Hi, folks. Earlier today, I saw a comment on a Perspectives piece that I decided to use for a Religion discussion. It’s short and quite direct:
“Actually free will doesn’t exist.”
Before I ask the questions, we need to define what free will is. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition reads as follows:
“1 : voluntary choice or decision
2 : freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention”
So, then. According to the user I quoted, free will doesn’t exist. As they made their belief in Jesus clear, that would mean that God has decided everything for humans. What we wear, what we eat, what car we drive. Additionally, does that mean that:
- God chose for Adam Lanza to murder 20 innocent children and 7 more adults?
- God chose for a woman to be raped and impregnated by her own father?
- God chose Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols to carry out the mass murder of 168 people?
What do you think? Do humans have free will or is God making our choices for us?
Fossil
Article URL : https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freewill