ReformedThinker said:
Yeah, there's a fun one. Here goes.
Since I started reading "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" by Loraine Boettner, I have come to the conclusion that the two cannot peacefully coexist. However, my pastor has been reassuring me that we do have Free Will, but it is in bondage to sin so that we can only choose sin. But it seemeth to this poor ignorant soul that the two cannot exist together. Because if everything is predestined, that leaves absolutely nothing up to chance. But if there is free will, then how can God be sovereign? If I can choose what I'm going to do, how can God know what I'm about to do, without Him having already ordained it and set it unchangeably? And just what the heck are "second causes" anyway?
RT,
It is very possible that you and your pastor might be talking past each other. He seems to be referring to natural liberty and moral ability (even speaking in terms of the Westminster Confession of Faith), which is not an exhaustive discussion on the matter. It is more theological than philosophical. Your pastor said that we have "free will" but that our will is in bondage to sin. Presumably he meant prior to conversion, which of course would make his statement soundly Reformed. Just the same, let me try to bring some additional terms into play in an effort to try to make more sense out of all of this.
To have true “liberty” an agent must have both the power and available opportunity to conduct himself
as he pleases. When choosing between sin and righteousness, all men have freedom of liberty whether converted or not. An unregenerate man has the opportunity to either sin or not, as well as the power to choose according his own desire with respect to sin. The mere opportunity to choose X or not X, and the power to choose according to one's desire in favor of
either of two alternatives defines liberty. An agent’s lack of moral ability (i.e. his bondage prior to conversion), which keeps him from desiring to not sin, does not impinge upon his actual liberty to choose what he wants. Accordingly, man is indeed culpable even without moral ability, simply because he has liberty.
You on the other hand seem concerned with the fact that God predetermines our choices. As far as I can tell, your pastor did not address this as you relayed your brief discussion. Free will, as I believe you understand it, is the
alleged ability to choose with equal ease between alternatives. You are indeed correct that such power of contrary choice does not exist. All choices are caused by the strongest inclination at the moment of choice. No matter whether a choice comes from one who is unconverted or in glory, the choice is caused and
therefore not free. Moreover, Adam prior to sinning did not have free will! {See link below...}
Although God determines all our choices, this truism might eclipse the discussion if we simply note that "our choices are not free
because God determines them." Rather, we ought to say that our choices are not free because they cannot be free from what causes them. Choices are necessary given the inclinations of the heart that cause them, and an uncaused choice would not be a choice at all but a chaotic occurrence, which would have no moral content. God’s foreordination, although germane to the discussion, does not seem to zero in on what is essential. What is most relevant is that our choices are necessary because they occur due to an antecedental cause that is always
immediate to the choice. (God is always the ultimate first-cause and we can talk about that if you like. But that he is the Determiner of all things does not bring anything to the discussion. In fact, we might even lose sight of agent-responsibility if we focus on God's decree as opposed to the personal desires that cause our choices.) That God foreordains and, therefore, foreknows our choices certainly ensures that our choices will be caused when they actually occur in time. However, to appreciate that our choices are caused and not free, we might do better to focus on the specific mechanics of choosing as opposed to what God has generally determined in eternity. In sum, God has decreed caused choices, which by definition cannot be free if they are indeed caused. The causes we should be concerned with in an effort to vindicate our position of "no free will" are the causes that immediately precede and necessitate any choice, as opposed to the ultimate cause of God's decree.
It is my personal experience that the discussion of whether we have free will or not is too often confused with the discussion over moral ability and bondage to sin. Please take note of the very
last paragraph of this short paper authored by John Frame, linked below. When I read it for the first time it reminded me of a discussion I had with a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He too made the same mistake that Frame notes in the last paragraph. This professor and I could not seem to agree on such an essential point, which in my estimation should have been rather elementary for a person in his position.
http://www.thirdmill.org/files/english/t...ponsibility.pdfBlessings,
Ron
