Does god have free will?

Hey asciiker, thank you very much for your response.I want you to understand that I have read the bible from cover to cover on two occasions in my life. I have studied it, and at one point belived it as much as you, however the same issues mentioned above remain sticking points for me.God made us, and this universe, for his plesure?We are his playthings?Personaly, if I were to choose a religion, I would not choose one that would have me be a bing created by another on a whim. Furthermore, god being omniscient, he knew well in advance what man would do, satan, etc.He invinted satan, by proxy, he invented evil. If god snaped his fingers he could make all those things disapere. But it seems he enjoys this morbid little game of "see who burns". I personaly find it stupid and childish considering that he already knows the outcome anyway.Ill look past the more sexist statements in your previus post and posit some more brain teasers. What about deformity, desise, etc.Those things that arent the result of sin. Babies being born with organs outside their body because of some freakish gene being turned off. What about the oh so very arbitrary will on nature?Huricanse, earthquakes, all of these seem in tune with an arbitrary world indifrent to morality more than the will of some god. If they are the will of a supreme being then that being is surely a cruel and sadistic one.

I'd say your are implying the wrong conclusion here...

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This is scary, as it implies that these persons would not know the difference between right and wrong if there were no bible to guide them. Try to picture Al Quaida and why they feel justified in beheading American/Brittish/S Korean 'infidels'...

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Did you know that lusting after another women while your married is adultery? I that basic common knowledge!? Most people realize or know better than to look at another when they are in the company of their wife. But did you know that Jesus considers that adultery? Matthew 5:27-28
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.Most people probably wouldn't pick up on this, even though "most" would know what is morally right or wrong, we would read the Bible to know what it is God expects of us. Because I love God, read the Bible so that I may know how He would want me to conduct myself before others and live according to His Will.
2 Birds with One Stone: By obeying God I know that I please Him by my conduct in life and I know He wants the best for me. So in pleasing Him, I live the healthy abundant joyful life He would want me to have. This requires to be selfless, when your selfish..then pleasing yourself is not always best for you. But I'm sure you already knew that..

Good, I'm glad I will never commit this sin ever.

me neither.

Getting way away from the question "Does god have free will?"

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How pierceful grows the hazy yon! How myrtle petaled thou! For spring hath sprung the cyclotron How high browse thou, brown cow? -- Churchy LaFemme, 1950

Actually, you should have warned asciikerr when he first posted his message. I find it amazing that after all that we have discussed that he still couldn't get the main point of the thread. Why do religious people have such trouble understanding simple concepts in other people's arguments? After his initial message there, I thought this thread might as well die since I really didn't feel like repeating myself again only to meet another person and having to repeat myself yet again, and again and again.

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Personaly, if I were to choose a religion, I would not choose one that would have me be a bing created by another on a whim.

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God really has nothing to do w/Religion, that is just

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God made us, and this universe, for his plesure?

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Heaven is all about singing songs of praise and worship to God, heaven is only for those that don't mind that sort of thing. Spending our eternity with He who offered Himself as a sacrifice in our place. So, not only does He want our worship for Him, but He also layed down His life for us.

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He invinted satan, by proxy, he invented evil. If god snaped his fingers he could make all those things disapere. But it seems he enjoys this morbid little game of "see who burns". I personaly find it stupid and childish considering that he already knows the outcome anyway.

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He gave the angels Free-Will, and Satan of course wanted to be higher than God(Ezekiel 28:14-17). So even if God knows the choices you'll already make, would it have been better that you were never born? God probably doesn't think so, I'm sure He'd rather have you go through it all, because in His eyes...He still gets to love you none the less.

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Ill look past the more sexist statements in your previus post

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Not sure about any sexist statements made.

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Huricanse, earthquakes, all of these seem in tune with an arbitrary world indifrent to morality more than the will of some god. If they are the will of a supreme being then that being is surely a cruel and sadistic one.

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Prophecy fortells of the increase in Earthquakes, much like Birth-Pangs before God is ready to rap it up. So if you ever study the history of earthquakes, you will notice that they now happen more often, at greater strength & longer. Just like when a women is due for labor(Matthew 24:7-8). Cruel or Sadistic, I'm not sure..He is the Judge, who am I to judge Him? I do knw that "All things work together for the good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28).

Sorry AdminJar,My last post went out before I seen this...my bad! Yes God has free will. Just like He chooses not to hear their cries...Ezekiel 8:18
"...Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."

How else do you learn of God if not through one of the worlds many religions? That's just it, he didn't have to lay down his life for us! In fact, the very act is meaningless. How can God die? God can be made man and die 100 times and he will be none the worse for wear because he's God! See what I'm saying?If I die in Mario Bros. It's ok 'cuz I always get a restart. God's in the same boat. Whats the big deal if he died or not, It's all a charade anyway. He's gonna get up at the end of the play, wipe off the stage blood, take a bow, and go back to heaven.Meanwhile were all left down here suffering. Perhaps. I would have gladly given up my existence if it meant evil/pain/suffering would not exist. So I am here for his own selfish amusement? And how does this make him a 'good' god? Actually they aren'tfrom: Some Christian Urban Legends exposed by the Institute for Creation Research

Gen. 1:26, ". . . and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

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Originally posted by Chuck Diesel

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The hebrew word used for 'dominion' here literally means 'shepherd'.

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No, it doesn't.The Hebrew word for "shepherd" is רעה (ra'ah). רעה (ra'ah) - tend a flock; gen. rule; by extension: associate with (as a friend).The Hebrew term translated "dominion" (in the KJV) in Gen. 1:26 and Gen. 1:28 is רדה (radah). רדה (radah) - to tread down, i.e. subjugate; prevail against; chastise; reign over.cf:Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, Thomas Nelson Pub.The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, F. Brown, S. Driver, and C. Briggs, Hendrickson Pub.The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, study ed., vol. 2, Brill Pub.Thought you ought to know,Amlodhi

This thread sprung out of this thread.I don't think there's any doubt, using common sense, that god has free will, if we think that god is an intelligent being. However, we discussed in the other thread a dilemma that was first brought up by Socrates. It is not as simple as asserting that god has free will.

To answer your question that you raised in the other forum, I,m an ex-catholic seminarian, an ex-airman and an athiest. The earth is 4.6 billion years old and somewhere in the reducing atmosphere of the early earth a self-replication unit formed. The rest is history.

Um... why did you ask me if I thought you were coherent or not if you weren't a YEC?

You had asked a question of what kind a a jury one would want. My question was in the context of your question about the jury, maybe if you're guilty you might want a jury with less fact checking skills.

Lam, do you see this going much further or has just about everything been covered?Seems like we're talking about everything except free will, or is this meant as an example?

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How pierceful grows the hazy yon! How myrtle petaled thou! For spring hath sprung the cyclotron How high browse thou, brown cow? -- Churchy LaFemme, 1950