1. Of Free Will and Pre-Determinism
Free will. The fundamental precept of the Abrahamic religions. God created us with the ability to decide whether or not we would or won’t. Whether we would choose life over death, good over evil.
Deuteronomy 30:15"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 "in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 "But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 "I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong [your] days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.
This ability was given to us from the start. In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam & Eve simple rules to follow. But, as has been shown over and over again, man failed in keeping to a simple rule. They were swayed by a devious trickster. In a passage that seems to read straight from the dark, seedy corner of the school playground, they were tempted to disobey God, disobey his rules. Cursing all of mankind to a life of pain and agony, whether it be in the fields or the hospitals.
But fret not, our free will did not disappear with the Garden of Eden that cursed day. For we still retain that ability of free will. We can still choose to fight through the Labyrinth of everyday life, with our mighty Excalibur of Free Will helping us ward off the temptations of the devil.
Or can we?
1 John 3:20 20 1in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.
Psalm 33;11 "But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORDs purpose that prevails
Apparently God knows us, knows our future.
Surely if God knows our future (pre-determinism) that removes free will from the equation. We may have the illusion of choice, but really the decision has been made long before we were “knit in our mother’s womb.”
And surely God, knowing the fate of all men, would have intervened before Adam & Eve ate that fruit.
The concept of pre-determinism means that man cannot be held responsible for his actions and hence is absolved of all moral guilt, making punishment illogical.
"If God is omniscient, he must already know how he is going to intervene to change the course of history using his omnipotence. But that means he can't change his mind about his intervention which means he is not omnipotent"
[Richard Dawkins]
2. Of Might and Majesty
But God is still an omnipotent, omniscient being. Surely he can intervene.
But if He can, why doesn’t He?
How can an all loving God, allow a poor girl of a pre-pubescent age be raped over and over again, by a lecherous uncle or step-father?
How can He in all His glorious power, sit idly by while a teenage boy cursed with homosexuality, subjugates himself to a silent God, begging for this apparent “disease” to be rended from his skin? And yet when no divine answer comes, this boy takes his own life, unable to bear the shame of being detestable in the eyes of his family, in the eyes of a bigoted world. In the eyes of God.
Where was God when the planes hit the towers, the terrorists screaming his name? Where was God when the wave surged inland? Where was God when the ground shattered beneath their feet? Where was God when husband lost wife, mother lost daughter, sister lost brother?
Where. Was. God?
Exodus 34:14For you must not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
If he tolerates atrocities, if he condones such cruelty, why would you want to worship such a God?
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?Then why call him God?"
[Epicurus]
And finally, the lyrics to the song that inspired this post. You should give it a listen. It’s a very beautiful song.
The Ocean Collective – The Almightiness Contradiction.
If He knew it all
If He knew everything there is to be known
Then that would mean that He would always know what to do next to change the course of history
He could choose to suspend the laws of nature
He would always know the past and the future
But this would make his own knowledge untrue
For if He knew everything
He could not do anything different from what he knows
And even if he could hear our prayers
He could not encroach
There's no one here who knows it all
There's nothing there beyond the world we know
There's no one here who knows it all
Is there something there beyond the world we know?
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