Are we all the result of (prior) conditioning or programming...?

yes,

we're the product of our environment and experiences.

Mountainmanbob said:

the others were destined to follow the devil

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Did God destine Adam n Eve to follow the devil ???

Neogaia777 said:

Now how is that so, or how can that be so...?

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You can ask God, and He definitely has the answer.

As far as "judging" goes, we are indeed to judge all things righteously.

And Christians are not free to speculate either. Unless one has solid Scripture to support one's beliefs, it is unwise to say anything.

Neogaia777 said:

Are we all the result of (prior) conditioning or programming...? Or are all our life choices based on, or are all the result of (prior) conditioning or programming...?

"All of us" say, all the way up to "now" or not...?

Is our life(s) one big equation...? All the result of prior conditioning or programming....? And choice really an illusion, or can be all predicted, and is entirely predictable, at least, or not...?

If you had someone else's life down to "every single smallest experience or condition", would you "be them" basically...? And would you make all the same exact choices they did in their lives...? Or is there something that separates us and makes us all different in some way, with "choices"...? And even if we did have all their conditions and experiences down to the smallest degree, would we might have done it differently, regardless of that...? Or not...?

For example Adam and Eve... If you were Adam and/or Eve, would you have done it, or chose differently, or not...?

And all of the peoples choices after that, all a result of everything prior to that, or not...?

Comments...?

Even and including prior conditions of even in the womb, or prior preexisting hereditary or genetic conditions even... If you had all the exact same (conditions, conditioning, experiences) as someone else, would you be like them, or exactly like them, basically... In all their life choices after that and "everything" basically...?

Or is there something that separates us and makes us different that way...?

Or are we all really only following "one big program" basically...? All the way up to "now" basically...? And are all entirely predictable say, by a God...?

Comments...?

God Bless!

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Of course we have a heredity that predisposes us in certain ways. It is, for example difficult to deny our sexual instincts actually exist. There are other instincts. There are intriguing stories of twins reared separately that pursue astonishingly similar life patterns.

But our instincts are open instead of closed, meaning we can make choices what to do about them. Our environments are also different and offer us different choices.

I always think about Saul meeting Samuel. Saul was just looking for lost beasts. He was in complete charge of every step he took. God told Samuel He was sending the future king to him.

I conclude we have free will sometimes. Not always.

Neogaia777 said:

Even and including prior conditions of even in the womb, or prior preexisting hereditary or genetic conditions even... If you had all the exact same (conditions, conditioning, experiences) as someone else, would you be like them, or exactly like them, basically... In all their life choices after that and "everything" basically...?

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My brother was raised the same way I was, and he turned out to be gay. I turned to another option, I wandered alone for a long time, and I finally agreed to God's will, and joined a monastery. Did Jack choose to follow God's love into a loving relationship with his partner that has existed for 40 years? I can't say no. I don't know. Did I follow where God led? I'm pretty sure.

Neogaia777 said:

Does God already pre-know all of that...? Before it happens to and with us, and can so predict it all way ahead of time...?

There are some things that happen or that we are exposed to or are predisposed to before birth also, that need to be "figured into that" (that equation, that program) as well... Our experiences in the womb, our genetic or hereditary make up, that sort of thing... But does, or can, or does God "know it all", "all of that" way beforehand, and way ahead of time, and how that will affect and/or make up "us" and how "all that" will affect and influence our choices and decision making processes, that sort of thing...? or not...?

God Bless!

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Yes, of course, God knows all things. God does not manipulate us but has given us the ability to choose. Even in the Garden of Eden, we were free. In that environment life and decisions were easy unobstructed by hard choices and confused minds; we naturally knew what to do and answers came easily. But our parents needed to be tested, and they failed the test and looked inside themselves instead of outward toward God. Now, on the outside of Eden, life is difficult. Inside they could go and do as they pleased with only one restriction, “Do not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, or you will die.” God was in the Garden and ruled there as the King. Outside Eden, there was a different ruler and Prince who governed and he, likewise, had easy rules to follow. Satan allowed all of his subjects to eat from any tree in his garden except for the One in the middle of the garden, the Tree of Life. Satan’s threats of death resonated well with the now confused and fallen nature of men who lived in fear of death. Into this garden, our Father sent His Son with a message of hope, freedom, and life and had his words preserved, for all generations, in a Book detailing how to escape from the garden of death. His instruction was to read the Book and keep the instructions not looking to the right or to the left but staying on the straight and narrow path. But, Christians have not kept His words. Christians use their “reasoning” powers to try and figure out what God is saying in the Book and bend and twist His words to make sense of their natural self’s. That process is the history of the Church. Man cannot reverse engineer God’s Book; even when it doesn’t make sense it must still be followed. He has thrown us a safety line and has said, “hold on tight and don’t let go and I will get you out of the deep dark woods of this world.” “But, if you see a more pleasant path, do not take it, just keep holding on to the safety line and don’t look at your surroundings or look back and you will be safe. It really is that easy.