What do you think? Do YOU have or exercise Free Will? Or, are you a fatalist? This position really does give you a ‘way out’ because you don’t have any responsibility if you have no control. This point is sufficient for me to NOT believe in fatalism. Fatalism is nothing more than a lame excuse! Then again, you may be a person who believes in predestination to the point that the individual has no say in their lives because they are ‘predestined’ to (fill in the blank). To me, that is a warped and incorrect definition of predestination. If all we are is predestined to () then why give us minds to make decisions… to think?
“The question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us.” (C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”)
We do put the accent on the wrong sy-llab-le at times and I think this is what Lewis is saying. When we don’t come to the Lord to discover His plans for us – who we are, what we are intended to be – then we can easily miss our vision and mission. Or minimally get sidetracked into a quest-less rabbit trail.
I believe that the best case made for Free Will that I have found is also written by C.S. Lewis (“The Case for Christianity”):
“God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can’t. If a thing is free to be good it’s also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they’ve got to be free.
Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (…) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth
paying.” [emphases, mine]
Truly Lewis’ insight is revelatory. His argument about and for Free Will gives us not only knowledge, but a context in which to view our Free Will ‘stance’ – what we believe and how we act on this. But I will hasten to point out that if you accept this definition and context for Free Will, it comes with responsibilities. We go into this with eyes wide open. Free Will is not for the faint hearted. Than again, if we do as John 15:4 says and abide in Him, we’re not alone because He is with us.
For me, the bottom line is that whatever, as in everything, we do and say is based on ‘something’. That something is our personal philosophy/foundation. When we make a decision, good/bad/indifferent, there are always ‘consequences’ and
ramifications from that decision. But we are also a creation that can learn and grow and change and improve, so that when we act and embrace our Free Will, we will be able to correct any missteps.
Ultimately, it really is always our decision. We do have free will and it is our choice to act on this… the alternative is???
