Position:Home>Philosophy> Did God give us free will so we could *choose* to love Him rather than be forced
Question: Did God give us free will so we could *choose* to love Him rather than be forced!?
Someone raised a point recently that God gave us free will so we could choose whether to love him or not!. An analogy was used comparing this with a father wanting their child to love them rather than forcing them to!. Personally I agree, I would rather my child love me out of choice rather than being forced!. You could argue that my bringing the child up has somewhat influenced their decision but I will still accept they had a choice!. What I would not do is tell them they have a choice and then leave them with a book who's central theme is "Daddy loves you!. If you don't love Him back he will burn you for eternity" and then still expect it is their free will choosing to love me!.
Why does God give us a free choice but with the threat that if we make the wrong choice we will burn forever!? Why even mention Hell as a consequence!? Wouldn't he get a more *free* choice from us without the incentive either way!? Why not *prove* Hell exists by showing each of us!? Why even create Hell!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Using the "free will" argument makes God look like an obsessive, abusive stalker!.
Who else says "I love you, and you can choose to love me or not, but if you don't choose to love me, I'm gonna damn your soul forever, you SUCK!"
Real love is NOT contingent upon whether or not that love is requited!. Anything else is madness!.
Hell isn't a warning, it's OVERKILL!. Hell forever is too much of a punishment for any crime short of child abuse!. Certainly not for not saying "I wuv U 2!." to God!.
Any God that would send you to Hell for somthing so minor deserves to be imprisoned there Himself!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
yes he did tht so we could have a choice!.!.!.!.He gives tht threat because He wants us to make the rite choice!.!.!.!. He created hell because He had to put the fallen angels somewhere!.!.!.He doesnt want us to believe by seein He wants us to just trust His WordWww@QuestionHome@Com
I genuinely believe that the emotion we know as 'love' can only be given!. It cannot be demanded of one! I am thinking!.!.!.!.but I can't imagine being 'forced' to love God!. Or anyone! I'm quite sure I would rebel!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Wow!.
You raise such a good point!.!.!. and I have nothing more to contribute!. I think your question provokes enough thought by itself!.
Thanks for sharing!. =)Www@QuestionHome@Com
No!.
And this quastion shouldn't be in philosophy!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
wow!.!.!.this does rasie eyebrows!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Yes, God gave us free will and we can make to choice to serve Him or not!. Hell isn't a threat, it's an option!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
u raise a good point!.
but first u have to understand that god does NOT send us to hell!.
we send ourselves to hell!.
think of it like this:
say u had a deadly disease!. and the doctor just found a cure to it! but u didnt take it!. is it the doctors fault u died!? no, its your own fault!.
same thing goes for God,
he gave us a way to heaven, and if we decide not to do it, is it his fault!? nah!.
as for the free will, there ya go!. we have a will to follow him or not!.
and not following him is not supposed to sound tempting anyways, so be grateful!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
The mention in the bible of hell is more or less a warning, just like if your father warns you not to put that in your mouth!. You don't have to listen to him, but you still face the consequences!. That's not a threat!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I was searching for its answer for almost 2 years!.Not only about loving God but about all what we do!.Finally,i found Muslims belief as the most complete one!.They say : Man has got half authority & half obligation in the whole life!.It got really complicated in advance but in fact very nice!.
Good luckWww@QuestionHome@Com
ok, this is very confusing!.!.!.!.i think about this stuff too!. i mean how do we know what is real or who wrote what!? we just have to be the person we are and do what we think is right and choose to believe what we think is right!. As long as we do that we should be good to go!. Our lives are already mapped out for us by him anyways!. i think that God is real but how does he fit in with science!?!?!? it is contradicting!. we have proof in ways there is a God and we also have proof of dinosaurs!.!.!.!.which are NOT in the bible!.!.!.!.so, free will is what you make of it, we obviously were given it because God's first plan for Earth with Adam and Eve failed!.!.!.they didn't have free will!. they either did right or wrong, no in between!.!.!.!.!.we can do wrong and be forgiven!.!.!.!.!.they couldn't be forgiven!.!.!.!.!.that's why we are the way we are in the world today!. he punished us because of them!. So is hell real!.!.!.probably but is heaven real!?!?
OK: so he is threatening us because he doesn't want us to go there i am guessing!. but how do we know the bible is even real!? really how do we!? if we don't know heaven or hell is real how do we know the bible is!?!?!?!? because some dude printed it and said so!?!?!? hmmm not saying I don't believe it is but how do we know!? maybe God never said that stuff about threatening us - but it is a threat! i still believe in God and heavenWww@QuestionHome@Com
I believe God gives us free will to love and accept Him!. There is a consequence for sin, which is hell!. But with God in our lives there is forgiveness for our sins!. That is what a father does, he knows we will make mistakes,but he's there to forgive and accept us when we fall!.
He's giving a choice and an opportunity!. We must accept one or the other(Heaven or hell), that's the way it is!. Who's to question God!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Love, IMHO, is the only feeling that is not to be forced!. Its a mere choice!. To begin w/, God didn't ask us to love him!. He asked for obedience!.!. And U R still free to obey or disobey, but any of these choices correlate w/ intentions & actions U' normally take or adapt , and goals u appoint!. God as ( absolute) Just as he is, will examine such actions ( and their consequences) and decide the proper reward or punishment !.
The father-children analogy doesn't hold here!. The true relation here is a master-slave relationship!. Hell was mentioned as a consequences, because of human nature!. The human body system is so intricate & complicated!. Its a mix of biological ,psychological,and spiritual entities!.In our society, punishment on criminal acts 'd rebel lots of people from committing them, yet they have a choice!.
why even create Hell !.!. look at it from the bright side!. How many people do their crimes an get away w/ it for the lack of absolute knowledge & justice!. How many ppl have abused innocent children, & ruined their whole life!? Abuse of the elderly folks, abuse of the power of authority etc!. If there was not Hell then they 'd be in the paradise!. If only Hell were there then there's no point of obedience !.If Hell & Paradise weren't there , then there is no point of us being on earth in the 1st place!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
God did not create slaves!. He provided us with ten basic and pretty darn useful commandments, obey them and the world spins in perfect harmony!. He provided us with all the raw materials for living and the intelligence to bend the world and it's creatures to our will!. Ah, there's the rub!. Our will!. Some of us you see 'will' to pollute the planet, some recycle!. Some 'will' to believe in the basic good and existence of God, some are athiests!. Some 'will' themselves to do good on this earth, some 'will' not to care!. But all of these possible people are free to make those choices!. Free will means just that!.
God however has his limits and apparently he has a high tolerance level for stupidity (look at the world's peoples right now for proof) but he does have a limit!. Let's hope we never reach it!.
In other words you are given the free will to play in traffic, just don't get pissy with God when the semi runs you down!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
The condition for the possibility for authentic love is a free act of one's will!. True love cannot, by its nature, be coerced!.
The possiblity of hell opens up as a consequence of justice!. Classically understood, it is the experience of the inability to participate in the life of God, despite that participation being the telos of human existence!. This is the agony of the soul in exile, a foreshadowing of which is seen in what Paul Tillich termed "the shock of non-being"!. Hell is not presented in Orthodox Christian theology as a result of a capricious judgment on the part of God, but as a consequence of human resistance to the divine will that humanity share communion with God!. Orthodox Christianity asserts the existence of hell, but makes no judgment in terms of whether or not hell is populated with human souls-- the only exception to this lack of any judgement in regards to hell's population are the fallen angels!. As far as hell being a kind of coercion to love God or else, it might be better to consider it as the concern of the divine love to warn about consequences!.
A very good treatise that might help you to better understand how to adjudicate your questions is found in a theological treatise written by Hans urs von Balthasar entitled "Dare we Hope that all Men be Saved!?"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Everything about Adam was free (including his will) because he was created in image of God!. But once Adam submitted himself to a cruel taskmaster (satan), nothing about him was free!. Every part - spirit, soul and body was now marked with death and controlled by sin!. (Including his will) Adam and all his descendents literally became slaves to a sin nature they were never created to have!.
Thus the perception of having a "free will" today is only that - an illusion!. Not the reality!. (Romans 6-7) I'm not saying we can't "choose", but our choices are influenced and controlled by a sinful nature!.
Salvation is NOT a little decision that we make!. Faith is born in our hearts (not our minds) through the gospel of Jesus Christ!. (John 1:10-13; Romans 10) As slaves to sin we are no longer capable of choosing to love Him - instead we run from Him, reject Him, and make Him our enemy (in our minds)!. But the reality is He reconciles us to Himself through His Son!. He sets us free to be completely transformed (born again) to enjoy a relationship with Him!.
All that is made possible not through our will, but His!. It isn't about our choosing Him, but that He has chosen us!. He doesn't respond to the choice we make - we respond from the heart to the choice HE has made!.
Think of it this way: It would be like trying to win your wife back, after she had decided you were nothing but a blatant liar; she hated your guts, and wanted nothing further to do with you!.
In fact, she was so through with you that she was going to leave you to live with another man!.!.!.!.!.a man who then put her in chains and held her captive in a dark, inescapable dungeon!.
How in the world would you begin to overcome all that!?
If you still loved your wife as God loves us, such a departure would tear your heart out, but you would pursue her!. If you were an exceptional man, as God is an exceptional God, you would do everything in your power to set her free and then win back her love!.
Even hang on a cross for her!.
This is exactly what God does!.!.!.!.!.sets us free from the power and dominion of death and sin, (through the body and blood of His Son Jesus Christ), and then through the resurrection power of Christ draws us to Himself in love - not in blame or condemnation!.!.!.!.!.but pure, unadulterated and holy love!.
THAT is the picture of what God is doing!. He is not holding hell over our heads!.!.!.!.!.or threatening us in order to get us to rmake the right "choice"!. The situation is, our forefather Adam already predisposed us to spiritual death!. Hell isn't a consequence of our sin, it is the reality of what we have already been sold out to by Adam before we were born!. God isn't threatening us with the prospect of hell - He is forging the way in our hearts for us to escape that destiny, and enjoy instead what He has predestined for us!.!.!.!.to be ultimately and completely transformed into the righteous image of Christ, and to dwell with Him for all eternity so He can lavish His love and kindness on us!. (Yes, that is scriptural)
The Bible says hell was created for satan and his angels!. God owes us no explanation of why He did this!. But you should remember, the harsh taskmaster in our scenario isn't God, but the devil!. Those who continue to resist what God has offered, rejecting the blood of His Son and treating His love as something to be trampled underfoot will honestly deserve the wrath and penalty to come, because it takes rebellion and defiance of heart to continue in sin in the face of such an extravagant offer of God's love!.
But if we refuse to respond to HIS choice and HIS calling, then it is US and the taskmaster we submit ourselves to, and not Him, who puts us where we belong!.!.!.in hell!.
But thank God HIS will is to freely love us and choose us!.!.!.!.so it is exactly the opposite of what you have supposed!.Www@QuestionHome@Com