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Faith is trust/confidence in god. Belief in his mere existence is not the same thing as having faith in him. I would believe that he existed if he made himself known to me (in a way that was convincing to me). At that point I could then use my "free will" to choose to have faith in him, love him, and follow him.
The faith/belief rubric is misunderstood by the vast majority of believers. Belief that there is a God and a purpose to human life establishes the NEED to make choices between good and evil (constructive or destructive choices). Learning what choices to make is the second part of the equation that has to be done by each individual by their free will. LEARNING is the operative word here. Pets OBEY commands because they are commands with attached consequences. Humans with free will LEARN to prefer certain choices because they are good.
Love is not the result of the obedience mode. It also is not the result of convincing evidence. It freely develops in an independent being who has LEARNED what love is and why it is to be preferred. That is why God gave us free will and Dominion over the earth . . . so we could learn what love is and what constitutes good and evil as it relates to our purpose (non-arbitrary) and freely choose one or the other as we wish.
Of course, it also follows that god knows exactly what evidence is necessary to convince each and every person, and it is within his power to do so.
So, if god truly is god, and there are people who do not believe, it is not for lack of evidence, but for lack of god's will.
Nonsense. God gave us free will AND Dominion . THAT is God's WILL! His ability to do otherwise is irrelevant. He has chosen to give free will and Dominion as His EXERCISE of His WILL!!!
Nonsense. God gave us free will AND Dominion . THAT is God's WILL! His ability to do otherwise is irrelevant. He has chosen to give free will and Dominion as His EXERCISE of His WILL!!!
Right. God has the ability to set the maze so everyone gets the cheese, but it does not. Therefore god does not want everyone to get the cheese.
Right. God has the ability to set the maze so everyone gets the cheese, but it does not. Therefore god does not want everyone to get the cheese.
WE have no idea whether or not everyone gets the cheese or how many trials are allowed or when the maze running ends . . . only God does and He wants everyone to do so. That is where the faith part comes in. When you KNOW God is LOVE . . . you have FAITH everyone gets the cheese eventually. The intervening experiences before success may differ widely, however.
WE have no idea whether or not everyone gets the cheese or how many trials are allowed or when the maze running ends . . . only God does and He wants everyone to do so. That is where the faith part comes in. When you KNOW God is LOVE . . . you have FAITH everyone gets the cheese eventually. The intervening experiences before success may differ widely, however.
Go to any thread on C-D and you can tell the cheese getters from the cheese non-getters.
If someone provides information to you which convinces you to believe in something, does this mean you don’t have free will? Are you a robot just because this person provided information which convinced you to believe? For example, let’s say that someone provided you with damning evidence that your son committed murder. Your spouse witnessed it and your son did not deny it. Even though you wish you could believe otherwise, you can’t help but believe that he did it based on the convincing evidence. Does your being convinced to believe in something that you do not want to believe in, mean that you do not have free will? Does being provided with this information somehow turn you into a robot?
No, this is the free will that you choose the correct choice.
If there is a God or Gods, there cannot be free will. If there is a God or Gods, then there is a being who is more powerful and in more control, hence YOUR will is subjugated to his. Hence you cannot do whatever you want, somehow his will is paramount. If this is not true, than man is on equal level with this God, or this God does not exist.
Our free will is what gives us control over ourselves. Some people think they do not have free will because they are kept under the control of others - their husband or wife, parents, or maybe even a ghost of someone they know, or do not know. But what those people need to learn is that in whatever situation they find themselves in, they are always in control of their own body, mind, soul, etc., because they have a free will, which is in charge of all those things. Nobody has control over the attributes of another soul, but they always have control over their own attributes.
It is with your free will that you control your material body. But it is also with your free will that you control your thoughts and feelings, or the kind of words you use. Do you believe that when you think about something bad, or when you say something bad to, or about, somebody else, that it is not your own free will choice to do that? Of course it was your own choice! Do you think your brain would have produced bad words when your free will didn't want to say them? Why, then, is it so hard to understand that, at the same time you made the choice to say something bad, you also had the choice not to say something bad, or to even say something good or funny. It is your "free will" choice to do whatever you want. Maybe you react a certain way because you have programmed yourself during the past years to react in that way when a particular situation takes place. Well, it is with your free will that you programmed yourself to react that way, so start believing that it is with that same free will that you can re-program yourself to react differently! You have that free will choice.
When you think that sometimes you react to a specific situation because you have started to imitate the reactions you saw your father or mother make in the same situation, and you started to believe it was the right way to react. But, isn't it true that you used your own free will to start imitating other people's behavior? Is your father responsible for the bad words you use when somebody in traffic cuts you off? If it was your father who was driving and saying those bad things, yes, but if it is you who are driving and saying bad things, then you are responsible for those things you have said.
Nobody else has control over the attributes of your soul. Only you have. Of course, when you give that control to somebody else, he/she will have it, but only until you claim it back. Still, it is your free will to give up the control over a specific attribute. It does not always need to be a bad choice to do so.
If you take a good look at this Gift of free will, you will see how blessed we are, and how we are the most exalted of all creations. It gives us the uniqueness we see in every person. It gives us freedom, and it is freedom, indeed, because not even the Father will put aside the free will choices of His children.
If there is a God or Gods, there cannot be free will. If there is a God or Gods, then there is a being who is more powerful and in more control, hence YOUR will is subjugated to his. Hence you cannot do whatever you want, somehow his will is paramount. If this is not true, than man is on equal level with this God, or this God does not exist.
Free will is NOT unbounded . . . that is chaos. Within the bounds that exist we are free to choose.
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