Do I Believe in Free Will?
The term "free will" is a very commonly used and abused phrase in theological and philosophical circles. Different theologians have defined the term in radically different ways. For instance, one prominent Reformer once wrote a book called The Bondage of the Will. On the other hand, another famous Calvinist wrote a book called The Freedom of the Will. In these books, they both argued for pretty much the same things. In my opinion, by now this oft-abused term has lost its value and should be discarded in search for a term that provides more clarity to the issue. The term that I have chosen to use for this concept is "moral responsibility." I think that it's a better term because it avoids some of the problems that are associated with free will.
Let me explain. Do I believe that the will is free morally? No! Definitely not! I would definitely affirm that the will is enslaved to sin, corrupted by deceitful desires. This concept is pretty clear in Scripture. Look at Genesis 8:21 for example.
"The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood'" (NIV).
However, do I believe that the will is free metaphysically? Yes! Definitely. We are not just robots determined by natural causes. My choices are not simply the result of certain chemicals in my head colliding randomly without purpose or reason. We are morally responsible beings created in the image of God. But I can't stop here, I must add to this. I also believe that, metaphysically speaking, the will is free in a libertarian sense (LFW) as opposed to a compatiblist sense.
In order for individuals to be held morally responsible for their actions, they must have the ability to refrain from their actions. This just seems like intuition for me. That's why we punish people for their actions. They shouldn't have acted in that way. They had it within their power not to act that way. If I murder someone, I should be punished, because I had it within my power not to murder that individual and yet I willed to do so. Thus, I'm responsible for that action.
But there's another reason that I believe in LFW. In order for God to be truly sovereign, He must have LFW. If God's decisions aren't free in a libertarian sense, then He is not really a sovereign being. If His actions are determined and necessitated in such a way that He must do A and cannot help but do A, then He is no longer a free being. Doesn't this do severe damage to a doctrine like grace, which must be given freely? God doesn't have to do anything! He can do anything that He wants to do. Everything He does is as a result of His own free will.
Thus, being in the image of God, we have also been given a metaphysically free will. And one day, the redeemed will also have a morally free will. Of course, in this brief post, I've only scratched the surface of this difficult subject.
If you're interested, here's another post that I've written on free will.
Let me explain. Do I believe that the will is free morally? No! Definitely not! I would definitely affirm that the will is enslaved to sin, corrupted by deceitful desires. This concept is pretty clear in Scripture. Look at Genesis 8:21 for example.
"The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood'" (NIV).
However, do I believe that the will is free metaphysically? Yes! Definitely. We are not just robots determined by natural causes. My choices are not simply the result of certain chemicals in my head colliding randomly without purpose or reason. We are morally responsible beings created in the image of God. But I can't stop here, I must add to this. I also believe that, metaphysically speaking, the will is free in a libertarian sense (LFW) as opposed to a compatiblist sense.
In order for individuals to be held morally responsible for their actions, they must have the ability to refrain from their actions. This just seems like intuition for me. That's why we punish people for their actions. They shouldn't have acted in that way. They had it within their power not to act that way. If I murder someone, I should be punished, because I had it within my power not to murder that individual and yet I willed to do so. Thus, I'm responsible for that action.
But there's another reason that I believe in LFW. In order for God to be truly sovereign, He must have LFW. If God's decisions aren't free in a libertarian sense, then He is not really a sovereign being. If His actions are determined and necessitated in such a way that He must do A and cannot help but do A, then He is no longer a free being. Doesn't this do severe damage to a doctrine like grace, which must be given freely? God doesn't have to do anything! He can do anything that He wants to do. Everything He does is as a result of His own free will.
Thus, being in the image of God, we have also been given a metaphysically free will. And one day, the redeemed will also have a morally free will. Of course, in this brief post, I've only scratched the surface of this difficult subject.
If you're interested, here's another post that I've written on free will.
posted by Daniel | 10:15 AM
4 Comments:
Surprisingly I agreed with much of what you said (if I understood you correctly). Except for this:
You said: In order for individuals to be held morally responsible for their actions, they must have the ability to refrain from their actions. This just seems like intuition for me. That's why we punish people for their actions. They shouldn't have acted in that way. They had it within their power not to act that way. If I murder someone, I should be punished, because I had it within my power not to murder that individual and yet I willed to do so. Thus, I'm responsible for that action.
So why is the whole world paying for the sin of one man? I don’t think you are saying that we are born sinless (the heresy of Pelagianism), but if I understand you correctly, if we all die in Adam, thus we do not have the ability to refrain from sinning on our own; thus, we ultimately do not have the power to NOT act sinful in thoughts or deeds, then we should NOT be responsible for our actions? Nope, we are held responsible for his sin, even if we are never born (sin equals death, and because unborn infants die we know that they are sinners).
Honestly though, to me this doesn’t seem fair at all. But neither does the fact that Shaq was born 7 feet tall thus giving him the ability to earn millions upon millions of dollars and have an unsurpassed ease of life. It doesn’t take a hard look around to see that God is not fair (as we can understand it). He isn’t far here on earth and He isn’t fair in regards to salvation either. Why do I grow up in a home where I was taught the gospel every day of my life, the bible was available on every street corner, churches and godly teachers filled the radio airwaves in my home, and yet there are millions of muslims over in Iraq who will never get a chance to hear the gospel, or if they do it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity. That isn’t fair is it? Thus, God is not fair as far as we can understand it. It isn’t fair that all pay for the sin of one man, and it isn’t fair that God chooses a select few to save from this damnation. God is free to do what He chooses.
You said: If God's decisions aren't free in a libertarian sense, then He is not really a sovereign being. If His actions are determined and necessitated in such a way that He must do A and cannot help but do A, then He is no longer a free being.
Exactly what I have said before about Romans 4:4. When salvation is based on anything autonomous within ourselves, then what we get in return (salvation) becomes payment for our work instead of by the free grace of God. God is not *forced* to give eternal life to those who perform the ritual of 'accepting Jesus'.
I agree Simon, God cannot do anything as we understand it, I only meant to convey that He can do anything with His creation. That is, if He wants to create 'pots' (rom 9) just to destroy them, He has the liberty to do so. In our sinful and shallow understanding we might label a God who does that as unjust, but if we understand that we all deserve death because of our sin, then this is put in a better perspective. God isnt breaking innocent 'pots' here, He is punishing the sinful while plucking a few out of the fire to show His love and mercy.
SDG
Nathan,
Can God lie to His creation?
Do the scriptures not say that God is incapable of lieing?
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