The Doctrine of Free Will (The Ability to Choose Evil) is a Very Low Form of Freedom
The so-called doctrine of free will has very little to do with authentic freedom. On this, I side with Berdyaev, who identified the free will doctrine as a means through which to make man accountable for evil in the world: “that doctrine was invented to find a culprit, someone who could be held responsible and so vindicate the idea of punishment in this life and in eternity.”
The doctrine of free will posits that God could not have made men free unless he granted them the freedom to choose evil over good. Put another way, man cannot be free unless he is allowed to choose God’s way or the highway.
The core problem in this concept lies in God’s granting of free will. If free will is from God—that is, created by God from nothing, or some Platonic idea in his mind that he shares with created-from-nothing creatures—then it is only fair to say that God is the ultimate source of free will.
Theologians and philosophers tend to agree on this point, but most are also quick to point out that though free will comes from God, the evil choices man makes are not. Good choices? Sure, because of grace and all that, but evil choices? No way! God has nothing at all to do with that.
I agree but for different reasons.
The concept of free will boils down to the matter of making man accountable for his choices, yet this kind of free-will choosing has little to do with authentic freedom. If authentic freedom amounts to little more than free will choosing, then it is not very authentic at all.
On the contrary, it becomes a form of necessity or slavery with man perpetually being forced to recognize evil choices and reject them in favor of choices for good.
Repentance can free a person from evil choices, but it does not alleviate the crushing need to make choices repeatedly, which brings us to the crux of the matter when it comes to free will and choosing. Being constantly required to choose between this or that is ultimately an extremely low form of freedom because it rarely, if ever, liberates man from the need to choose.
The doctrine of free will asserts that man is only authentically free if the choice for evil remains open to him; that if that choice were denied, he would be nothing more than a pre-programmed robot or automaton.
I suppose there’s some coherence in that, but only within the framework of an omni-everything Creator who created everything from nothing. Yet that framework immediately draws into question why such an omni-everything, ex nihilo creator would do things that way.
It also draws God’s nature into question. If God is wholly good and incapable of choosing evil, then is God just an automaton or a robot? No, God is free because the choice for evil does not occur to him.
Yet man is somehow unfree if that choice is denied.
Would man not be freer if he were created without free will? Without the incessant need to choose good or evil? Would he not be freer if he did not choose evil for the simple reason that the choice would never occur to him? Instead of wrangling over good choices and evil choices, man would be free to focus his energies entirely on the good. Instead of agonizing over evil temptations and choices, he would be free to do good because the evil choices would simply not register. In this sense, he would be freed from the necessity of choosing good over evil. He would not have to choose. He would simply be good in being and wholly aligned with God’s purposes.
So why would an omni-everything God who created ex nihilo just create the world in that way? Why all the business with free will, evil, the Fall, hell, and all the rest of it? Why not just create God-aligned beings from the get-go—God-aligned beings who are free of the temptation to choose evil over good?
There are many abstract solutions to this problem, but few incorporate the reality of heaven in their lines of thinking. Evil does not and cannot exist in heaven, which implies that free will choosing does not and cannot exist in heaven. Heaven could not be heaven if the choice for evil over good remained.
Does this imply that heaven is unfree and populated by automatons incapable of choosing evil? Pre-programmed robots who have no choice but to be good? It must be because if free will choosing is removed from a being, then that being ceases to be free. Right?
I do not see it that way. I see heaven as a place of total and authentic freedom precisely because the need to choose good over evil has been overcome and eradicated. Those in heaven do not choose. Beings in heaven are so aligned with God and his purposes that evil choices never enter their consciousnesses. They are freed from evil. They are free to be good, all the time, eternally.
Returning to the matter of free will choosing in this world, I think it is unavoidable and inevitable, but it is errant to believe that such free will choosing represents some sort of hallmark of freedom or to regard it as some blessed gift from God.
When I consider God’s purposes in Creation, I think of it as the honing or perfecting of freedom in love—freedom that is uncreated and inherent in all beings, all of whom pre-existed Creation.
God made Creation in the hope that this honing and perfecting could be accomplished therein. In this sense, God’s motivation and act of Creation—ongoing, continuous—is wholly good, yet the beings from which God creates are not.
Some can align their freedom with God’s purposes in Creation; others are hostile to such alignment. Those who seek to align their freedom with God and his purposes must not only contend with their own freedom to do otherwise but also with the freedom of other beings who have little or no intention of aligning their freedom with God. In this, free will is a lower emanation of the inherent, uncreated freedom that beings bring into Creation.
Higher emanations of freedom may occur occasionally in Creation, but they are usually unsustainable, temporary, or affect only one or two aspects of being. Try as they might, virtually no being can align itself with God in Creation. Virtually no being can escape the snare of free will choosing.
Free will choosing can only be overcome in heaven, which is why Jesus and his creation of heaven are necessary. It is only in heaven that beings can be free of all evil and the need to choose.
It is only in heaven that beings can be authentically free -- free with God.
The doctrine of free will posits that God could not have made men free unless he granted them the freedom to choose evil over good. Put another way, man cannot be free unless he is allowed to choose God’s way or the highway.
The core problem in this concept lies in God’s granting of free will. If free will is from God—that is, created by God from nothing, or some Platonic idea in his mind that he shares with created-from-nothing creatures—then it is only fair to say that God is the ultimate source of free will.
Theologians and philosophers tend to agree on this point, but most are also quick to point out that though free will comes from God, the evil choices man makes are not. Good choices? Sure, because of grace and all that, but evil choices? No way! God has nothing at all to do with that.
I agree but for different reasons.
The concept of free will boils down to the matter of making man accountable for his choices, yet this kind of free-will choosing has little to do with authentic freedom. If authentic freedom amounts to little more than free will choosing, then it is not very authentic at all.
On the contrary, it becomes a form of necessity or slavery with man perpetually being forced to recognize evil choices and reject them in favor of choices for good.
Repentance can free a person from evil choices, but it does not alleviate the crushing need to make choices repeatedly, which brings us to the crux of the matter when it comes to free will and choosing. Being constantly required to choose between this or that is ultimately an extremely low form of freedom because it rarely, if ever, liberates man from the need to choose.
The doctrine of free will asserts that man is only authentically free if the choice for evil remains open to him; that if that choice were denied, he would be nothing more than a pre-programmed robot or automaton.
I suppose there’s some coherence in that, but only within the framework of an omni-everything Creator who created everything from nothing. Yet that framework immediately draws into question why such an omni-everything, ex nihilo creator would do things that way.
It also draws God’s nature into question. If God is wholly good and incapable of choosing evil, then is God just an automaton or a robot? No, God is free because the choice for evil does not occur to him.
Yet man is somehow unfree if that choice is denied.
Would man not be freer if he were created without free will? Without the incessant need to choose good or evil? Would he not be freer if he did not choose evil for the simple reason that the choice would never occur to him? Instead of wrangling over good choices and evil choices, man would be free to focus his energies entirely on the good. Instead of agonizing over evil temptations and choices, he would be free to do good because the evil choices would simply not register. In this sense, he would be freed from the necessity of choosing good over evil. He would not have to choose. He would simply be good in being and wholly aligned with God’s purposes.
So why would an omni-everything God who created ex nihilo just create the world in that way? Why all the business with free will, evil, the Fall, hell, and all the rest of it? Why not just create God-aligned beings from the get-go—God-aligned beings who are free of the temptation to choose evil over good?
There are many abstract solutions to this problem, but few incorporate the reality of heaven in their lines of thinking. Evil does not and cannot exist in heaven, which implies that free will choosing does not and cannot exist in heaven. Heaven could not be heaven if the choice for evil over good remained.
Does this imply that heaven is unfree and populated by automatons incapable of choosing evil? Pre-programmed robots who have no choice but to be good? It must be because if free will choosing is removed from a being, then that being ceases to be free. Right?
I do not see it that way. I see heaven as a place of total and authentic freedom precisely because the need to choose good over evil has been overcome and eradicated. Those in heaven do not choose. Beings in heaven are so aligned with God and his purposes that evil choices never enter their consciousnesses. They are freed from evil. They are free to be good, all the time, eternally.
Returning to the matter of free will choosing in this world, I think it is unavoidable and inevitable, but it is errant to believe that such free will choosing represents some sort of hallmark of freedom or to regard it as some blessed gift from God.
When I consider God’s purposes in Creation, I think of it as the honing or perfecting of freedom in love—freedom that is uncreated and inherent in all beings, all of whom pre-existed Creation.
God made Creation in the hope that this honing and perfecting could be accomplished therein. In this sense, God’s motivation and act of Creation—ongoing, continuous—is wholly good, yet the beings from which God creates are not.
Some can align their freedom with God’s purposes in Creation; others are hostile to such alignment. Those who seek to align their freedom with God and his purposes must not only contend with their own freedom to do otherwise but also with the freedom of other beings who have little or no intention of aligning their freedom with God. In this, free will is a lower emanation of the inherent, uncreated freedom that beings bring into Creation.
Higher emanations of freedom may occur occasionally in Creation, but they are usually unsustainable, temporary, or affect only one or two aspects of being. Try as they might, virtually no being can align itself with God in Creation. Virtually no being can escape the snare of free will choosing.
Free will choosing can only be overcome in heaven, which is why Jesus and his creation of heaven are necessary. It is only in heaven that beings can be free of all evil and the need to choose.
It is only in heaven that beings can be authentically free -- free with God.
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