have free will. I realize that our present models for how the universe work suggest that free will is an illusion. Stated simply - how do the laws of physics allow for any "I" to act in a causal capacity in the world? On such a view, our thoughts and actions are determined by the impersonal laws of phyics playing themselves out in our brains.

However, I suspect that our models are incomplete - I see no compelling reason to discard the idea that true free will exists, even though it is a notoriously difficult concept to pin down.

 

[Loren Michael]

I respect where Loren is coming from, but I still cling to the belief that we indeed have free will. I realize that our present models for how the universe work suggest that free will is an illusion. Stated simply - how do the laws of physics allow for any "I" to act in a causal capacity in the world? On such a view, our thoughts and actions are determined by the impersonal laws of phyics playing themselves out in our brains.

However, I suspect that our models are incomplete - I see no compelling reason to discard the idea that true free will exists, even though it is a notoriously difficult concept to pin down.

i think we are on the same level. Drew. though the idea of "free will" is comforting enough to want to cling to it, i simply choose not to. my understand is that both on a physical level (concisely: everything is simply a reaction to something else, chemicals and whatnot), and philosophically if god or a similar entity were involved (similar to what kakos said in a different thread).

i also agree that a comprehensive definition has yet to be nailed down. my position would possibly be inclined to change my opinion should that ever happen.

 

[Guest]

So while we're on the subject of free will, are there any Christians here who think that we have no free will? Others in other sub-fora have implied as much. If so, I'm wondering how you can reconcile:

- A lack of free will,
- An omnibenevolent God, and
- Hell

Doesn't seem like a loving God would sentence people to hell when they have no control over their actions.