Free Will and God Section 6 Part 1

Free Will has always been in question when discussing life and the choices one makes. When strolling through the walks of life, one is plagued with what omens to follow and which outcomes works the best for them, however debate has been going on for centuries about the choice to make your own decisions in life or are things predetermined? Free will comes up when one is decision making and calls upon God to answer their questions, then here comes rather or not God has all this planned out or allows us to experience and learn from our mistakes. When we're decision making, is it us or God making these choices? Free will ties into moral responsibility, and asks is one entitled to the other. Does one have to possess moral responsibility in order to accept free will?  Central to any conception of Christian theism is the idea that God is worthy of worship. This worthiness can be spelled out in various ways, but two themes are likely to emerge. One is that God is worthy of worship simply for being who he is. God, as a perfect being, commands the respect and admiration of any other being. Another thing that arises it, that follows from the first, is the idea that God is worthy of worship because of what he does. On traditional Christian theism it is taken to be true that God not only created, and sustains, the universe, but also interacts with it, and this interaction produces great goods. This much is, seemingly, quite benign. However, when one considers the type of will that God has problems arise for a free will defense. If God is able to act in such praiseworthy ways, and bring about such great goods through those actions, then why do humans need to have such a different type of will in order for them to bring about goods?

The philosopher St. Augustine, addressed the topic of free will and determinism. St. Augustine would argue that free will is most certainly true, but is a believer in determinism. Suggesting that God is the foreseer and is in control of all the decisions that are made. Just because we are predetermined, doesn't interfere with the ability of free will. It however, further explains the omniscience of our God and reveals the true powers of the highest most praised deity. Since no one knows who has been chosen we should all lead God-fearing lives. Everyone is at God's mercy. Just because God is omniscient does not mean that we do not have free-will. God has foreknowledge of our choices and the decisions we will make.  Augustine reasoned that there are three types of events: Those that appear to be caused by chance (the cause is hidden from us), those caused by God and those caused by us. Some things are beyond our control such as death, while other things are within our control such as the decision whether or not to lead a good life.