God
“has appointed a day” of judgement (148), but –being omniscient – must already
know how it will go. Is there a conceptual problem with reconciling an
all-knowing, all-powerful creator with the idea of judging his/her/its own
creation? Aren’t the judg-ees already doomed, having been created imperfect
only then to be assessed and penalized for their imperfection.\?
Don Enss
An
omniscient being is a paradox because it creates a conundrum – how can a being
know everything from the beginning to the end without controlling everything in
between by their knowledge of the outcome before the event occurs? The question
of whether we have free will to make decisions has been tackled by philosophers
and theologians for ages in the past and probably long into the future.
As
Herman explains in Chapter 18, the issue of free will “separated Boethius and
Saint Augustine at the onset of the Middle Ages,” and “had at its heart the
clash between Plato and Aristotle on free will.” (318). Erasmus (1466-1536 CE)
and Luther (1483-1546 CE) disagreed vigorously on the question. Luther followed
St. Augustine (354-430 CE), “The path of reason doesn’t lead us toward the
light of God, but only deeper into the cave: in fact, right to the gates of
hell.”(320). Luther did not agree with Aristotle, “This is why, of all
Aristotle’s writings, the one Luther despised the most was the one Raphael and
the Renaissance had most celebrated: Aristotle’s Ethics.” (319). In them, Aristotle “proposes that all moral action
is about making right choices, and choice is about intention.” (318). According
to Herman, “Plato argued that doing good versus evil was a matter of knowledge versus ignorance: in other
words, the man who is ignorant of the good can no more choose good than one who
is ignorant of algebra can solve a quadratic equation.” (318).
Almost
all of an individual’s choices whether through ignorance or by intention are
the responsibility of the individual and they are not predetermined and are
unknowable. To make them otherwise is to suggest that someone else is
responsible for our actions. If it is
raining outside and I choose to walk out without an umbrella, I will get wet;
if I choose to use an umbrella, I will stay dry. There is no external intervention
to predict at that exact moment why I chose to do either and nothing
predetermined by fate to mandate the outcome; I simply did it. As long as I do
not have someone with the physical means to insure that I use an umbrella, I
have free will. I prefer not to create God in man’s image and to attribute
micro-managerial skills to a divine being. Life is what it is, and I agree with
Boethius (480-524 CE) that “we have to be free to act in the world, even if
that means we make mistakes,” (191) and that “If we are going to deal with a
complex and dangerous world, he believed, we had better be prepared.” (191).
Some people believe in divine intervention and that through there faith and adherence to rules that God provides a way for them to survive. There could be greater forces in control of our lives, that we don't possess the cognitive abilities to understand. Even physics itself is more powerful than man, and we still don't possess the ability to fully comprehend it. What keeps a tree from falling on you in the forest or a tidal wave consuming you isn't anything of your own ability, the human mind and body can only act "so fast". Atheist or Christian, one must accept the fact that there is something that is greater themselves, there are even stronger, smarter people than ourselves, which is why it makes sense for us to gather together, because there is strength in numbers. Whether faith is simply the re-connection of synapses in the brain producing stronger memories, the fact remains that some people have more of an advantage than others, perhaps those with the greatest faith are the most apt to survive.
ReplyDeleteThe perennial, intractable free will/determinism debate is complicated. But my own personal sense of free will is pretty simple: I need to believe in the relevance of what I perceive to be my own choices, decisions, and actions, illusory or not. I cannot allow myself to act on the belief that anyone or anything else is "pulling my strings." I'd find that self-conception deeply dispiriting. Not everyone does, though, apparently.
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