Rhrain writes:
It has to do with the fact that we're in the subjunctive mood through the use of the word "does."
Crashfrog writes:
The presence of the infinitive "have" in Lam's second phrase implies, to me, that it is an auxillary verb to the main verb "does."
You are both wrong, though Crashfrog has almost got it right. Lam's sentence has nothing to do with subjunctive mood. If he would ask about God's taste for cheese instead of his having free will, he might ask: "Likes God cheese?". But that would not be the right way to phrase it. In proper English, to change "God likes cheese" into a question, the auxiliary verb 'to do' is used, and the question becomes: "Does God like cheese?". You will notice that the third person form has been transfered to the auxiliary verb 'does', and the verb 'like' (which, incidentally, is not the auxiliary, but indeed the
main verb of the sentence, since it carries its meaning), has lost its 's', to become the infinitive form. Back to the question of God's free will: 'Does' is the auxiliary verb that changes the somewhat odd "Has God free will?" (though, admittedly, less odd than "Likes God cheese?") into the more familiar form "Does God have free will?".
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