Free Will or Predetermination?
599401
Yes  I think free will is an illusion and yes predetermination makes sense.
994027
It’s not that they no longer have free will. They simply no longer need it. Free will requires the exercise of perception based judgment. Judgment is necessary only until we learn that Love is the only appropriate response to any situation we are confronted with. At this point we are operating beyond perception and judgment with a faculty known as vision. That is, we see all as though we were seeing through Gods eyes. Angles already have reached this state of vision therefore they do not operate using either perception or judgment. Freewill is no longer necessary from their position of vision and knowledge.
391583
Theologians have struggled with this question over the years.  Does omnipotence and foreknowledge conflict with free will?  In my opinion, yes it does.\n\nHowever, there are numerous philosophical theories which try to work their way around this problem.  Some of them involve rejecting or altering various views of what it means to be all knowing. One of the better ones basically states:  Future knowledge consists of knowing that A will happen or will not happen.  God does not know that A happens until the moment at which A actually occurs.  In this manner god knows every possible action but does not have foreknowledge.  This allows god to be all knowing and humans to have free will.  However, it does not allow god to know the future and seems to conflict greatly with the idea that the bible contains prophecy.\n\nThe most popular approach right now is to place god outside of time as illustrated in this diagram:  http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/venus1982/GodOutsideTime.jpg\nThe idea is that time is a human experience and that god does not experience time.  In this way, god sees all of existance past, present, and future at the same time. There are numerous issues with this idea as well, but they would take too long to describe in detail.
56894
If you buy into Judeo-Christian mythology, God is the author of free will.  Satan is not a creator, but a perverter, and thus could not give to Adam and Eve an inherent quality that they did not already possess.
1042716
God doesn't make mistakes lol! Think about this... would you want someone doing something for you or in your name if they didn't want to be doing it?? \nAlso, if we didn't have free will we would pretty much just be robots. Where is the beauty in that?
578892
The doctrine of free will is a lie.
231488
Yes, God has predestined some to hell and it is their choice to go. I know it sounds like an antimony but it really isn't. \n\nWhen we attribute foreknowledge to God, we mean that all things have ever been, and perpetually remain, before His eyes, so that to His knowledge nothing is future or past, but all things are present: and present in such a manner that He does not merely conceive of them from ideas formed in His mind, as things remembered by us appear present to our minds, but really beholds and sees them as if actually placed before Him. And this foreknowledge extends to the whole world and to all the creatures. Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which He hath determined in Himself what He would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are not all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others.
836838
I say free will because I never know which neighborhood I will do a drive by in.\n\nCoach
951074
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??
292992
In my opinion, true free will is choosing what to do with the influence of what you have learned in life. Whether it be from parents, friends, or God. Just because it is free will, it doesn't mean that decisions made will be right or wrong. The point is that you chose it, without a gun to your head or any other type of direct influence. For example if someone, who is familiar with religion, and God and knowing right from wrong decides to rob a bank, that decision is made with free will. God is not going to come down and slap the person to stop them. If the person decides not to rob the bank, a decision made with free will, it may have come from their conscience or a memory instilled from there parents about right and wrong. Or maybe from a sermon in church. Basically, we all have free will whether God is with us or not. It is those that use the free will to do bad things that makes it tainted. But free will alone is just that, free will, it is not good or bad until an action stems from it. Does that make sense. Sorry if I rambled.
292663
Both.\n\nWe are predestined for God's glory, meaning God has a plan for every life he created.  This plan is to further his Glory and to perform great things through us.\n\nWe have free will.  We chose if we are to walk this path or choose not too.\n\nSince God exists outside of time, he already knows what is going to happen.  But it is still OUR choice to walk in obedience or walk in the world.
111866
The theory delves into concepts of predestination, predetermination, and free-will. It proposes that human beings, animals, and others are really not in control of their own lives. Rather, what we do, when we do it, and how we go about doing it are determined by a complex set of interactions provided by the environment, people around us, etc. It is not hard to imagine some machine or random algorithm controlling these interactions, much like AI in a video game (FEAR, call of duty II...).
914807
Yes. Flooding the world to destroy the evils of humanity would infringe on free will. There is no true free will in Christianity. It is only a term they throw around to convince themselves that their choice is based on something other than fear of an unlikely punishment.\n\nEven if Noah and his family were good people, while every other person in the world was evil, if god gave humans free will, then they had the freedom to choose evil. If you give someone a choice, you need to be prepared for the possibility that they will not choose what you wanted them to. If you give someone a choice, knowing that they will not choose the "right" answer and having a punishment in store for them in just that case, then you have set them up and are denying them free will. It is the spiritual equivalent of entrapment.
942555
Technically, free will is an illusion.  Given all the data present in any situation, including the data that a person has accumulated over a lifetime, it is possible in principle to calculate the outcome.  As a practical matter, this is of course impossible, and "free will" is an appropriate model for the actual situation.
203315
No.\nHeaven is supposed to be the eternal paradise reward for a life well lived. It's meant to be the eternal harbor of joy for the soul. If there's nothing to do but enjoy divine grace, why would you need free will? Free will is for deciding when faced with choices, and deciding often leads to conflicts (internal as they may be). This leads to affiliation, taking sides, which leads to individualistic tendencies and result in social separation.
391729
Both. God knows what all of our free will decisions will be. He knows us intimately, from before the time we were born. He know the future, even after we are gone. He knows how what we said and did in our lives would affect others. He orchestrates the whole of life. as such, we each have a role to play. He simply is Lord of all, in control of all, the good and the bad.\n\nCase in point, the Exodus story. Several times Pharaoh had it in mind to let the Israelites free. God "hardened" his heart so that he would not, and so the plagues would then continue. Free will, but God controls, and that was Pharaohs role. It is God's will that reigns supreme.\n\nGod could command us to love Him, but that would not be true love on our part. Love must be given freely, of our own free will, to be love. That is our role in life, why He created everyone with a spiritual need and longing for Him. God is love, and He simply wants our love in return. He provided a way for us, through Jesus Christ; the way, truth and life.
1014635
I don't personally believe that we have a free will, it certainly is not taught in the Bible. What is taught is that man has a depraved will, and only as God draws him does he have the ability to come to God.