Christianity is not a religion of Fatalism. Fatalism means being a slave to a series of pre-destined things (a "plan" if you will) that are going to happen regardless of what we say, do, act, think, feel, and so on.
Basically, we are toy trains on a track, unable to divert from the chosen path, given to us by God. Everything has a purpose, a reason, a place.. and people support Fatalism in Christianity (sometimes called "Destiny," which is just a sugar-coated term for Fatalism) by saying "God is Omniscient and Omnipotent, so this is the only way."
Is it the only way to view the issue?
No, as you must realize by now if you've read anything else on this site, there is almost never "one right way" to view anything when it comes to Spirituality.
Fatalism is not an attractive concept. It would basically mean that the idea of "free will" is a fraud, and neither you nor I have any control over our lives. We've been put in our place, we've had our batteries wound up, and we've been sent out into the world to run our course until the day we die. And God planned all of it.
But logic is also from God, and this is not a logical concept when it comes to Free Will, and below I'll explain why.
A Love Story
One of the greatest gifts God has ever given humanity, has been the gift of Free Will. We are able to choose our own paths in life, and we are also able to choose our own paths without God. This already begins to debunk the concept of Destiny because, if God had things His way, He would easily make everyone love Him, hands down. Wouldn't you? Why would you create a world of creatures who turn their backs on you?
Religion is essentially a love note to the World, from God. And if there's one thing you can't have in a love note, is "Dad made me love you."
True love can't be born from force. To have our hands tied would mean our "choice" is irrelevant, pre-programmed into us from day One. The idea of God's creations loving and adoring their Creator is made null and void if we are not able to choose to love God freely.
Unfortunately, anything good tends to have an equally bad counter-part: If we can freely choose to love God, we can also freely choose to turn our backs on Him, or even hate Him.
But in order for us to have the ability to love God at all, God had to hand us over the keys to our own destinies. And just like a nervous parent the day their child takes the car out alone for the first time, I can only imagine what God must feel like as His creations wander away from the nest, and make both good and bad choices for themselves, all on their own.
These "cars" have tracking devices...
What must be worse for God as well, is to have the ability to know what is going to transpire. And this is precisely where some Christians lose the battle with logic, along with others such as Atheists who use this exact conundrum to counter the ideas of faith and God. It's something called the Omnipotence Paradox.
In other words, if God knows everything that is about to happen... why doesn't He stop it? If He doesn't stop it, He must be cruel and not benevolent.
In essence, we've already proven this theory debunked in the above paragraphs. Free Will to humanity was a gift, so that we may choose our own lives. To revoke that Free Will and interfere in our lives, would essentially be saying "I made a mistake, I need to fix this". But, God doesn't make a mistake of that nature, which would essentially strip Him of being "God" at all.
Some people argue that giving us the choice to love God is not a benevolent act at all; but truly it is. The gift of free-will is not limited to loving God, but each other as well, along with every last choice we will ever make in our entire lives. If God wanted another community of Angels, He would have created that instead. Obviously there is something more to this mortal life we all live, even if we cannot fully comprehend it's essence in the present.
Does God know what we will do next?
Yes. And it doesn't counter-act the idea of Free Will at all. This is because God created time, and that means God is above / outside the concept of time.
This means God can see what we are about to do, and what we have already done, all at once -- but without taking away our choices. God sees the choices we have made, and the ones we will make, without interfering in those choices at all. There is no paradox in this, when you consider that the Creator of Time is not bound by time.
Why doesn't God stop Satan? Evil?
The concept of Satan is a confusing one in and of itself and one that requires a wide variety of consideration in and of itself, but for this article let's go ahead and call Satan an actual fallen angel who is doing evil throughout the world.
Why doesn't God stop Satan? Essentially because Satan made his choice as well. On top of this, Satan does not do anything that removes our free will. Keep reading into the next section for an explanation.
As for Evil, it is human beings who make the choices to do evil and wrongdoing in this world, and this is not something with which God can interfere. As much joy as it must bring God to see us choose good -- He cannot turn around and stop Evil, else strip us of our very nature that He Himself had already given us.
God cannot contradict Himself -- if He could, it would essentially strip the idea of "perfection" from Him, and the concept of "God" becomes a moot point.
Do Angels have free will?
There is no scripture or evidence stating that they do not, although it is generally accepted that the nature of Angels is much different from that of human beings and other mortal creations. Angels are eternal servants of God, and are pleased to do God's work; however, as is obvious in the case of the fallen angels, God has obviously given them a choice.
Jude 1:6 -- "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home -- these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day."
One theory to consider is that this choice is not exactly the same as human-born Free Will. This would make sense as Free Will was a gift given to the world by God, but Angels are not of the mortal world at all. In essence, Angels were created good and as beings of Light, to do the good work of God at all times -- however, neither are they bound to a life of Fatalism.
What they do have is a choice they can make: To remain in the Holy state in which they were created, the kind, loving, obedient servants of Light and God they were created to be... or to be beings of free-will, who then become responsible for their own actions for the rest of eternity.
And eternity is a long, long time, and there would be no "returning" from this choice. This makes sense considering the fact that Human beings do not see God, but Angels are able to be directly in His presence. What being chooses to then go off on his or her own to do his or her own deeds and own desires, when you are in the presence of the eternal Creator of All?
Only pure selfish intent could rip any entity away from perfection.. and once in a fallen state, there would be no "choosing to go back." You would have made your choice... and in that choice you must remain.
All in all, there is really no way to entirely grasp why an Angel rebels against God; however, what it results in is much negativity rather than anything positive, creating what scripture will call a "fallen angel".
Just as God does not interfere in the free-will of human beings, so too do the Fallen have no ability to interfere either, as this is how God has created the mortal world. As a result, not being members of the same mortal realm as Human beings, these members of the fallen most likely have no physical power over human beings at all, except the ability to coerse from afar (whisper in people's ear, so to speak) -- leading humans to listen to the wrong voice, and make the wrong choices.
These actions are still our own, and only we can truly take responsibility.
In the end, we will only know the true nature of God and His creations when we are returning to Him after death. Not something we need think much about now, except to be generally aware that these concepts do exist in some way.
Is there no point in asking God for guidance?
Are you kidding? Free-Will means the exact opposite: Pray people. And pray a lot.
We have no idea what we're doing down here! Who knows what tomorrow brings? God knows. God is the only one above all Who has any clue what is good for us, and what is bad. Sure, we can make a choice between both the beneficial and the detrimental, but that doesn't mean we're in this blind, or alone.
God is with us, and part of loving God is asking for His guidance in what is good and right for each of our lives. As discussed above, just because God knows all of our choices outside of the time-line does not mean we do not have full and complete control over out lives in the present. That means we can make our lives better, or worse, depending on the choices we make each and every day.
Who better to guide us than the One Being who gets to step back and see the entire world, and the entire time-line itself, all at once? If you didn't ask Him for guidance knowing that, you'd probably be a bit foolish.
God's guidance comes in many forms, none of which will ever "force" us into a situation we cannot choose to avoid. Again, the choice is ours, and the discerning of where God is leading us at any one time to live the best lives possible for both ourselves and for Him, resides within us.
Basically, we are toy trains on a track, unable to divert from the chosen path, given to us by God. Everything has a purpose, a reason, a place.. and people support Fatalism in Christianity (sometimes called "Destiny," which is just a sugar-coated term for Fatalism) by saying "God is Omniscient and Omnipotent, so this is the only way."
Is it the only way to view the issue?
No, as you must realize by now if you've read anything else on this site, there is almost never "one right way" to view anything when it comes to Spirituality.
Fatalism is not an attractive concept. It would basically mean that the idea of "free will" is a fraud, and neither you nor I have any control over our lives. We've been put in our place, we've had our batteries wound up, and we've been sent out into the world to run our course until the day we die. And God planned all of it.
But logic is also from God, and this is not a logical concept when it comes to Free Will, and below I'll explain why.
A Love Story
One of the greatest gifts God has ever given humanity, has been the gift of Free Will. We are able to choose our own paths in life, and we are also able to choose our own paths without God. This already begins to debunk the concept of Destiny because, if God had things His way, He would easily make everyone love Him, hands down. Wouldn't you? Why would you create a world of creatures who turn their backs on you?
Religion is essentially a love note to the World, from God. And if there's one thing you can't have in a love note, is "Dad made me love you."
True love can't be born from force. To have our hands tied would mean our "choice" is irrelevant, pre-programmed into us from day One. The idea of God's creations loving and adoring their Creator is made null and void if we are not able to choose to love God freely.
Unfortunately, anything good tends to have an equally bad counter-part: If we can freely choose to love God, we can also freely choose to turn our backs on Him, or even hate Him.
But in order for us to have the ability to love God at all, God had to hand us over the keys to our own destinies. And just like a nervous parent the day their child takes the car out alone for the first time, I can only imagine what God must feel like as His creations wander away from the nest, and make both good and bad choices for themselves, all on their own.
These "cars" have tracking devices...
What must be worse for God as well, is to have the ability to know what is going to transpire. And this is precisely where some Christians lose the battle with logic, along with others such as Atheists who use this exact conundrum to counter the ideas of faith and God. It's something called the Omnipotence Paradox.
In other words, if God knows everything that is about to happen... why doesn't He stop it? If He doesn't stop it, He must be cruel and not benevolent.
In essence, we've already proven this theory debunked in the above paragraphs. Free Will to humanity was a gift, so that we may choose our own lives. To revoke that Free Will and interfere in our lives, would essentially be saying "I made a mistake, I need to fix this". But, God doesn't make a mistake of that nature, which would essentially strip Him of being "God" at all.
Some people argue that giving us the choice to love God is not a benevolent act at all; but truly it is. The gift of free-will is not limited to loving God, but each other as well, along with every last choice we will ever make in our entire lives. If God wanted another community of Angels, He would have created that instead. Obviously there is something more to this mortal life we all live, even if we cannot fully comprehend it's essence in the present.
Does God know what we will do next?
Yes. And it doesn't counter-act the idea of Free Will at all. This is because God created time, and that means God is above / outside the concept of time.
This means God can see what we are about to do, and what we have already done, all at once -- but without taking away our choices. God sees the choices we have made, and the ones we will make, without interfering in those choices at all. There is no paradox in this, when you consider that the Creator of Time is not bound by time.
Why doesn't God stop Satan? Evil?
The concept of Satan is a confusing one in and of itself and one that requires a wide variety of consideration in and of itself, but for this article let's go ahead and call Satan an actual fallen angel who is doing evil throughout the world.
Why doesn't God stop Satan? Essentially because Satan made his choice as well. On top of this, Satan does not do anything that removes our free will. Keep reading into the next section for an explanation.
As for Evil, it is human beings who make the choices to do evil and wrongdoing in this world, and this is not something with which God can interfere. As much joy as it must bring God to see us choose good -- He cannot turn around and stop Evil, else strip us of our very nature that He Himself had already given us.
God cannot contradict Himself -- if He could, it would essentially strip the idea of "perfection" from Him, and the concept of "God" becomes a moot point.
Do Angels have free will?
There is no scripture or evidence stating that they do not, although it is generally accepted that the nature of Angels is much different from that of human beings and other mortal creations. Angels are eternal servants of God, and are pleased to do God's work; however, as is obvious in the case of the fallen angels, God has obviously given them a choice.
Jude 1:6 -- "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home -- these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day."
One theory to consider is that this choice is not exactly the same as human-born Free Will. This would make sense as Free Will was a gift given to the world by God, but Angels are not of the mortal world at all. In essence, Angels were created good and as beings of Light, to do the good work of God at all times -- however, neither are they bound to a life of Fatalism.
What they do have is a choice they can make: To remain in the Holy state in which they were created, the kind, loving, obedient servants of Light and God they were created to be... or to be beings of free-will, who then become responsible for their own actions for the rest of eternity.
And eternity is a long, long time, and there would be no "returning" from this choice. This makes sense considering the fact that Human beings do not see God, but Angels are able to be directly in His presence. What being chooses to then go off on his or her own to do his or her own deeds and own desires, when you are in the presence of the eternal Creator of All?
Only pure selfish intent could rip any entity away from perfection.. and once in a fallen state, there would be no "choosing to go back." You would have made your choice... and in that choice you must remain.
All in all, there is really no way to entirely grasp why an Angel rebels against God; however, what it results in is much negativity rather than anything positive, creating what scripture will call a "fallen angel".
Just as God does not interfere in the free-will of human beings, so too do the Fallen have no ability to interfere either, as this is how God has created the mortal world. As a result, not being members of the same mortal realm as Human beings, these members of the fallen most likely have no physical power over human beings at all, except the ability to coerse from afar (whisper in people's ear, so to speak) -- leading humans to listen to the wrong voice, and make the wrong choices.
These actions are still our own, and only we can truly take responsibility.
In the end, we will only know the true nature of God and His creations when we are returning to Him after death. Not something we need think much about now, except to be generally aware that these concepts do exist in some way.
Is there no point in asking God for guidance?
Are you kidding? Free-Will means the exact opposite: Pray people. And pray a lot.
We have no idea what we're doing down here! Who knows what tomorrow brings? God knows. God is the only one above all Who has any clue what is good for us, and what is bad. Sure, we can make a choice between both the beneficial and the detrimental, but that doesn't mean we're in this blind, or alone.
God is with us, and part of loving God is asking for His guidance in what is good and right for each of our lives. As discussed above, just because God knows all of our choices outside of the time-line does not mean we do not have full and complete control over out lives in the present. That means we can make our lives better, or worse, depending on the choices we make each and every day.
Who better to guide us than the One Being who gets to step back and see the entire world, and the entire time-line itself, all at once? If you didn't ask Him for guidance knowing that, you'd probably be a bit foolish.
God's guidance comes in many forms, none of which will ever "force" us into a situation we cannot choose to avoid. Again, the choice is ours, and the discerning of where God is leading us at any one time to live the best lives possible for both ourselves and for Him, resides within us.
