Saturday, October 01, 2005
Predestined freewill?
Disclaimer - I am no theologian, and this post comes with no warranty whatsoever :)
A curious soul asked what my understanding of "predestined freewill" is - and here are my thought fragments on this matter:
1. By creating humanity with the capability to choose and setting up a scenario in which Adam and Eve must choose, G-d has predestined us to freewill.
So instead of abdicating moral responsibility: "X made me do it!", it's more like "X made me choose!"
2. Any "logical" attempts to reconcile predestination and freewill is doomed to fail since our "logic" is constrained by our understanding of Time as a serial construct. A countless number of rationalists and philosophers stumble and fall on this...
If the concept of Time is infinitely parallel, then this would not be a problem - although that means now (while we're existing in a serial Time) we won't be able to understand it at all.
A curious soul asked what my understanding of "predestined freewill" is - and here are my thought fragments on this matter:
1. By creating humanity with the capability to choose and setting up a scenario in which Adam and Eve must choose, G-d has predestined us to freewill.
So instead of abdicating moral responsibility: "X made me do it!", it's more like "X made me choose!"
2. Any "logical" attempts to reconcile predestination and freewill is doomed to fail since our "logic" is constrained by our understanding of Time as a serial construct. A countless number of rationalists and philosophers stumble and fall on this...
If the concept of Time is infinitely parallel, then this would not be a problem - although that means now (while we're existing in a serial Time) we won't be able to understand it at all.
# posted by Mansfield @ 10/01/2005 02:31:00 pm 
Comments:
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I guess I agree with you on the second point. It's freewill in the sense that we have the choice.
And yet, it's predestined coz God is so all-knowing and all-powerful that he knows and probably has a solution for the destinations and outcomes of whatever choice we make.
Ah, the questions to ask God when we finally meet him...
And yet, it's predestined coz God is so all-knowing and all-powerful that he knows and probably has a solution for the destinations and outcomes of whatever choice we make.
Ah, the questions to ask God when we finally meet him...
Thanks Mansfield,
I guess I have serious issues with predestination at the moment. It seems like a god that predestines doesn't create a world; rather it creates a fantasy...Like a director with a movie rather than a parent with a child.
This ties in with free will as well.
The ideas of omnipotence and omniscience seem to be ones that Jesus didn't necessarily believe in. They are later categories ascribed to god...Those ideas are certainly present in some level of god's story, but I'm not sure how we're meant to deal with them.
So thanks for the provocative statement on your blog and thanks for taking the time to let me know your ideas!
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I guess I have serious issues with predestination at the moment. It seems like a god that predestines doesn't create a world; rather it creates a fantasy...Like a director with a movie rather than a parent with a child.
This ties in with free will as well.
The ideas of omnipotence and omniscience seem to be ones that Jesus didn't necessarily believe in. They are later categories ascribed to god...Those ideas are certainly present in some level of god's story, but I'm not sure how we're meant to deal with them.
So thanks for the provocative statement on your blog and thanks for taking the time to let me know your ideas!
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