This is kinda to religious people but in a way, it's not. If you believe God has this whole timeline of events planned and set in stone, do you think us humans have free will? That's one of the things I never understood about the bible. If everything's planned out, then why does God get mad? I saw people defending the "rape is God's will" thing since they believe everything is planned and set out by God. Well, then why attack and get mad at gays? Isn't that God's will too or is that only for other things?

Do y'all think we have free will or is everything already planned out by somebody?

I don't subscribe to religion so I personally think we do but I'm interested in y'all's thoughts.

Free will is God's greatest gift. He gives us the choice to live a life that is in accordance with what (in the Christian faith) Jesus demonstrated, helping others and living a good life. This gift is a double edged sword, however, because since the beginning of time this very free will has made it clear that humans can also sin.

Creation is nothing without the gift of free will. Christian fundamentalists, however, tend to not see the free will as that important. Those are the "rape is God's will" kinda people.

It was actually really interesting talking about these questions in my Theology class last semester.

I believe, as an atheist, that we do have more-or-less absolute free will. However, I do respect those who choose to believe otherwise.

So God doesn't have everything planned out already?

Yes, God is not forcing anyone to believe in Him.

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God gave humans free will for us to decided whether or not we decide to believe in him and follow his ways.

I read the last part as "free wifi".

I think we have free will... to an extent. Our brains can become programmed to do things in a habitual way, though, which can limit our ability to exercise free will.

as a Christian, yes.

i believe in Destiny, in that there are certain things meant to happen, but the path to getting there can always change. the ultimate milestone will remain the same, but sometimes the outcome can be different, it's all based on your choices how you get there and what happens after you've been there.

According to the priest and school I go to, God already has something planned out for us. Again it is up to us whether we decide to follow it or not.

Yes i believe we have free will. The evidence is right in front of you, its in everyone.

Yea I believe there is free will and we control our destiny.I think we have alternate futures that depend on the decisions we make in the present time. I also believe GOD allows us to find our way through the maze of life with free will.

Well SIS, if he knows the future and planned out the earth (according to some people) then wouldn't he already know what's gonna happen with that? If people don't follow the plan, then how do you really know there IS a plan?

A safe assumption to make is that the world will end eventually because (in Judeo-Christian and I believe Islam as well) there is a judgement-type event. Other than that, however, the theology of pre-determination varies from religion to religion. In the Orthodox Christian and Catholic faith, it is important to realize that God wouldn't want creation to be if we COULDN'T make our own decisions.

For example, in Genesis God makes the plants and the animals so they can multiply and bring forth new generations, implying that in a sense part of God's creation was making the Earth as he did so it COULD change and develop--another reason why creationism (saying that God created everything as we know it now in a similar way without change over time) isn't prevalent anymore. Evolution can actually be supported Biblically in this way. God created the Earth so it could change over time into something different and more beautiful.

This goes back to the whole free will thing too.

there are many plans, and a lot of times he'll nudge you in the direction he wants you to go, but ultimately it's your decisions that lead to other things. he's not going to force you, that's not who he is.

that in and of itself is kindhearted. he won't be upset if you decide not to, but he greatly appreciates it if you do.

This is my favorite philosophy debate

But idk, it's weird and such a complex issue. Let me pull out my notebook.

It's a really basic question that anybody could answer "Yes, duhhhh" to but when you really think about it, it is complex. Especially paired with the social issues in the world right now.

You know, it's very interesting to note that even in scientific terms we may not truly have free will. According to some cyclic models of the universe and its life span, we could simply be going through one iteration of an infinitely repeating universe; the Big Bang happens, events occur, and eventually a Big Crunch happens, followed by another Big Bang and identical events to the previous iteration of the universe. It's pretty interesting, although I personally doubt that we're living in a cyclic universe.

But it looks like everyone is going with the religious side of the argument so I guess I didn't need to type all that.

I think you're confusing free will with pre-determination of fate. I mean, we will ALL die. The world WILL end. that kinda stuff is non-negotiable. Imagine a piece of paper with two dots. You know you are going to connect them at SOME POINT, but the possibilities at getting there are endless.

In the Catholic faith, for example, you can have purgatory, which means that while it might take a long time for you to get from point A (birth) to point B (being in Heaven and accepting God's love), you CAN get there. It is a matter of choice. Are you going to just wander aimlessly over and over again, or are you going to use Jesus's/Mohammed's/whoever's example to be a righteous person and be a kind human being?

now this is where theologists and Christians debate endlessly. it doesn't matter whether you're so deeply involved in the religion or you just happen to know a thing or two, no one will ever really know the extent of God's omniscent ways and ability to allow free will yet still control destiny. it's just impossible to know where he stands considering he can't even walk on the Earth to explain it to us.

you seem so well informed on the subject

I'm not really talking about after we die. That's a whole different discussion. I'm more so talking about how when people say after deaths "ooh this is all apart of God's bigger plan for you". If this is set out really, then how is it necessarily free will? How do you even know this plan exists if no one tells you?