A Conversation on Free Will

NOTE:  The formatting on this is a little bit rough.  

It originated as a conversation I had with a 

seeker on the topic, but I liked this format so 

well I thought it would work here.  I realize this 

is not an academic format, and would never 

pass it off as such, but if it is too distracting or 

too difficult to follow, please comment 

below and I'll fix it.
Thanks.

God not only knows the future, He knows all possible futures.

God not only knows this reality, but all possible realities.  Further, He knows which of those possible realities we are in, and therefore, knows what we will do.

But, as I'm fond of saying, "God's foreknowledge is not determinative."

That is, by knowing what WILL happen, God does not CAUSE that to happen.

For example,

God knows that tomorrow, I will commit a sin.

God does not CAUSE me to sin, but He knows it will happen.

ok.  So now we must ask "Why?"

Why did God create a universe like this?

Why does the possibility for evil exist?

Why do children get bone cancer and high school girls get raped?

because of sin

But what is Sin?

Sin is our disobedience to God.

That disobedience corrupts everything.

So God did not create a world where people could get cancer

but sin corrupted the world God created.

But why did God give us the capacity to sin in the first place?

Why did He not create us incapable of sin?

Love.

Suppose you really love a girl, and you want her to love you back.

So you send her cards and flowers and candies

you ask her out, you buy her gifts

but over and over again, she rejects you

Now, you're a big, powerful, 6 foot 4 inch, 300-pound man, and she's a little tiny 4 foot 9 inch, 98-pound woman....

so you decide you're going to force her to love you

Is that possible?

Can you force her to feel love for you?

not at all

You might be able to force her to SAY she loves you, but it won't be genuine love.

Because love cannot be forced

If love is forced, it ceases to be love.

it becomes something else.

Next question:  What does God own?

God owns absolutely everything, including our bodies and our possessions

not to mention the rest of the universe

But God does not own our love.

He DESERVES it, to be sure

But He cannot take it.

For us to love, we must also be free NOT to love.

Otherwise, that love is not love, but something else.

What is it?

I don't know, but it is not love.

My sister had a doll when we were kids.

When you push a button on its back, it would say "I love you."

It was kind of neat, but I never felt an emotional attachment to it.

Why?  Because it had no choice in the matter.

It could not do anything BUT say "I love you."

But it didn't really love me, and I intuitively knew this.

God cannot force us to love Him.

But that is what He wants.

That is the only thing, in all of existence, that He cannot seize for himself.

So, in order for us to actually love God, we must be free to not love Him.  That is why He has given us free will.

Free will is the thing that makes real love possible.