Does God have a free will ?

[civic]

From the reformed got questions


God, on the other hand, has free will in everyaspect. The natural world operates subsidiarily to His realm. God is unconstrained by all natural laws; He in fact established those laws and is sovereign over them. God could have created the universe in any of a number of ways, and the way it exists is due to His choice. God was not required to create at all: in Revelation 4:11 we read, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” The point is that even the act of creation itself was the result of God’s free will: His choice to create was not influenced by any necessity or obligation. God’s volition is absolute; His actions are neither deterministically constrained nor controlled by someone else.

Hope this helps !!!

 

[TomL]

From the reformed got questions


God, on the other hand, has free will in everyaspect. The natural world operates subsidiarily to His realm. God is unconstrained by all natural laws; He in fact established those laws and is sovereign over them. God could have created the universe in any of a number of ways, and the way it exists is due to His choice. God was not required to create at all: in Revelation 4:11 we read, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” The point is that even the act of creation itself was the result of God’s free will: His choice to create was not influenced by any necessity or obligation. God’s volition is absolute; His actions are neither deterministically constrained nor controlled by someone else.

Hope this helps !!!

Sounds like an open theism

 

[civic]

Sounds like an open theism

lol from a Calvinist site got questions

 

[TibiasDad]

Sounds like an open theism

???

Doug

 

[Dizerner]

God has the power of self-determination as it is more virtuous to choose to be good than be forced to be good and there is no possibility God does not have.

Some Calvinists deny even God free will remarkably.

 

[TomL]

???

Doug

If God was not required to create, the future was one of open possibility

Nothing which has or will happen on earth could have been settled.

 

[Dizerner]

could have been settled.

Uh, things being settled denies free will.

We choose.

 

[TibiasDad]

If God was not required to create, the future was one of open possibility

Nothing which has or will happen on earth could have been settled.

That doesn’t mean Open Theism. God cannot be required to create, for that would mean that something has authority over God.

If we say it is his own nature, you are obligated to demonstrate why creation is necessary for God to exist. This would also imply that a) God needs something outside of himself to exist, which, b) makes “creation” an eternal requirement.

Open Theism would say that God is incapable of knowing without causing it, so the quotation in the OP would be consistent with Reform thought, but I’m not sure that the quotation in the OP is trying to say that.


Doug

 

[TomL]

That doesn’t mean Open Theism. God cannot be required to create, for that would mean that something has authority over God.

If we say it is his own nature, you are obligated to demonstrate why creation is necessary for God to exist. This would also imply that a) God needs something outside of himself to exist, which, b) makes “creation” an eternal requirement.

Open Theism would say that God is incapable of knowing without causing it, so the quotation in the OP would be consistent with Reform thought, but I’m not sure that the quotation in the OP is trying to say that.


Doug

But it does

If God could have not created then the future was open. God would have known the future in terms of possibilities.

BTW your claim is not correct: open theism does not say God is incapable of knowing the future without causing it

 

[TomL]

Uh, things being settled denies free will.

We choose.

Yes we do.

The whole sentence was

Nothing which has or will happen on earth could have been settled.

 

[Dizerner]

God would have known the future in terms of possibilities.

That is false.

You've been listening to too many Open Theists.

God knows with certainty what is a possibility, he can do that.

 

[TibiasDad]

But it does

If God could have not created then the future was open. God would have known the future in terms of possibilities.

I know that the possibility of me staying in bed all day is real, but I also know that I will not do that which is possible.

If creation is necessary, then God could not exist without it. In other words, there could not have been an eternity past before creation; thus creation has always been, which is a denial of being created.

BTW your claim is not correct: open theism does not say God is incapable of knowing the future without causing it

Let me rephrase: In open theism, the future is “open” to a series of possibilities which are guided by the choice of an agent or agents which determines the inevitable certainty of a result. God cannot know the eventual result until he or another agent acts in such a way as to eliminate all other possibilities and thus make the result certain.

Doug

 

[TomL]

I know that the possibility of me staying in bed all day is real, but I also know that I will not do that which is possible.

If creation is necessary, then God could not exist without it. In other words, there could not have been an eternity past before creation; thus creation has always been, which is a denial of being created.

That is correct (I do not hold creation was necessary)

Then we would be necessary beings, but we are not and God did not have to create us, so at that point the future was open

Let me rephrase: In open theism, the future is “open” to a series of possibilities which are guided by the choice of an agent or agents which determines the inevitable certainty of a result. God cannot know the eventual result until he or another agent acts in such a way as to eliminate all other possibilities and thus make the result certain.

Doug

But God through his knowledge of man can know many future things though the future does not yet exist

 

[TibiasDad]

But God through his knowledge of man can know many future things though the future does not yet exist

I would agree.

Doug

 

[TomL]

I would agree.

Doug

Ok Good