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An Additional Evidence Regarding the "Dictionary Definition" and Compatibilism
During my recent debate on Compatible Free Will as opposed to Libertarian Free Will, which was supposed to be about whether the Bible teaches Libertarian Free Will and ended up being about whether the word “choose” requires Libertarian Free Will, I omitted to provide an illustration that I think would be helpful. My esteemed disputant…
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Negative Constructive
Prologue If you try to put a square peg in a round hole, you’re asking for trouble. Those two are not compatible shapes. Their incompatibility can be seen just by looking at their shapes. The incompatibility of things we can’t see is often more difficult to determine. For example, if we have a square peg…
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Some Verses Regarding Compatible Free Will
The Bible teaches compatible, not so-called “libertarian,” free will. That means that men choose what God has foreordained or determined that they will choose. It’s the kind of free will that Calvinists speak about, and it is the kind of free will that is referred to when the Scriptures speak about “Freewill offerings.” (See, for…
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Common Man Argument for Libertarian Free Will (rebutted)
Paul Manata has an interesting, if somewhat philosophical, post that seems to sum up most of the major arguments responsive to the “Common Man” Libertarian Free Will (LFW) argument (link). It’s a good article, and I encourage folks who think that there is some merit to the “common man” argument for LFW to read it…
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Divine Determination – More in Discussion with Godismyjudge
Some Clarification and Discussion of the Topic at Hand God, in decreeing all that would come to pass, was acting freely: he was not necessitated and he was uncaused. That is to say, there is no preceding cause for the effect of God’s decree of Providence, including the special instance of Creation. One can view…
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More (or More Complete) Answers for Godismyjudge
Godismyjudge (Dan) has provided an audio response (link) to my post here (link) (see post for prior chronology). Dan seems to complain that I haven’t given a “yes or no” answer to the question that he posed. I think it would be foolish to answer a confusing (at best) or perhaps unexplainable question with a…
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Further Response to Godismyjudge
Chronology of directly related posts on Libertarian Free Will (LFW) (TF), (Dan), (TF), (Dan), (TF), (Dan), (TF), and (Dan). I had written recently: Given that we are Trinitarians, there is no reason to hold to a view that God has ever been inactive, such that there was a “first act” of God. (link) Previously I…
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LFW vs. Scripture
One of my readers, Magnus, wrote in a previous combox here (link): This whole idea that we make choices independent of our nature is foreign to Scripture. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his…
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Trying out Godismyjudge’s Clarification
Godismyjudge (Dan) has provided some clarification (link) to an earlier question to which I had responded here (link). Earlier posts in the series (first)(second). Dan had asked: “Given whatever existed before the first act, was it absolutely impossible for God to create a world which didn’t include rain on May 31, 2008[,] in the afternoon?”…
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With Man it is Impossible – A Further Response to GodIsMyJudge
This is a response to a post (link) from Godismyjudge (Dan) responding to my earlier post here (link). Dan’s response doesn’t seem to consist of much. 1) Dan seems to think that God self-determining is significant. In fact he says, “Please just let me enjoy the moment.” As demonstrated previously, though, self-determining does not equate…