While this question at the outset seems to be fairly simple and straight forward, it is actually quite intricate and complex. As with almost any dialogue regarding an issue, we must first precisely define that which we are talking about. In this current discussion, we must define freedom of the will. Everyone believes something about free will, but it is surprising how varied the personal definitions are that we carry around with us. With this in mind, we have endeavored to come up with a definition that will be accepted by most everyone, and we will use this definition to analyze the question at hand.
For one to have a free will, they must at least have the ability to choose that which they desire. If one desires to have cake, but there is no cake available, they are not free to choose cake. However, if one desires to have ice cream, and they have the ability to eat the ice cream they desire, then they have the freedom to do so. It is fairly simple and straight forward. However, having the simple ability to do what one wants or desires is not enough for some to consider one to have free will. Often there will be the added requirement that one have the option to do the opposite of what they desire as well. For example, if a person desires to go for a run and they have the ability to do so, we might say they are acting according to their free will. However, what if this same person on their run begins to be chased by a neighborhood dog? This takes away the option to stop running had they wanted to. The question of them wanting to stop is no longer permissible, for they are now required to do what they would have desired to do anyway. But their freedom in doing so is now removed, since they are compelled to act accordingly. Thus we will say that free will requires two things: The ability to do what one desires and the option to do the opposite of what they desire.
As a Christian, my viewpoint on this question is drastically different from how I viewed it when I was an atheist. For an atheist, the concept of God is unacceptable. Thus to entertain the possibility that God has a free will is pointless. Meanwhile a person has a free will up to a certain point. Their free will is completely dictated by the physical world around them. If there is no God, people must either directly or indirectly control their own desires, or else they are formed during some random set of events that occur outside of their control. These desires dictate how much of a free will they will be able to enjoy. If they desire to partake in unaided human flight, they will not be free to do so. If they desire to purchase a computer, they may be free to do so only if their circumstances allow it. Do they have enough money? Is there a store nearby with the computer they want? Do they have the transportation to go to the store? If they answer yes to all the necessary questions, then they are free to get the computer. The decisions an atheist makes during their life directly affect the freedoms they are able to enjoy. If they make decisions that allow them to obtain material goods and resources, they will have more freedom. If they make decisions that allow them to gain more power and authority, they will also obtain more freedom. Freedom is entirely dictated by the physical possibilities available to the individual.
Often times, the atheist will put forth an argument refuting the free will of God if the Judeo-Christian God were to in fact exist. It may well help our purpose here to address some of these arguments. This will help our understanding of the atheistic mindset, and also help us to defend our stance as Christians that God does indeed have freedom of the will.
Argument 1: An Omniscient (all-knowing) Being Does Not Have Free Will
The argument looks something like this. If you are all-knowing, you know your future actions perfectly. Furthermore, you cannot change your future actions, otherwise your future knowledge about these actions would be wrong and you would cease to be omniscient. Therefore, you are mandated to do what you know will happen in the future, and thus you are not able to act freely.
This argument, while convincing, lacks critical insight into the nature of God. We know that God created all things. If God created all things, then He necessarily created time. The creator of something also must exist outside of that very thing. Therefore God exists outside of time. God is eternal. He is not governed by time as we are. Thus term “future actions” and the knowledge of them do not apply to God. It is difficult, indeed impossible, for us to completely understand how an eternal God views a universe that is encased within the dimensions of time. But we can come to terms with the fact that God must see all things past, present and future “instantaneously”. Therefore, God’s perfect plan was completely laid out by Him before time began, now, and forever. Would He choose to change it? If He would choose to change it, then it wouldn’t have been perfect in the first place. Could He be forced to change it? If so, then He would not be all powerful. Thus God’s omniscience does not limit God’s free will.
Argument 2: A Perfect or Moral God Has No Free Will
Out of the possible options in any situation, God will always make the best choice because He is perfectly benevolent or good. God cannot do something that is less moral or “good” than something else or else He would not be perfectly good. So, in every situation, God has only one choice: the most moral choice possible. Thus, it is argued, God cannot have free will, since He is incapable of making moral choices. There are no possibilities to choose from, only the best moral option. Similarly, a perfect God cannot choose a less than perfect option. If He did, that would make God less than perfect. But by simple definition, there can only be one perfect option. Thus God’s choice in the matter is always predetermined, and this prevents God from having free will.
Part of what this argument puts forth is true. God will always make the perfect and moral choice. What is not true in the argument is that somehow God is externally forced to make such choices. To see this, a strong personal analogy might be helpful.
One of the most foundational basic desires of a person is the desire for self preservation. In the absence of external influences or deep emotional pain, a person would always choose to live rather than die. Now let us assume that a man who has none of these external influences affecting his actions finds himself in possession of a cyanide capsule. He knows that by choosing to swallow the capsule, he will certainly die. If he chooses to not swallow the capsule, he will live a normal life. Under the presupposition that there are no external or internal influences that would interrupt his natural desire for self preservation, would the man choose to swallow the pill and kill himself? Of course he would not! He would always choose to neglect the cyanide and live peacefully. It is the better choice according to the disposition of man in the absence of certain influences.
Now it is true that perhaps the man could succumb to external pressures, or emotional depression. Men are always susceptible to such things, but God is not! God is both perfect and all powerful. No such “outside” sources can affect His judgments. His perfect power would always allow Him to choose the option He would optimally choose. And since God is immutable, that is since God does not change from one time to the next, He will always choose the same optimal option. God is not required to choose these things any more than the man in the analogy is required not to take the cyanide. But to somehow say God is incapable of free will just because He simply does not choose the lesser option in the absence of a reason to do so is quite unreasonable.
There are other arguments that one might put forward against God having free will that are similarly refuted. Each argument will take one attribute of God, his being all-powerful or all-good for example, and use these individually to refute His free will. But it is only in the context of the entire person of God and all of His attributes that we can fully understand how and why it is that God has free will. It is here that we must pause, however. Just because we have shown flaws in arguments that claim God has no free will, that does not mean that we have shown that God does indeed have free will. Let us consider that claim now.
First we must ask if God can choose to do that which He desires. It is clear that God must be able to do anything, for He is all powerful. If He were not able to do whatever He desired, that would mean that something was preventing Him from acting accordingly and would instantly remove His status of being all powerful. The more difficult part of this argument is to determine whether or not God is able to choose that which is opposite to His desire. We must first extrapolate this question to ourselves. If we were to desire something, what would prevent us from acting accordingly? First, we might find our circumstances such that they prohibit such action. If we desire food but there is no food present, we cannot eat. Second, we might have contradicting desires that must be weighed. I might desire to go camping the same weekend as my brother’s wedding, but my desire to not be severely disciplined by my mother would outweigh my desire to go camping. In this way we might find ourselves doing things that are not those which we desire.
Can these situations apply to God? We must say no. First, God could never be restricted by circumstances outside of His control simply because He is in control of all things. Second, while God does have desires that conflict, He has desires which, in His immutability, are consistently stronger than others. For example, God desires all people to act righteously all the time, but He also desires for us to make the free choice to follow His righteous ways on our own accord. God could have made every man and woman to act perfectly our whole lives, without ever deviating from a set script. However, God’s desire that we have free will and the ability to choose to follow him was greater than His desire for us to behave all the time. Thus He chooses to allow us to make mistakes and act unrighteously.
God is also all powerful. He cannot be constrained by physical limitations. He is always free to do what he desires. Then we must ask the question, “What does God desire most?” Here we will see that God desires to glorify Himself! But isn’t that selfish? Perhaps it might seem that way. That is until we look at the alternative. Who or what else is more deserving of glorification? It is obvious that if God is real, then it would be necessary that God would be most deserving of glorification.
At this point we have seen that there is ample reason to believe God indeed has free will. But there may still be confusion. There are many “gotcha” questions floating around out there in academia that are often used against God. Some may ask, “Can God create a rock so big He cannot lift it?” Others will say, “If God can’t lie, then he can’t be all powerful!” There are many others, and the reality of the situation is that there will always be another such question around the corner. The answers to all such questions though do no not need to limit God’s omnipotence, omniscience, or any of His other attributes. Rather God’s attributes are the answers to these questions. Because God is who He is, he is free to choose according to His nature at all times. He will not contradict Himself. He does not have to. He will not do anything less than perfect. He has no reason to. He will never choose to do evil, for there is no power on heaven or on earth that could ever compel him even to entertain the idea. It is not that God doesn’t have the free will to do so, He just will never be compelled to act anything that is contradictory to his nature. And God, by His very nature, is good.
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