I read an interesting piece last night about free will and a just God.
The issue is how can there be a just God when there is suffering in the world.
One traditional answer, which I thought had some weight, was that, in order to have free will, God had to endow people with the ability to disobey God and to commit wicked evil acts. Otherwise, people would be mere robots and their choices meaningless.
Now this argument does not deal with, say, earthquakes, mudslides and cancer, but it is a way to deal with human caused evil; genocide or even ordinary day to day cruelty.
But here's the rub.
Most Canadians who accept there is a God who cares about free will also accept the concept of an afterlife where each of the deceased will in some way continue as an individual.
Presumably those individuals who are somehow punished can maintain their free will but what of those in Heaven? Unless people in Heaven are to be turned into robots they will continue to have free will and can, presumably, turn away from God (perhaps that would be rare but it's possible -- recall the fall of Satan).
But in Heaven there is no suffering. So the argument fails unless we eliminate Heaven, or eliminate free will in Heaven, or accept there is, or can be, suffering in Heaven.
A problem still.
6 comments:
A semi-traditional view of the afterlife is that Heaven and hell are the same place. Reward and punishment are exactly the same process. Each individual becomes aware of the true consequences of his actions during his lifetime. In such a world. there would be no disobedience to G-d, not because of a lack of free choice, but because true awareness of the consequences of one's actions would make disobedience illogical.
Some feel heaven and hell are right here on earth.
Truth is NO ONE "knows". They can discuss, speculate and go over and over it all they want, no one knows.
It's ridiculous to think you would really know until you die.
Nobody Knows,
There has been no one back from the other side to tell us what we are missing.
Or not.
Ah, this is an age-old question that has plagued many a theologian.
C.S. Lewis and one of my favourite professors, Dr. Pierre Gilbert; propose a third alternative.
There are three accepted truths that define believers of the Abrahamaic faiths:
1. God, the creator of the universe, is all powerful and just;
2. God loves us infinitely;
3. Yet, sin and evil persist in the world.
How can sin and evil persist in a world created by an all-powerful God that loves all creation infinitely? Free will is the answer to two of the three questions.
As Adam and Eve (a metaphor for humanity) fell from grace - in attempt to become LIKE God by disobeying God's command - they left paradise and entered the world that was fraught with dangers. This is the world we live in. It is not as if God does not love us or that a Great Satan lords over us outside of paradise - it is that this world is flawed with dangers such as environmental instability, disease, and predators. We've turned our back on God and entered a world and a chasm is placed between heaven and earth.
It is here where salvation enters for the Christian whereby Christ becomes the bridge we must take to cross from this world and enter into Gods grace again.
Now, heaven is a different story. Do we have free will in heaven? I believe we do - but it is not defined as we see it today. To our heavenly bodies, emotions and feelings we have on earth such as greed, jealousy, and pride do not get in our way of being close to God. Therefore, what might seem like being "robotic" and without free will is not that at all - it's being free from our own short comings. If free will means having the ability to make mistakes then surely our heavenly bodies will have the capability to make mistakes, we have a the highest understanding of God and ourselves to guide our decision making that would never choose a mistake.
(Conversely, the question could be posed: can God create an object so heavy that even God could not lift it? I'm sure God could, but what a ridiculous question to pose!)
That said, no one knows where or what heaven will look like. What we can be certain of, to the best degree given our scriptures - is that heaven is equated to the Garden of Eden - paradise - except it is a state of higher being and illumination about God and the universe which was not available to Adam and Eve. However, that state was available to Adam and Eve and they were not willing to choose it. Had Adam and Eve chosen not to pick the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, I am sure their offspring would have; or their offspring; or THEIR offspring.
It is human nature to exercise our free will on earth - a mistake our heavenly bodies would not make in the afterlife.
Thoughts?
These are all fair points -- and it may well be that Heaven is so different that the experience on Earth is irrelevant. I guess we'll wait and see (well, that's making a big assumption! but regardless...). Thanks for the thoughtful replies!
These are complete no-brainers.
1. God permits evil in order to draw from it a greater good (the paradox of the cross). Free will is part of the answer, but this is the main point.
2. Free will implies choice, and choice is only possible in time. Heaven and hell exist in eternity, therefore concepts based in time have no application when discussing them. The choice we make in time is permanent in eternity.
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