Does free-will actually exist?

Christians teach the concept of 'god has given free-will to man'... choice and accountability... but do we really have free will? Christians also like to claim that god knows everything and we will be punished for our actions. Why would be given free will if god knows everything? He knows what I'm going to be doing in 1 hour from now. He knows if anyone will comment on this thread. He knows how and where I am going to die. Our whole life from start to finish is pre-determined. Free-will has been taken by a man who knows everything and there is nothing we can do about it. So if god does exist he knows whether we are going to heaven or hell, and that was determined an eternity ago, which defeats our purpose of being here on earth.

 

Very confusing ay...

Lifes full of these Un-answerable Quetions...

But say you dont bieleve in God? Then do you get Free-will.

Because if you dont bieleve how can he be real?

Thats how I think of it.

 

In my faith, we believe that few things are already decided by God, Birth/Death.
While everything else we do is our choice.

So yes I believe I have free will.

 

Simply another contradictory statement from the mighty Bible.

 

i reckon free will exists if i do something stupid i decide to do it myself i dont do stuff because anyone wants me to i do it cuz i want to

 

But how can this be true, seeing as most things that you chose to do in your lifetime, will alter you lifespan in some way or another. So is god really 'in control' of your death?

 

Exactly. I could choose to go out and binge drink and smoke right now, and continue to do so for the rest of my life. Sure enough I would die earlier than I would if I didn't do that. It's simply my choice.

 

How can you people abide by some mystical form of superior being which does not exist? You people are idiots, I know I'll probably get flamed by you. But realistically; a man who watches over everybody, knows what everybody is doing, what they are going to do? It's a complete lie, but I do thank whoever wrote the bible because to a certain extent they did promote moral, which is probably why we're so developed in modern times, but is also why we have police forces, governments, royal families and such to keep us in order.

 

Different branches of Christianity teach different things.
Calvinism: Believe everything is pre-determined, your death, who can actually follow god, the kids you will have, etc.
Protestants: Believe they have free will.

Really, it depends on what you believe.

I'd like to believe I can make my own choices and that everything is not pre-determined. Instead, it changes based on the choices one makes in life.

 

I believe in free will, Just because Christians contradict themselves doesn't mean i will stop either

 

We all have free will, but not the resources to use it.

 

Yes, we do have free will. I believe everything hamjamk said.

 

Moved to SFA.

 

Has the idea ever crossed your mind that God only set the world in motion and is watching how it plays out?

 

Where in the bible does it say this? Also, has the idea ever crossed your mind, that god doesn't exist?

 

If you think God knows your death then you don't have free-will. It's already been decided. How it is going to happen, and everything that leads up to it.

 

In a religious sense, if "God" knows all, free will is not really free will. God knows what is going to happen and you can choose to believe that you have free will, but in the end "God" would have already known what was going to happen. So your life is predetermined.

In a scientific / psychological / neurological sense, the brain gives you a sense of free will but your free will is extremely limited. Your subconscious controls most of what you choose to do and you have very limited say over that. Your mind is still in control, but your consciousness, which most people would call them, is not a lot of the time.

 

You're right OP, a lot of religions seem contradictory.

 

When God created man and woman he gave them unrestricted sovereignty in the aspect that the only command he gave them was "to be fruitful and multiply."

 

How would you account for God knowing everything, past, present, and future then?