The question of free will is a difficult question - most explanations that approach the topic can be kind of glib. The best way I've seen the value of free will explained is by Tom Harpur, the former religion editor of The Toronto Star, in his book Would you Believe?
He asks, what would we think of the alternative? Yes, it is true, that God could probably create his creation so that all of the little pieces of it had their actions controlled by God. But that in essence would make us robots - unthinking, unfeeling automatons. Would you want that life?
There are life forms essentially like that now - hive insects, protozoans, bacteria. They generally do only what their programming allows them. Would you envy such a life?
God loves us. He gives us a life where we can do things with our lives. As in the parable of the ten talents, it is what we do with these gifts that forms our response back to him. Do we take our five talents and invest it in good things? If we choose to, we will do well, even more abundantly than the gifts we already know about..
Monday, June 13, 2005
Free will
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3 comments:
Free will is an interesting concept. In many ways it is a blessing, but in others it makes life far more difficult to grasp. Why do we, as people, do what we do? We have purposes, yet we don't always know them because we have the free will to listen or not.
One of the Gods of Joan of Arcadia (I do love this show and already miss it) is talking to Joan about free will. Joan asks why she (God) doesn't just change things and make people do what God wants done, rather than having Joan do it. God replies that she's really big into that whole free will thing.
I don't know whether there's free will or not (after all, it could be the case that as we think that we are acting independently in reality we're just following what is meant to have happened anyway), but we definitely should live as if we're free. Makes us feel more powerful and better ourselves.
Free will.....hmmm. Difficult. I don't know where the line is between free will and the guidance of the Lord. If, as Phillip says, we have the free will to listen....then I need to continue to pray for God to give me directions in a very clear and unmistakable way...because I'm slightly daft when it comes to nuance.
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