Just to introduce this type of blog, I would like to say that it is not in a standard format. It's more similar to random ramblings and thoughts, but it's rather fun. I do like to take things on a case by case basis, for no obvious reason. I am not trying to really prove anything here, but only enjoying expressing some of my thoughts about this and that. If you feel like reading the whole thing, then do. If not, then just skip ahead to your favorite definition of free, and only read about that one! So... what is free will? In fact, what does free even mean?
"Freedom is not free"
What does that even mean? Isn't freedom, by definition, free? Obviously, it isn't. The word "free" is used to mean many things.
- A Free Taco: A taco that costs you nothing
- Fat-Free: A product that is free from fat; a product that contains no fat
- Freely Chosen: A choice made without obligation, pressure, or other compulsion
- Free will: A person is free to control their desires
- Free will: A person who has the power to control their desires and choices, and also to get whatever they want. IE God is free
- Free will: A person is free only to choose to follow their desires
- Free will: A being which can choose between chocolate and vanilla for no obvious reason
- A free agent: A person or being who determines his own actions, as opposed to having his choices be determined by someone or something else.
- Free: A person who is not forced to do that which they do not want to do; are not slaves. IE we live in a "free country."
- Free from: Not forced to do stuff by a certain entity or government. We are free from England, but enslaved to the laws of this country.
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Now, some people say that people are free, and some say that people are not free. I believe that people do have free will. Which definition am I using? How much freedom of will do people have? Are people truly slaves of sin? Is this a free country? If I put a gun to your head, are you no longer responsible for your actions?
Case 1: People are free (they cost nothing)
I believe that people are priceless, but that God can redeem people by the priceless blood of Christ. But that's really quite besides the point because people never apply this type of freedom to the will. Unless you argue that we got our will as a free present from God... Who knows...
Verdict: Proposition 1 is false
Case 2: Will-Free (we have no will)
I don't think that anyone could really argue that humans have no will whatsoever. I mean, I will finish writing this blog. Everyone wills and everyone chooses. Some choose to kill others. Maybe it's random and maybe it isn't, but there still is willing going on.
Judges 15:13
"So they spoke to him, saying, 'No, but we will tie you securely and deliver you into their hand; but we will surely not kill you.'"
Verdict: Proposition 2 is false
Case 3: We choose everything freely (All our choices are made without obligation, pressure, or other compulsion)
We do make some choices "freely," without any compulsion. For instance, when I chose to sit down and write this blog, that choice was made "freely" in that sense.
2 Corinthians 8:3
"For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing"
However, it would be hard to argue that every choice we have is free in that sense, seeing that we have objective evidence that people are robbed at gunpoint or enslaved every day. I think it's safe to say that we have all experienced pressure, compulsion, and obligation to make certain choices at some point in our lives. Some people have even experienced physically being made slaves, which usually involves force of some sort..
Deuteronomy 6:21
"then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;"
Verdict: Proposition 3 is false
Case 4: We have free will (We can control our desires)
To a certain extent, we all seem to have some influence over our desires. Sometimes, we may focus on something else that we want, to get our mind off of something we really shouldn't be longing for. Othertimes, we may focus on the downsides of getting what we desire, to convince ourselves to stop wanting it so much. We can choose what to try to focus on, meditate on, and delight in.
Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."
However, to try to say that we have have complete control over our desires obviously is not true. Just ask the people who have a hard time when they try to quit smoking. They don't want to want cigarrettes anymore, but they still do want them. In the same way, non-believers cannot change their heart or cause themselves to stop desiring sin. The Bible goes as far as calling them slaves to sin, which does not at all imply that they could control their evil desires.
Romans 6:20
"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness."
Even we, as christians still do not have total control over our desires, but must actively not act according to those bad desires.
1 Peter 2:11
"Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
Verdict: Proposition 4 is false
Case 5: We are free in all our desires, actions, and outcomes. (We have the power to will and to do anything)
We all know that God is free in this reguard. God has the power not only to control all of His mind and desires...
Romans 9:14 (ASV)
"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid!"
...but also has the power to do whatever He wants.
Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?"
It cannot be successfully argued that we either have freedom to control our desires completely (see case 4) or that we are powerful enough to do whatever we want. I may want to fly, but I do not have the power to actually choose to fly. God could. God is the only one with this type of freedom. We do not have that much power.
Verdict: Proposition 5 is false
Case 6: We are free, but only free to try to follow our desires.
Well, given that we are not free to control our desires, this does not seem unlikely. It leaves two logical problems though. First of all, if all free will meant is that we follow our desires, can we still influence our desires? If desire is a little kid, and free will is the blanket he drags behind him, then who or what determines whether a sinner feels like robbing or murdering? Given this definition of free will, randomness can be the only answer to that. It is only because of randomness that one feels like shooting you, and another feels like being an unjust judge instead. It is not a complete description of the will, and therefore this definition is not very helpful at all.
Secondly, this definition also leaves open the possibility of mind-controlled people still counting as having free will. There has been some attempt to create "rat-bots" by attaching mechanisms to the rats which will give them serotonin when triggered - Basically, the humans give the rat a happy feeling in his mind whenever he turns to the direction that the humans want him to. The humans then control the rats behavior. If some sort of more complicated mind-control was invented that would work on humans, then you wouldn't have to force people to give you money against their will. You could just put in their mind the desire to give you all their cash immediately, and then they would "freely" follow that desire. You would causally determine every one of their actions - you could make them go out and murder your enemies. Would that still count as them making free choices? According to this definition of free, yes: they are free because they are freely following their desires. Common sense tells us that people who are being CONTROLLED by someone else are not free. This definition obviously does not cover all aspects of free will or free choices.
Jeremiah 31:30
"But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge."
Verdict: Proposition 6 is an incomplete definition, and not helpful
Case 7: We are free beings who can choose between chocolate and vanilla for no obvious reason
I think a person could argue very that any person can choose between chocolate and vanilla for no obvious reason. Because the decision is not made under pressure or force, it definitely counts as a free decision. But again, that definition is so incomplete that it doesn't really explain much, or help us understand the will any better.
Proverbs 21:2
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes..."
Verdict: Proposition 7 is an incomplete definition, and not helpful
Case 8: We are free agents: we determines our own choices (they are not externally determined)
No one argues that external stuff does not influence our decisions, because obviously external stuff does influence our decisions all the time.
Genesis 42:1
"When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?'"
However, I think that it is fairly reasonable to say that a choice is only free, by any meaning of the word, if it is determined not by external factors, but by internal choice. For example, if I push the table, I externally determine it's movement. It is not a free agent. If I push Tim so that he falls and breaks the vase - that action was determined by me, and not him, and he cannot be held responsible for the broken vase. To say "responsible" implies that an agent can "respond." A cat, on the other hand, could be said to have free will because it internally determines to try to walk accross the room. I can influence the cat's decision in many ways, but it makes the final choice.
Joshua 24:15
"...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve"
At different points in life, we may be compelled by this, or enslaved by that, but I think that to say that man is a free agent, a being who always has free will, must always internally determine his or her own choices. A free agent, a cat, may be trapped in a cage, or a free agent mule may be kicked until it moves, but they still have the final word on how to respond to that. A person may be enslaved by desires, or pressured by other people, but as long as his choices are internally determined, I would say that it counts as free. This definition makes sense, and is very practically helpful to descibing and understanding people. You can identify with a slave, but you cannot empathize with an inanimate object. We only can empathize and relate to free agents, rather than robots or zombies.
Proverbs 12:10[Cruelty is equating non-free agents and free agents: "to make an omlet you have to break eggs..."]
"A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."
Verdict: Proposition 8 seems to fit as an accurate working definition
Case 9: We are free: we are not slaves; we live in a "free country;" we are not compelled to do stuff we don't want to do
How is this country any "freer" than the next one? We can go to church, but we cannot pray in schools. We can grow strawberries, but we cannot build a house on our property in Oregon. We can buy food, but we cannot refuse to recycle. We can drive cars, but we cannot talk on our cell phones while driving. We are compelled to do all sorts of things in this country. The idea of a free country is the idea that what we are forced to do in this country is better than what we would be forced to do in another country. That may be true. Perhaps true freedom is having the better kind of freedom
However, it is not true to say that we are not slaves. We will always be slaves to someone or something. You cannot serve God and mammon. But you also cannot serve nothing.
Romans 6:18, 20
"And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness."
You are slaves to sin, or slaves to righteousness, but you will never not be a slave.
Verdict: Proposition 9 is false
Case 10: We are practically free from some entities, and not free from others.
I think that, given the above sentiments, this follows very logically. We are free from some things, like being under the dominion of sin, but are not free from other things, like being under the dominion of righteous. We are free from the laws of England, but not free from the laws of America. In Christ, we are free from what is harmful to us, and that is a much better type of freedom than being free to sin all we want! True freedom is having the better freedom.
Verdict: Proposition 10 is true
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Most all of these definitions are useful for this and that. I still say "free lunch" and "fat free yogurt" and argue that slaves are not free. Mainly, in this blog, I was only discussing to what extent all humans are free - to try to discuss in what way free will is free.
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