So back to the question. Leaving aside for now whether or not such a thing even exists, could the presence of free will explain our struggle to achieve a God-given morality? I think it doesn’t, because it circles around the notion of an “all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving Creator of everything” (which is the description of God I grew up with and I suggest is held by most fundamental Christians today). If our sense of morality comes from God, but God also gave us free will, and our free will causes us to stray from the path our “God-given conscience” would have us normally follow, then free will is actually a corrupting influence. So why would an all-loving God deliberately put into us the very thing that would cause us to go astray? If He’s all-powerful, then wouldn’t He be able to instill in us a stronger sense of what’s right and wrong, such that we would be more inclined to choose “correctly” (meaning, in a way that would please Him)? And if He could but chose not to, how can He be called “all-loving?” If He’s all-knowing,” then wouldn’t He have known that our exercise of free will would inevitably lead to what we see in our current society?
It would seem that we inevitably choose pretty badly when left to our own devices. The Bible is full of references to man’s basic inclination to sinfulness, stating outright over and over again that we are doomed except for God’s grace. If we believe that God gave us free will, and our free will leads us to “bad” choices, then we would also have to accept that God is the reason we are constantly screwing up and causing his displeasure! Displeasure profound enough, if we are to believe what we read in the Bible, that God would condemn us for all eternity based on what we do in this short lifetime. Most Christian religions preach a punishment of eternal torment in hell for this; some (such as Jehovah’s witnesses) believe the Bible teaches a less painful punishment: simple death. Still, even accepting that view, it’s pretty significant in contrast to the payoff of eternal life in bliss. Either way, that seems like a big price to pay for the inevitable outcome of a stacked deck.
One answer I’ve heard is that “It’s not really God’s fault; He gave us free will and Satan’s influence is what’s causing us to make the wrong choices.” OK, let’s go with that for a minute. It might explain things: if there is a Satan (the embodiment of evil, which again, is what I was taught as a kid), then it’s conceivable that Satan has so corrupted our sense of morality that we now have to struggle constantly to stay on the narrow path that leads to pleasing God. However, I don’t think that changes anything; we’re back to the same question: what would that say about God? If He’s all-knowing, then He would have to have seen how much suffering that tension would create. If He’s all-powerful, He could have given us a stronger sense of right and wrong (or a greater ability to choose wisely). If He’s all-loving, how could he allow so much suffering and angst when He could stop it?
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
Does free will explain our struggle with morality? (part 2)
So back to the question. Leaving aside for now whether or not such a thing even exists, could the presence of free will explain our struggle to achieve a God-given morality? I think it doesn’t, because it circles around the notion of an “all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving Creator of everything” (which is the description of God I grew up with and I suggest is held by most fundamental Christians today). If our sense of morality comes from God, but God also gave us free will, and our free will causes us to stray from the path our “God-given conscience” would have us normally follow, then free will is actually a corrupting influence. So why would an all-loving God deliberately put into us the very thing that would cause us to go astray? If He’s all-powerful, then wouldn’t He be able to instill in us a stronger sense of what’s right and wrong, such that we would be more inclined to choose “correctly” (meaning, in a way that would please Him)? And if He could but chose not to, how can He be called “all-loving?” If He’s all-knowing,” then wouldn’t He have known that our exercise of free will would inevitably lead to what we see in our current society?
It would seem that we inevitably choose pretty badly when left to our own devices. The Bible is full of references to man’s basic inclination to sinfulness, stating outright over and over again that we are doomed except for God’s grace. If we believe that God gave us free will, and our free will leads us to “bad” choices, then we would also have to accept that God is the reason we are constantly screwing up and causing his displeasure! Displeasure profound enough, if we are to believe what we read in the Bible, that God would condemn us for all eternity based on what we do in this short lifetime. Most Christian religions preach a punishment of eternal torment in hell for this; some (such as Jehovah’s witnesses) believe the Bible teaches a less painful punishment: simple death. Still, even accepting that view, it’s pretty significant in contrast to the payoff of eternal life in bliss. Either way, that seems like a big price to pay for the inevitable outcome of a stacked deck.
One answer I’ve heard is that “It’s not really God’s fault; He gave us free will and Satan’s influence is what’s causing us to make the wrong choices.” OK, let’s go with that for a minute. It might explain things: if there is a Satan (the embodiment of evil, which again, is what I was taught as a kid), then it’s conceivable that Satan has so corrupted our sense of morality that we now have to struggle constantly to stay on the narrow path that leads to pleasing God. However, I don’t think that changes anything; we’re back to the same question: what would that say about God? If He’s all-knowing, then He would have to have seen how much suffering that tension would create. If He’s all-powerful, He could have given us a stronger sense of right and wrong (or a greater ability to choose wisely). If He’s all-loving, how could he allow so much suffering and angst when He could stop it?
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.