Does God have free will?

[Kolibri]

I follow your line of reasoning, and yes, if that was all there was to it that would be true. It's just that sin is defined at missing the mark of perfection. A standard set by the Potter, not the clay. And at the time of being created, Adam was as yet w/o sin. Sin was a latter development that came about from the deliberate misuse of free will.

Sorry Gambit. I realize I am not doing a very good job of maintaining your wish.

 

[Skwim]

I follow your line of reasoning, and yes, if that was all there was to it that would be true.

So then it would be false that:

"Since we were made in God's image, it would make logical sense that he too is a free moral agent, able to pick and choose."
​

Good enough. I can buy that.

It's just that sin is defined at missing the mark of perfection.

So if my toes aren't perfect that's a sin? I'm just kidding a bit here hoping you'll craft your answers a little more carefully.

A standard set by the Potter, not the clay. And at the time of being created, Adam was as yet w/o sin. Sin was a latter development that came about from the deliberate misuse of free will.

Okay, but don't forget that what you assume to be true here, that being born in god's image we inherited his freewill, presumes that the question of the OP is answerable in the affirmative, something that still awaits evidence.

 

[Kolibri]

I am hemmed in. Partly by the request to keep scripture out of it. Perhaps we will discuss this again in another thread sometime.

 

[Gambit]

I'm not. However, some creationists on this very board have insisted that luck or chance played no role in the origins of our universe. How can this be if God has free will?.

This depends on how you define free will. But if any believer argues that the creation might not have been, then God's "decision-making process" is partially random.

 

[DayRaven]

Does that preclude God from having free will?

If God and God's will are indistinguishable?

Do you believe there is an "I?"

Not for everyone.

 

[NulliuSINverba]

This depends on how you define free will.

Let's simplify the question:

Was the creation of the universe an inevitability or was it the result of a decision?

If (as some will argue) the universe was the product of intelligence, then doesn't this mean that there must have been a decision involved? At the very least, a decision involves a "Yes/No" option, correct? So while some creationists will deride non-theistic attempts to explain the origins of the universe as "blind faith in pure chance" or "luck and magic" they are in fact basing their theistic viewpoint on what appears to be a 50:50 coin flip by God.

But if any believer argues that the creation might not have been, then God's "decision-making process" is partially random.

Partially random?

 

[Gambit]

If God and God's will are indistinguishable?

Having and being are one and the same with God.

Not for everyone.

LOL

 

[Gambit]

Let's simplify the question:

Was the creation of the universe an inevitability or was it the result of a decision?

If (as some will argue) the universe was the product of intelligence, then doesn't this mean that there must have been a decision involved? At the very least, a decision involves a "Yes/No" option, correct? So while some creationists will deride non-theistic attempts to explain the origins of the universe as "blind faith in pure chance" or "luck and magic" they are in fact basing their theistic viewpoint on what appears to be a 50:50 coin flip by God.



Partially random?

Regardless how free will is defined, it must either be compatible with determinism or reconciled with indeterminism. Something that is random is something that is spontaneous. A spontaneous act is something magical. That would seem to support the supernatural worldview.

 

[NulliuSINverba]

Something that is random is something that is spontaneous.

So if one plans in advance to shuffle a deck of cards, the results are somehow less random than a deck that was shuffled on the fly?

A spontaneous act is something magical.

For no reason whatsoever, I just got up halfway through reading that last section and washed some dishes. Trust me. It was spontaneous, but it was hardly magical.

That would seem to support the supernatural worldview.

So creation is only a magical act if it's spontaneous?

...

It feels a bit like you're avoiding the question. Did God decide to create the universe, or was it an inevitability?

 

[Kolibri]

For no reason whatsoever, I just got up halfway through reading that last section and washed some dishes. Trust me. It was spontaneous, but it was hardly magical.

lol

 

[Gambit]

It feels a bit like you're avoiding the question. Did God decide to create the universe, or was it an inevitability?

Self-determinism (especially when the self in question is the only factor making the determination) is not incompatible with determinism. God freely choose to create because it was his desire to do so.(I guess you can interpret a desire as a need. So it was necessary for God to create fulfill his desire. But this is a logical necessity.)

Also, the term "spontaneous" has more than one usage or meaning.

Merriam-Webster also defines "spontaneous" as "proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint" and "controlled and directed internally : self-acting." God has traditionally been defined as "actus purus" (pure act).

Also, the "two-stage model of free will" clearly explains how (libertarian) free will can be reconciled with indeterminism. (That is, how free will can entail a random aspect.)

 

[joshua3886]

If you really believe God exists, then you need to ask him/her and not a religious forum.
Or maybe God has an internet connection.