God's Nature vs. Man's Free Will
The reconciliation of God's nature and Man's free will has long been a subject of debate for philosophers and theologians. Christianity rests upon certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe. The Bible speaks of God as eternal, all-knowing, and as the very author of reality. The concept of God as a benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent entity is rooted in thousands of years of church tradition. This tradition is so ingrained in Western culture, that, when one mentions "God", these ideas almost invariably come to mind.
The idea of Man's free will is also a well-established tradition in Christianity. The very need for Christian redemption is based upon the choices made by Adam and Eve at the very beginning of history. There is an idea that Man either chooses to sin against God, or chooses to obey Him. This ability to choose between two options allows good and evil to exist as opposites on the spectrum of morality. This in turn necessitates a need for an atonement process by which Man can be redeemed for the evils that are committed. Without this doctrine, Christianity is unnecessary. Redemption is not required for those who commit no wrong.
The above ideas seem relatively straightforward when presented as independent beliefs. A great deal of confusion does arise, however, when the ideas are brought together as a system of beliefs. Some parts of God's nature seem to disallow the possibility of free will. How can God's knowledge of all actions - past, present, and future - allow any human to make a choice of his own volition? By its very nature, omniscience is infallible, therefore it seems that one is not free to choose anything other than that which God knows. Th...
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...sions in order to be 'all-good', and He chose to allow us to choose.
In conclusion, I suggest that there is a big difference between saying, "God can't do X and be consistent", and, "I don't know how God can do X and be consistent." As common sense suggests, ignorance of a solution does not take away from that solution's existence. Soli Deo gloria.
Works Cited
Augustine. "Divine Foreknowledge and Human Free Will." Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. 259-261.
Mackie, John L. "Evil and Omnipotence." Ibid. 186-193.
Pike, Nelson. "God's Foreknowledge and Human Free Will Are Incompatible." Ibid. 261-271.
Plantinga, Alvin. "God's Foreknowledge and Human Free Will Are Compatible." Ibid. 271-275.
Plantinga, Alvin. "The Free Will Defense." Ibid. 194-212.
Pojman, Louis P., ed. Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. New York: Wadsworth, 1998.
In his essay, "The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: a Theodicy," Peter van Inwagen alleges a set of reasons that God may have for allowing evil to exist on earth. Inwagen proposes the following story – throughout which there is an implicit assumption that God is all-good (perfectly benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient) and deserving of all our love. God created humans in his own likeness and fit for His love. In order to enable humans to return this love, He had to give them the ability to freely choose. That is, Inwagen holds that the ability to love implies free will. By giving humans free will, God was taking a risk. As Inwagen argues, not even an omnipotent being can ensure that "a creature who has a free choice between x and y choose x rather than y" (197)1. (X in Inwagen’s story is ‘to turn its love to God’ and y is ‘to turn its love away from God,’ towards itself or other things.) So it happened that humans did in fact rebel and turn away from God. The first instance of this turning away is referred to as "the Fall." The ruin of the Fall was inherited by all humans to follow and is the source of evil in the world. But God did not leave humans without hope. He has a plan "whose working will one day eventuate in the Atonement (at-one-ment) of His human creatures with Himself," or at least some of His human creatures (198). This plan somehow involves humans realizing the wretchedness of a world without God and turning to God for help.
The first resemblance between the two characters is that they are both opportunistic. In Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor takes advantage of the fact that Fortunato is inebriated at the carnival. He uses this opportunity to lure Fortunato to his palazzo to carry out his devious plan. Montresor also knows that Fortunato is addicted to wine. He cunningly baits Fortunato by telling him he has some Amontillado and he also gets him even more drunk in route to the catacombs. Near the end of the story, Montresor states “I had scarcely laid the first tier of masonry when I discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off” (...
The renaissance and the reformation are the beginning of the golden age of Europe. Many economic, religious, and cultural changes occurred during this time period. The economic and cultural rise of Italian city-states, the recentralization of government in northern Europe, and the separation of the Roman Catholic Church into different Catholic and Protestant groups were important achievements for Europe during this time. The renaissance and the reformation were not only the beginning of the modern western world, but also set the stage for the European rise in global colonization, which gave way to the birth of our glorious nation.
Well, one has to consider the other option, which would be almost a robotic following of the Lord by humankind. God, being the ultimate good, chooses the ultimate good for his creation, which is free will, a better choices than involuntary obedience. God chooses to be a father to his children, instead of the mastermind behind a well-oiled machine. God creating free will is a perfectly good act. It is what we did with that free will that gave birth to evil.
Some believe in the power of grace and almost do not believe in the existence of free will. There are those who grace creates the best in people, while free will plunges us into sin. And the last kind of people are those who believe there is a clear need for, and free will is a myth. God said that If you obey my commandments - will live - if not, you die. Here God tells us what to do as I command and get reparation, if you disobey, you will get punished. Is not that what can be called free will - the right to choose their own destiny (Erasmus, 1961, pp.
The Reformation was a really important era in history and it came right after the Renaissance. The Renaissance was seen as a period where it was a time of religion, and art flourished. The Renaissance and the Reformation can be compared and contrasted because the Renaissance was a time of rebirth, and so was the Reformation, however the rebirth brought forth different ideas. Since during the Renaissance there was such a bond between religion and government it triggered the rebellion of many people within the countries. During the Renaissance when questions were raised that went against what the Church thought, The Catholic church pushed the idea that salvation could only be found in the church. However, a Christian monk from Eisleben in the Holy Roman Empire(Martin Luther, CCEL) named Martin Luther interpreted a bible passage stating "just shall live by his faith" to mean that faith alone would save their souls he began to challenge the church. This started the Reformation.
Renaissance society was made up of 3 estates. The first estate is clergy, the second is nobility also called Renaissance men and the third is commoners. 85% of commoners were peasants and the other 15% were townspeople. There were 2 writers during the Renaissance who outline the way certain people should be. Machiavelli wrote “The Prince” which told how to get and hold political power. Castiglione wrote the “Book of Courtiers” which describes the perfect Renaissance noble. In Renaissance society marriages were arranged to strengthen political ties. The woman’s family paid the dowry and the men controlled the business and family. Children were only adults when their father went to the court and freed them. Renaissan...
The Renaissance, or “re-birth,” began in Italy as the highest point of human development. The new prosperity allowed scholars to concentrate on different levels of importance than money, food, and war with other countries. These scholars began looking toward attractions rather than things affecting them. Money entering the world so suddenly allowed people living in Florence and Rome make it beautiful. Different types of artwork became very famous. Some of the famous artists of this time were Donatello, Michelangelo, and Verrocchio. Fine art glorified the capabilities of humans and many people became artists. The cities in Italy soon became popular attraction sites and scholars moved from Constantinople towards Rome.
Religion was the central focus during the Renaissance, but due to dreadful diseases called the “Black Death”, the church and society had a fallout. The cause of the Black Death was due to bad bacteria being passed along by black rats and fleas. It started along the Silk Road, than made its way into the Mediterranean and Europe. Since the bad bacterium was being passed along so quickly, it was impossible to stop. Due to this, over 17-200 million people were killed. This event happened so fast, it was unbearable and people did not have enough time to react and prepare themselves. People were becoming sick, getting extreme rashes and even, tumours in necks, armpits, and groins. The community’s went downhill, business men and workers were dying, guilds lost their craftsmen, and crops were dying due to no one being able to farm. This also lead to a time where food was very limited, and starvation was accruing. As a result of all of this happening, the church and religions were being targeted. Majority of groups were targeting the Jews because they ...
time on art and literature during this era. Many religious changes took place during the Renaissance, partly due to the Reformation of the Catholic Church. People broke free from religious and social oppression, and Europe became “reborn”.
A reformation is often defined as the action of change for improvement. The Protestant Reformation is a movement that began in 1517, which split the unity of the Western Church; and later established Protestantism. The three main factors that impacted the reformation were political, sociological and theological. Martin Luther and John Calvin, two protestant Reformers who reformed Catholicism, strived to define salvation and impact the church as a whole. How do Martin Luther’s reforms compare to John Calvin’s through their struggle to define salvation, how people viewed them, and how the church was affected as a whole? Martin Luther and John Calvin both had a huge impact on the reformation and were both regarded with great respect; however, Martin Luther’s strive for salvation and the reformation of the church was more successful than Calvin’s.
At the start of the sixteenth century, the Reformation had put an ungracious end to the dependent unification that had prevailed under the Roman Catholic Church. In response to the growing sense of corruption in the church, the reformation began. Many people began opposing views of how Christian practices were expressed, which led to the formation and spread of Protestantism. While the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism is a general term that refers to Christianity that is not subject to papal authority. (1.)
The Protestant Reformation: What it was, why it happened and why it was necessary. The Protestant Reformation has been called "the most momentous upheaval in the history of Christianity." It was a parting of the ways for two large groups of Christians who differed in their approach to the worship of Christ. At the time, the Protestant reformers saw the church- the Catholic church, or the "universal church- " as lacking in its ways. The church was corrupt then, all the way up to the pope, and had lost touch with the people of Europe. The leaders of the Reformation sought to reform the church and its teachings according to the Scriptures and the writings of the Apostles. They sought to simplify the church by returning to its roots, roots long lost by the Catholic church at the time, or so the reformers believed. After the fall of the Roman Empire, life in Europe declined rapidly into the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages were a time of misery and darkness. There were only two socioeconomic classes: the very rich nobility or the very poor peasants. Small kingdoms popped up everywhere, and were constantly at war with one another. Whole libraries were destroyed, and the only people who remained literate were the clergy of the Christian church. Life became such a struggle to survive that, for a period of five hundred years, very little artwork or literature was produced by the whole of Europe. Eventually, around the year 1000, the conditions in Europe began to get better. This marked the beginning of the Middle Ages. The Crusades began as an effort to revitalize the spirits of the people. However, things still weren't very good. Plagues ravaged the land, carried by rodents and destroying whole villages. With th...
The start of the Renaissance ended the period in which we refer to as the Middle Ages. The Renaissance began in the 14th century, an age of great creativity and change in many areas. Classical ideas were modified, and political, social, economic, and cultural values were reborn as a result of the achievements of certain individuals. Occurring subsequently, the Reformation was an upheaval of beliefs in religious, political, intellectual, and cultural views that caused fragmentation in Catholic Europe. The era of the Renaissance and Reformation were a significant point in history which effectively ended the medieval period, creating a revolutionary departure from the Middle Ages. The Renaissance Period was a rebirth of ideas and concepts after the Middle Ages, the cultural movement focusing on art, history, and literature, all of which had a considerable impact upon Christianity.
However, there are some philosophers who argue against His existence by saying for example, God is infinite goodness and if He existed, there would be no evil, but there is evil in this world so He does not exist. Secondly, they say every natural thing can be explained by science or nature and all voluntary things can be explained by human will so there is no need for His existence. But these statements were responded to by saying that it is a part of infinite goodness that He should allow evil to exist and for us to extract the good out of it. And the second argument was replied by saying that whatever is done by nature or done voluntarily must be traced back to a higher cause other than human will because these can change and fail and all things which are changeable and capable of defect must be traced back to an immovable principle, which is God.