Historically, the church denied human freedom. This was based on the assumption that God's knowledge and awareness has predetermined everyones destiny. Indeed, everyone's "actions" have already been predetermined through God's knowledge.
Currently, Christians maintain that humans are free to choose. Our choices, "actions", occur because of our own free will. God may be aware of those choices but that does not preclude that we are predestined because of God's awareness. "It is certain that we will when we will; but He (God) brings it about that we act, but that without His help we neither will anything good nor do it."
St. Augustine
In the end, we, as human beings, make choices and these choices shape who we become!!
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4 comments:
Choices do shape who we become. Life is a metaphorically comparable to a sculpture in constant flux with no definite shape…until you die. The remaining mold is then brought to the greatest metaphorical art dealer; he owns an art museum call Heaven. As art, it’s our responsibility to be brought into the only eternal museum. St Peter is sent from the curator (god) to see if this art is worthy of display in the Haven Museum. No model brought before Peter is perfect, it requires examination and evaluation. If the remaining of the mold refuses to be reshaped into the image of God, then it refuses to change its shape, and is sent into the eternal fire of rejection, where its shape will become eternally unworthy of being in display in the museum called Heaven. I believe we are guided by god sometimes in life, but eventually it comes down to our choices that truly define who we will become, which is a reflection of Gods love or our own greedy grotesque model of imperfection.
determinism is an attractive philosphy, it is attractive because as kant pointed out long ago, it is difficult to come up with a theory to explain freedom
I believe that our choices do shape who we become even before we act upon them. Just the thought of doing something harmful to another would put you in the wrong. But then if you decide against that decision does it make you a better person if say, they've done something hurtful to you? No. There are no good or bad people in my opinion;No black and white, everybody is grey; the middle area. Each individual whether they appear to be evil or good, have a balance of both within them. The hardest part is trying to search that good within the darkness.
I do not believe that God predestined our lives or then we'd all be innocent for the track of our thoughts and for our actions; there'd be no need for confessions because the sinners were planned to be that way. Why would God intend people to be sent to hell?
I believe we are born in the perfect image but with evil intentions in each of our hearts, whether we awaken those, it is up to us.
I think people are drawn to religious determinism in their life because they see a path they arent afraid to face. Im atheist, and I think poeople just want a easier more acceptable way out.
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