Up@dawn 2.0 (blogger)

Delight Springs

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Final Post by: Jasmine McWilliams-Shore

Free Will. Real or Illusion?

What is free will you might ask. Free will is the power or capacity to choose among alternatives or to act in certain situations independently of natural, social, or divine restraints. 

The question to this is as follows: Is Free will Real or is it just an Illusion? 

I am here to tell you that Free will is in fact real. 

The picture above depicts free will. If you search free will on google you can find a picture exactly like this one but with a road sign. I chose the one without the road sign because life doesn't always give instructions on what to do. Adding onto that, this is a prime example of this being my own free will to choose the picture without the roadsign. 

I am a Christian. You may wonder what that has to do with free will at all. Below are two bible verses that state information on free will: 



The first verse, from Genesis which is the first book of the Christian bible, shows that if Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree, they will face the consequences. They then go on to eat from the only tree that God instructed them not to eat from. They are tempted by Satan, not forced, which is why they were banished from the garden.

The Second verse, from James which is also in the New Testament, shows how free will is real. It states that God is not tempted by evil, we are. We make our own decisions, whether that be random or pre-decided. 

Another point I read is as follows: "In theology the existence of free will must be reconciled with God’s omniscience and goodness (in allowing people to choose badly) and with divine grace, which allegedly is necessary for any meritorious act." In saying that people are "allowed" to choose badly, that is an example of free will. It is their own choice to make a bad decision because ultimately you can and should choose to always do good. 

 In conclusion from the points above, you can see that free will is in fact real. You have decisions and you choose which decisions to make. Whether those decisions you are given are good ones or bad ones, in the end you choose what is done. 


Resources:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Free will. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 4, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/free-will

Pin on Genesis. (n.d.). Pinterest. Retrieved May 4, 2021, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358458451586923131/

What Does the Bible Say About Free Will? (n.d.). 100 Bible Verses about Free Will. Retrieved May 4, 2021, from https://www.openbible.info/topics/free_will

Kastrup, B. (2020, February 5). Yes, Free Will Exists. Scientific American Blog Network. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/yes-free-will-exists/#:%7E:text=At%20least%20since%20the%20Enlightenment,neuroscience%20had%20settled%20the%20question.&text=In%20this%20context%2C%20a%20free,would%20be%20an%20undetermined%20one.



1 comment:

  1. "In saying that people are "allowed" to choose badly, that is an example of free will. It is their own choice to make a bad decision because ultimately you can and should choose to always do good." But if the omniscient and omnipotent creator fashioned you with your particular strengths AND weaknesses, and knew just how they'd motivate your choices, it's difficult not to see that god-creature relation as analogous to that of the puppeteer and puppet. Genuine free will must surely transpire in a world in which nobody, human or divine, KNOWS what I'll do next... a world in which, whatever I do, I COULD have done otherwise.

    So it's not just that I get to choose my actions, if I'm free, but that my choices are un-fore-ordained. I really could have chosen the road less traveled by, but it was finally up to me.

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