Does God have a free will?

[Der Alte]

God does not lie, so if he said he will not, he will not? ...

Where?

 

[th1bill]

God is omniscient. He never learned anything and never changed his will having willed all. We see his will unfolding but it is rooted in eternity and unchangeable.

Dave, I've not read the entire string and if you have already covered that, that is so glaringly absent here. Please, on what do you base upon?

 

[visionary]

Does God have a free will? Does he will his attributes? Or do his attributes determine his will?

I believe God does not have a free will. Because He is love. And He is perfect. And any change in his will determined by love and righteousness would be to imperfection.

He is methodical and every decision He makes is of His own Free Will but wisely thought through to the infinite degree to make sure that it is worthy of eternal life. He embodies His decisions and thus they become His attributes. And He lives by them.

 

[BarnyFyfe]

I don't mean to put words in anyone's mouth but are we to hold that God is a slave...

To Himself?

 

[BarnyFyfe]

I've always felt it was a serious mistake to think that God is bound by any of the limitations of our comprehension.

For instance time. It is linear. With the exception of miraculous account in Scripture we consider it as marching on unstoppable into the future and irreversible. But can God be bound by this matter of His conception, design and construction?

No. It is as His plaything. And yet I have actually heard sermons that state He is powerless to control it. Unbelievable.

To tread upon the sacred ground of what God is capable of or not could in effect be attempting to recreate Him in our own image.

When the Bible says He cannot lie, should we interpret this as if there was some deficiency in Him which rendered Him incapable of performing the calculations and expressions necessary to do so?

No, the reason the Bible says He cannot lie is because His word has inherent creative power (Isaiah 55:11). If Mary had told Jesus to answer the door and tell the bill collector that Joseph wasn't at home and had he complied (let's say that unbeknownst to Him, Joseph was hiding somewhere in the house): Joseph would have instantly disappeared and indeed would not have been at home.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Does God have a free will? Does he will his attributes? Or do his attributes determine his will?

I believe God does not have a free will. Because He is love. And He is perfect. And any change in his will determined by love and righteousness would be to imperfection.

The Will of God. It is all over scripture. It is His will, His creation and His will to do what He pleases. We have our own will, as we are made in His image. Back to your statement that God does not have free will, sounds absurd to me.
Blessing.

 

[Shrewd Manager]

Does God have a free will? Does he will his attributes? Or do his attributes determine his will?

I believe God does not have a free will. Because He is love. And He is perfect. And any change in his will determined by love and righteousness would be to imperfection.

Well, God was committed from the outset to His ultimate plan, which is the salvation and rebirth of all creation - for God to be all in all.

Can He change His mind and decide to condemn ppl to hell forever? This would amount to a variation to the divine plan.

As you say, if He did so, He'd no longer be perfect, in fact He'd be sinning, falling short of His universal promise. He'd cease to be God at that moment, having fallen into the limitations of creation, just another false idol in the hands of angry sinners.

 

[BarnyFyfe]

Well, God was committed from the outset to His ultimate plan, which is the salvation and rebirth of all creation - for God to be all in all.

Can He change His mind and decide to condemn ppl to hell forever? This would amount to a variation to the divine plan.

As you say, if He did so, He'd no longer be perfect, in fact He'd be sinning, falling short of His universal promise. He'd cease to be God at that moment, having fallen into the limitations of creation, just another false idol in the hands of angry sinners.

Wouldn't committal require freedom?

 

[Shrewd Manager]

Wouldn't committal require freedom?

Surely. By Myself I have sworn, sayeth the Lord.

 

[Eloy Craft]

Does God have a free will? Does he will his attributes? Or do his attributes determine his will?

I believe God does not have a free will. Because He is love. And He is perfect. And any change in his will determined by love and righteousness would be to imperfection.

If God possessed love it would restrict Him, confine Him within it's boundaries. But God is love. A different relationship enjoyed between love freedom and will.

God doesn't do this or that because it's good or love requires it. That is how it is when one has love .

this or that is good because God did it. Absolute freedom

 

[zoidar]

I've always felt it was a serious mistake to think that God is bound by any of the limitations of our comprehension.

For instance time. It is linear. With the exception of miraculous account in Scripture we consider it as marching on unstoppable into the future and irreversible. But can God be bound by this matter of His conception, design and construction?

No. It is as His plaything. And yet I have actually heard sermons that state He is powerless to control it. Unbelievable.

To tread upon the sacred ground of what God is capable of or not could in effect be attempting to recreate Him in our own image.

When the Bible says He cannot lie, should we interpret this as if there was some deficiency in Him which rendered Him incapable of performing the calculations and expressions necessary to do so?

No, the reason the Bible says He cannot lie is because His word has inherent creative power (Isaiah 55:11). If Mary had told Jesus to answer the door and tell the bill collector that Joseph wasn't at home and had he complied (let's say that unbeknownst to Him, Joseph was hiding somewhere in the house): Joseph would have instantly disappeared and indeed would not have been at home.

My thoughts:
I think that God cannot lie, means God cannot lie and stay true to His character, and of course God always chooses to stay true to himself. In that sense He can't lie. I hate liversausage, I never eat it. It doesn't mean that I can't choose to eat it, just that I don't want to, and never will choose to.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Does God have a free will? Does he will his attributes? Or do his attributes determine his will?

I believe God does not have a free will. Because He is love. And He is perfect. And any change in his will determined by love and righteousness would be to imperfection.

A person's will is determined by their desire. God's will is determined by His nature. I suppose it depends on what you mean by "free". God is free to do as He pleases within the boundaries of His nature. Conditional free will, if you like.

Can God send believers to hell?

Unbelievers are already in hell, just as believers already in heaven.

 

[Dave L]

The Will of God. It is all over scripture. It is His will, His creation and His will to do what He pleases. We have our own will, as we are made in His image. Back to your statement that God does not have free will, sounds absurd to me.
Blessing.

You are confusing the use of the term "will". God's will is perfect and cannot change. That's one use of the term. Another is his will for believers. And his will for unbelievers, all summed up in his perfect unchangeable will.

 

[Dave L]

He is methodical and every decision He makes is of His own Free Will but wisely thought through to the infinite degree to make sure that it is worthy of eternal life. He embodies His decisions and thus they become His attributes. And He lives by them.

I think this is backwards. Because he can choose his attributes without a brain.

 

[Dave L]

Dave, I've not read the entire string and if you have already covered that, that is so glaringly absent here. Please, on what do you base upon?

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 (KJV 1900)

“For I am the LORD, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 (KJV 1900)

“God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” Numbers 23:19 (KJV 1900)

 

[Dave L]

God has a free will to direct his creation and choose his elect. What he isn't free to do is sin, which goes against his nature.

Gordon Clark, Presbyterian, said God cannot sin. Sin is a violation of a law and there is no law or God he must answer to. Meaning he cannot sin.

 

[Dave L]

Yes he does have free will because no one would control him. He is perfect and he decides to be perfect

If he decides to be perfect it is before he has a brain. He is perfect and planned all according to that.

 

[Dave L]

Read the old testament God changes his mind at least once or twice when Moses for instance convinces him not to kill His people.

Perhaps God can have multiple personalities and has given himself a personality that has human-like characteristic to which he could then use to interact with us in a way that we could understand... who are we to know.

Attempting to understand God in this way is something beyond any human comprehension. Read Ecclesiastes, it's written by the wisest man who ever lived.

Read it through the NT and you will see he is relating to primitive people as a really big man they can understand.

 

[Dave L]

In God there is the Mystery of Person-hood, wherein Personal will precedes nature and determines it. In other words, which may be more understandable, God personally determines Gods nature and defines it, and Himself is not determined or defined by it. The God of the Greek philosophers is not the God of Christians. They considered God more in terms of a Divine essence. Orthodox Christians consider God in terms of being utterly free and unrestricted unity of three Divine Persons. The Godhead is said to be "unchanging and eternally the same" (based on James 1:17), but this is because the Divine Persons will it to be so.

But this is a very good thing that you've brought up for discussion.

This means God chose to have a brain while not having one.

 

[Dave L]

Yes, God is also the author of free will.

God moves all including the will. It cannot move itself.