I am a Bible believing Christian but find it very disturbing. Talk about free will versus God choosing you. I find it hard to reconcile the two. And how does prayer and faith play into this. Please answer this only if believe the Bible is 100% true and should be fellowed.
214102
It's one of those many paradoxes in the Bible.  I do believe in God knowing all things, but the act of love requires a wanting to choose rather than a forced allegiance.  How can one explain the mind of God in this?  Only that in his perfect plan, he chose to give us the opportunity to choose Him out of love.  I know that it seemingly appears to be double faced, but why do we as Christians demand that God make sense to our particular intellectual understanding?\n\nAlso, the English language is a detriment to scriptures.  You almost have to understand the original texts to understand what is being said in the different passages.\n\nAs I have stated on these blogs, I like the Hebrews passages that quote the Isaiah passages that say that the law will be written on our hearts and minds.  So in your prayer life start asking God to reveal His truth in your heart.  Ask, Seek and Knock...
370047
Will, it self has no purpose, until the two words GOOD and Bad or added. I myself was not raised to believe that, God is threatening in anyway. Only warns that free will, doesn't mean that the commandments are invalid.  When you walk this world without knowing who created all things.  It's going to be a journey beyond!   We all sin, it's human nature. ( Adam and Eve)  Not saying it is accepted by God, but he is forgiving!
528896
that is a very good point,, i have always  thought, if i "feel/think/see"   things a certain way,,, that i was made to be this way,,,, and how can i be faulted for being made the way i am,,,, by a creator, so yes, if God works within us, to determine our will,,, then is it really free will? how would we even know?  maybe God works with us,, in helping develop our will,,,,, in that if we desire something,, we find the things we need, the resources,  but where did that desire come from in the first place,  even if its something we feel we thought up,, most likely we were influenced  by our life/our contacts in life,,, what caused us to come across those certain expeirences?  and why did we react in the way we did??
67934
Awesome! I respect you, alot, because of this statement. I agree that God should not be brought into alot of things. Alot of these people make such statements blindly as they've yet to receive any ACTUAL experience in the type of situation of which the person you're talking to has gone through, but they feel it necessary to enforce (selfishly, I might add.) that they are a Christian and that by saying this they gain points with God. It doesnt. Why would god want to enstill so much trauma on a person? Common sense doesnt react well with fear, and in this case it is the fear that God is abit shakey about their loyalty to him (Which if they were a true Christian then they would probably come to the conclusion that as long as you build good karma selflessly, then their diety would be happy.).\n\nNow the subject about people preaching their beliefs and then sinning out their asses, I believe you're right. In the Bible, it says that God'll cleanse your sins (NOTE: I am an Athiest and do not believe this, but this is for the sake of argument) but that doesnt mean you should rack up as much negative points while you can. A quote from an AWESOME Scream Christian Band (Hardcore True Christians, mind you.)-\n\n"...Christ is not a Fashion..." - Memphis Will Be Layed To Waste by Norma Jean.
287465
I spent five years of my life trying to understand this andother parts of ideas like this.  And for all that searching, you come to realize that these is no absolute answers on a question like this.  However, you said you assume a God, one that created us.  From here on out is my thought process, no extra websites to look up, no extra references to any books.  \n\nWhy does one create,  and in God's case why did He create us?  Could it have been that it was a selfish act?  I don't believe it would be, since if it had been a selfish act why would we be given free will?  Free will gives us the right to do as we wish, if God had been looking for something solely for Him, He would have definately skipped the whole free will thing.  \n\nCould it have been that we were created for, and out of, love?  Our being so small, we couldn't hope to understand what God's condition was before the time of our creation, but we can assume that if He hadn't created anything yet that there was nothing there.  I don't know about you, but I would be darn lonely out there in a void of nothingness with not even a single thing to talk to.  In his wisdom, I am sure he wanted to have comapny, but company that would be itself and not something that would be a puppet.  He needed something that could experience things for itself, think for itself, love on its own terms and not on His.  I would be certain He could see that in creating something like this, there might have been the chance that it wouldn't choose to love Him.  The next obvious thought is make a lot of it, and I dare say He did, look at how many of us there are!  \n\nAnyway,  cutting a whole lot of details out,  God made us out of love so that we may love Him back.  Thats all He truely wants I believe, not that you go out and do these things this way and think that those guys over there are bad because they don't do it this way.  I think that He just wants our love, but He is a good enough person to give us the choice; to love Him or not.  If we have the choice of love or not,  then He couldn't be omniscient it would ruin the whole effect.  Even if he is omniscient, He could only see all our possible outcomes, not what we are going to choose, He'll have to wait with baited breath just like the rest of us.  \n\nI firmly believe that He is a lot more like a person you and I would be like than we give Him credit for.  He has feelings, He gets angry, sad, worried, feels love and pain as well.  Not in the same ways of course, He is a universial being and we're only little flesh and blood thingies right now.  But I say that He is waiting to see what all of us are going to decide about Him.  I say He's been one of the nicest people I've ever met, and I only met Him through a couple of books, a few other people, and just thinking about Him.  My mind bursts at the thought of a personal meeting one day.  \n\nAll in all, I think its up to you.  It sounds like you already have an answer.  I hope that maybe one day we can all know that God is a being of Love, and not debate the silly specifics about it. But I guess we'll see.  ^^\n\n(summary and disclaimers :P )\nGod is not omniscient.\nGod is a being of love.\nHe is waiting for us to decide if we like Him or not.\nI used He and Him just to keep it all simple and clean, I think that God is beyond gender or any qualifier that we have.  \nI also don't mean to attack any religion what-so-ever, because I think you are entitled to your beliefes, and I thank you for it because without it think how boreing all of us would be.  (gives me the chills thinking about a world where we're all the same.)\n\nSorry to ramble, and thanks for your time.  ^^
453946
The main factor I am not seeing in your analysis is that God gave us all free will. God wants us to choose to love him. If we were forced to love God, would that be love at all? Free will factors in all aspects of life. Your positive and negative experiences that you attribute to god favoring you with blessing, or punishing you, could be the results of someone else imposing their free will upon you. This is why in the Bible we are told to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. As not to impose our free will upon them and effect them in a negative manner. It sounds like you are struggling with some very important spiritual dilemmas, I will pray for you and I wish you the best.
32248
Jesus is the one true God. Some people think that he was just a prophet from God, but he actually died for our sins. I mean the Jews rejected him, but what he went through at the cross, no one would have survived a part of what he went through. I am a struggling christian I admitt it, I am, because I am just not use to all the things that we r suppose to obey. But I am learning slowly. Hey but at least I am still learning more and more about God that I thought I understood before. The Bible is all the proof you need. I would sudgest to get a New King James Version to help you understand the words a little. I even have trouble understanding it. Hey I'm 15 I can have an escuse to have a little trouble. ~LOL~ Also look at Probvers, Acts, and Revlations. They will tell you of how he died for you, what is coming for us in the rapture, and how we should act as christians. I hope you take of what I said into concideration.
104101
Your question sounds very skeptical.  Free will means that you are able to choose if you want to do what is God's will or not.  The bible teaches that following God's guidance is for our benefit, it is not a burden.  When you get a through understanding of what is that God requires of you you find this to be true.  Unfortunately many religions put heavy weights or burdens on the arms of people because they do not teach using the bible as the basis for their teaching.  If you do not follow God's commandments then you are using your free will to disobey and therefore you are sinning.  As you see, free will is being able to make your own decision: "will I serve God or will I disobey him?". You will have to respond for your actions when judgment comes.
102680
Excellent question remag. Firstly I am for the matrix indeed. Now your argument is good and I agree with it, but it is only evidence against a god such as the Christian or Muslim one (one who puts you here and makes your life difficult and wants you to obey otherwise you go to hell sort of god), however if you consider a god that is far, far (I mean really far) above such things then your argument is not so strong. Consider a god that does not interfere with anything whatsoever. I'm talking about absolute true free will and not the phony kind, know what I mean?
590940
Well done.  I knew about the one in Exodus, but the others are new to me.  Thanks for pointing that out.  \n\nI'm a Bible believing Christian and I have always supported abortion.  In fact, I support abortion even when the mother doesn't want to in cases where the child will be born seriously defective.  \n\nI have gotten into many arguments with my Christian friends over this and I believe their problem is that they listen to what the preacher says and not the Bible.  For me, the Bible trumps the preacher any day.\n\nGreat job.\n\n===\nTo Williamzo: Exodus 21:22 says {para} "If two men fight and during the fight a pregnant woman is injured such that she miscarries, the man shall be FINED as the judges determine, but  if the woman also dies, then the man is put to death."  I suggest you read it again.\n\nWhat God is telling us in this verse is that an unborn baby is NOT the same thing as a human life.  If it were, the punishment would be death for that also.  Thus, God is telling us that abortion is NOT murder.\n\nBefore conception/before entering the womb - Isn't it obvious that God is talking about their spirit and not their physical body?
121905
The issue is not that God’s goodness, God’s power, and evil’s reality can’t fit together, but that there are additional pieces to the puzzle that fit between them and hold them together.\n\n1. Free Will is a partial answer. \nFree will gives a partial answer to this question of evil and suffering. It goes like this: \n\nGod made humanity with free will. \nEvil is a result of human choices. Our first parents chose to sin. \nAs a result of sin, this world has been plunged into suffering. \nEvil, therefore, finds its origin not in the Creator, but in the creature. God receives no blame for evil—we do. We get the credit for evil because we’re the ones who chose to abandon God.\n\n2. As a result of free will, history is discontinuous. \nThere was no evil in God's original creation. But Adam had free will—he was able to sin or to not sin. And he chose to sin. And Adam's choice affected more than just himself. He represented all of humanity. Indeed, Adam represented the whole world (he had dominion over it), and when Adam was sinning, the whole world was declaring war on God. Thus even the natural world was plunged into suffering—animate as well as inanimate (the ground being cursed in Genesis 3 and thus awaiting full salvation at Christ’s return — Romans 8:19-22). This discontinuity is what Christians call the Fall. The world is good (Gen. 1), but fallen in rebellion against God. \n\nHow could God create a world full of evil and suffering? He didn’t. He created a world in which people enjoyed communion with God, intimacy with each other, perfect harmony with the creation, and everlasting life—a world with no suffering, no sin and no guilt. History is radically discontinuous. The world changed at the Fall. \n\nAnd the fact that the Bible says the world is good but fallen certainly makes sense of life. Human beings are capable of great beauty and kindness, but also great evil. Children are cute, but selfish. Adults are smart, but manipulative. The Bible accounts for both the glory and the shame of being human. We’re God’s image, but an image marred and distorted by our divorce from our Creator. \n\nThe Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal spoke of the grandeur and misery of humanity. We are capable of great things, but are always capable of pondering an existence better than the life we now have. Thus we find ourselves in misery precisely because we have the ability to contemplate a better existence. Perhaps the fact that we can imagine a life without suffering is itself a reminder deep within our human consciousness of the life we once enjoyed in loins of father Adam — a life we have lost and can only regain through the redemptive intervention of God in human history. This is a redemption that will only be complete when Jesus Christ returns.\n\n3. If you want God to eradicate evil, you’re demanding that He eradicate us. God’s alternative to eradicating evil people is to redeem them. \nRemember the words of Peter: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). You blame God for evil in the world? I assure you He can take care of the problem right now — but you won’t like the way He does so. Is there evil in your heart? He can destroy your heart at any moment. The amazing thing, though, is that God doesn’t do this. He made your tongue, and you use it to speak against Him — but He is patient with you. For now. \n\nRedemption is God’s striking alternative to eradication. Rather than destroying his fallen creation, He has chosen to restore a people for Himself, a people who one day will live with Him in a restored creation (2 Peter 3:13).\n\n4. Evil is not a thing, but a privation of the good. \nThis was the point that Augustine made in the fourth century when refuting the dualistic Manichean cult out of which he had come when converted to Christ. Mani h
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True to the first sentence.  I disagree with the second.  There no "one book" that will make everyone think.  It's different for each of us.  \n\nIn addition, from what I've experienced, many who read the bible faithfully tend to say they don't question their faith.  If you read a book and you're not supposed to question it, doesn't this mean you're not thinking too much??
624501
Ok, prepair yourself.  Before God even began creating the earth he has known EVERYTHING.  He knew that you would ask this question and that i would answer it.  God's choice is more God's will, and we are all in God's will.  If he wills it, it IS. \n\nIts easier to think of as a destiny.  He has the path set and we follow it.  Eventhough we are making our own desicions they are not new to Him.
395246
Truth and Love do walk hand in hand. The need would/could never be to large for God to fulfill. I would never want to learn to live a lie. And there is no way that my Faith is going to be shattered, with the misconception that God is not real. Thanks for the thought provoking questions. God bless
579839
According to Christians, God is all-knowing - he knows all the past, all the present and all the future. If this is so, then God must know everything we do long before we do it. This means that our whole life must be predetermined and that we act not according to the free exercise of our wills but according to our predetermined natures. If we are predetermined to be good we will be good and if we are predetermined to be evil we will be evil. We will act not according to our will or choice but according to the way God has already foreseen we will act. Although Christians will insist that we do have free will, God's omniscience simply makes this logically impossible. And that people will act only as God determines is verified in the Bible \n\nIf people are evil it is because God has chosen to make them evil (Rom 1:24-28) and caused them to disobey him (Rom 11:32). If they do not understand God's message it is because he has made their minds dull (Rom 11:8) and caused them to be stubborn (Rom 9:18). God prevents the Gospel from being preached in certain areas (Act 16:6-7) and he fixes long before it will happen when a person will be born and when he or she will die (Act 17:26). Those who were going to be saved were chosen by God before the beginning of time (ii Tim 1:9 Eph 1:11). If a person has faith and is thereby saved, their faith comes from God, not from any effort on their part (Eph 2:9-10). One may ask "If a person can only do what God predetermines them to do, how can God hold them responsible for their actions?"
412674
I have been going through the same thing right now.  I have done a lot of research and it is something that is really hard to prove.  Also there are 5 or 6 books that aren't in there and it makes me wonder who decided which books belong in the Bible and which don't.  Also have you noticed that other religions are just a loyal and believe just as strongly in their religions or "bibles" laws.  It's a strange thing.  Sometimes it makes me wonder if I always believed just because I was born here and my parents do .... I'm interested to see the answers you get though.
169833
I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for in an answer here...\n\nIn any case, I more or less agree with you. The Bible is most certainly not an instruction manual. Although, as theologians understand it, it was written by many "guys." But you're on the right track. The bible is not supposed to be taken literally. It is full of metaphors, and honestly, contradictions. People should, as you said, think freely, and interpret the Bible (or any religious text) in the way that makes the most sense to them, and brings them as individuals closer to God. But just as the Bible should not be taken literally, it also should not be twisted around for an individual's own agenda.\n\nTo expand on your ideas a bit, the bible literalists that you disagree with so fervently ought to realize that God is too big for one religion. This number is not exact by any means, but the last time I looked up statistics on the matter, only about one third of the world was Christian. God loves everyone. To say that only Christians are right in God's eyes and that He'll send the other two thirds to eternal torment in Hell does not sound loving at all. These are not the words of God. They are the words of human beings who are afraid of people who are different from them.\n\nI believe that there is a God, but I also believe that there are many paths to Him. Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Wiccans, Pagans, Agnostics... they all view spirituality differently, but none of them are wrong, as long as they do not use God or their beliefs as a way of manipulating or hurting others.\n\nThis includes forcing others to believe what they believe, or requiring them to behave in certain ways. And while laws are important and needed, religion should play no part in them.\n\nI hope I've given you some more to think about on this matter. Thanks for the question.