Intelligent design ≠ free will

[Windir]

If God planned and created us through evolution, how can there be free will? It means our lives and progression as a species is entirely preconfigured by God, rather than random natural selection. Thus, every move we make is pre-calculated by a divine mind. Or is it that free will "emerged" with homo sapiens and entered history with Jesus Christ?

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Not all TE believe that man is totally evolved. I personally believe there was an "earth man" that came about through TE and then "Eden man" Adam was created. Earth man mixed with GOE man. This is where we are today.

 

[Job 33:6]

If God planned and created us through evolution, how can there be free will? It means our lives and progression as a species is entirely preconfigured by God, rather than random natural selection. Thus, every move we make is pre-calculated by a divine mind. Or is it that free will "emerged" with homo sapiens and entered history with Jesus Christ?

The problem of free will has nothing to do with the theory of evolution. It's like asking what would happen if Jesus was never crucified, then suggesting that people have no free will because God knew that His work would be done before it happened.

If Jesus could prophesies about the future, how could there be free will if the future were already set?

The question has nothing to do with the theory of evolution, it is it's own topic of free will.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

There is also the concept that God in fact does not know everything that is going to happen. Nor does He control everything that happens. The idea goes that when He created the universe He imparted some of His own sovereignty and power into the things that He created. This means everything in creation has the right to exist and interact with everything else in creation. This means His creation is indeed independent of God and anything can happen by natural course.
The side of a hill is covered with snow and ice. The snow melts and some of the soil is washed off the side of the hill. A rock is dislodged from the side of the hill. The rock rolls down the hill and hits someone in the head. None of this required any action of God. There is no deep or profound meaning to what happened. It was by definition and act of nature, random, a chance occurrence, and an accident. Of course God is still sovereign over His creation and could intervene in this event. But as reality shows these things happen all the time and it is self evidence that He in fact does not intervene.

 

[Resha Caner]

The problem of free will has nothing to do with the theory of evolution.

In some ways. In other ways it does. It raises questions of whether free will can emerge from any biological organism or whether God "poofed" it into us.

 

[stevevw]

If God planned and created us through evolution, how can there be free will? It means our lives and progression as a species is entirely preconfigured by God, rather than random natural selection. Thus, every move we make is pre-calculated by a divine mind. Or is it that free will "emerged" with homo sapiens and entered history with Jesus Christ?

Humans have a lot in common with animals so in that sense we may have evolved along similar lines. Whether that was some sort of theistic evolution or a sudden creation know one really knows. It is hard to deny evolution but it is also hard to deny design so maybe there is a middle ground where God installed the blueprint for life in the living cell and it has the ability to generate greater complexity and variety.

Nevertheless somewhere along with the line, humans became a higher level species in that we have a conscience and know right from wrong. I believe this is not just an evolved ability that has been learned and based on intelligence but is intuitive like a law of nature. Because of this, we have free will to choose right or wrong. They go together. If we know right from wrong then we understand the consequences of our actions. This is also inherent in us in that we experience guilt when we commit a wrong and joy and peace when we do the right thing.

The fascinating thing is how more and more people are turning to consciousness regardless of religion. Looking beyond the material world. We all know it is there and without it, there is no self-reflection and awareness of the truth about right and wrong. We can harden our hearts to God's truth (that little voice in us that tells us right from wrong) and that is when we can rationalize our own versions of morality including there is no truth or free will.

 

[coffee4u]

Humans have a lot in common with animals so in that sense we may have evolved along similar lines. Whether that was some sort of theistic evolution or a sudden creation know one really knows.

We know exactly how God made us, the Bible tells us clearly.
Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Whether you choose to believe it is another thing.

 

[Stephen3141]

If God planned and created us through evolution, how can there be free will? It means our lives and progression as a species is entirely preconfigured by God, rather than random natural selection. Thus, every move we make is pre-calculated by a divine mind. Or is it that free will "emerged" with homo sapiens and entered history with Jesus Christ?

As with all sorts of other posts, I would ask what you mean by "evolution".

If you are asserting that God "created us through" the current scientific
definition of "evolution", then you are saying that God made these changes
in biological life through random dynamics. (This is a mathematical concept.)

But, as the Intelligent Design authors have mathematically demonstrated,
you CANNOT explain the complex information encoded in biological life,
through random mutations.

You CANNOT logically claim that God used the current model of evolution,
to randomly produce human beings. So, what do you mean by "evolution"???

 

[SavedByGrace3]

As with all sorts of other posts, I would ask what you mean by "evolution".

If you are asserting that God "created us through" the current scientific
definition of "evolution", then you are saying that God made these changes
in biological life through random dynamics. (This is a mathematical concept.)

But, as the Intelligent Design authors have mathematically demonstrated,
you CANNOT explain the complex information encoded in biological life,
through random mutations.

You CANNOT logically claim that God used the current model of evolution,
to randomly produce human beings. So, what do you mean by "evolution"???

Genesis 1:11 KJV
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

What brought forth the plants mentioned?
Genesis 1:12 KJV
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:20 KJV
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Genesis 1:24 KJV
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

In each case, God empowered the elements of the earth (with His words) to bring forth life.
All the details are debatable, but the fact is the creation was enabled to "bring forth" life. That enablement continues today. If life disappeared today, the elements would simply do it again. God created life, but in this case, we see that He used his life-making machine to do it.