Reading with interest and reminded of a similar discussion some years ago....
(I've totally forgotten how to do the link thing)
http://
EvC Forum: Free will: an illusion -->
EvC Forum: Free will: an illusion
Iano's see-saw analogy brought it back to me,
as a taster here's the important bit of the OP (my bold)
- It is my belief that if the Xian doctrine is to be believed, God is all knowing, and outside of time.
He knows what will happen, what has happened, and what is happening. Therefore any notion of free will is a myth. We are merely playing out what is inevitable. Given this Predestination, I have the illusion of choice, but in truth there is only one path which can be followed, the one which Your God can see and knows to be true.
- It is my understanding that freedom to chose requires having
ALL THE RELEVANT INFORMATION to make that choice. INFORMATION.. not hearsay, not stories, not ancient questionable texts. REAL INFORMATION.
If god made himself undeniably known to us we would then have the CHOICE to accept or reject him.. 'Free will' still intact, this should be no problem to you. (Or does your 'free will' only apply to choosing to believe without evidence? Does this mean that you have now lost your free will given that you have been saved and have had undeniable evidence of god?)
-You(Iano) yourself state and have stated that in our fallen condition we are UNABLE to discern information or evidence correctly,
i.e. We cannot make the correct choices without God making them for us (Deciding to save us).Even if God made himself known to each and everyone of us, your teachings state that we are unable to choose because we are fallen or flawed. If you give 'free will' to a person who is unable to properly excercise that free will, what freedom do they really have?