Bushido216
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- Aug 30, 2003
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Not sure you got that last bit I just edited in. Say energy at the quantum level acts in a truly chaotic/unpredictable/random manner. If you apply this to higher levels of reality, then our actions are due to chance. Chance is still something outside of our control. And say our every move were determined by a roll of a dice, would we be accountable then?
The idea that accountability only applies when we have free will is without any basis.
God has a system of morality because He despises evil. It doesn't matter that the Pharaoh was, as Paul describes, "raised up" for God's purposes. Our lives, our destiny, are totally up to God and His mercy. The Pharaoh still went to Hell, even though God took credit for hardening his heart on a number of occasions.
Your turn to do the explaining. If the Bible specifically says that the Pharaoh was created to be an object of God's wrath, why does the Bible also hold Him accountable? And what does it mean when it says that God hardened the heart of the Pharaoh and his officials in the context of free will. Why does the Bible say that God hated Esau even before he was born (Romans 9:11-15)?
I did get the edited part.
The point remains though: If our actions are the result of chance, then there is no basis for morality. Only subjects with fully realized agency can make moral decisions. This is the reason why children are generally considered exempt from severe punishment in the afterlife, as they haven't yet realized their full agency. Presumably the same applies to the mentally infirm.
By deciding that our actions are the result of forces beyond our control, whether they be chaotic or determined, you are removing our agency. Without agency, we aren't subjects, we are tropisms. A plant isn't good or evil. It's a plant. A person who cannot make decisions isn't good or evil, they're a plant.
The ability to choose is 100% necessary for any judgment on morality, or do you suppose that plants and roaches get judged in their afterlives as well?
As far as explaining away God's actions, I don't have to. God decides the rules. If He says that I shouldn't murder people, but then decides to Flood the Earth, there's no contradiction. The Law is in God's mouth.
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