Apologetics: Debunking Deconstruction – Is Free Will a Thing?

As I mentioned last week, I got into a debate with an atheist in my comments section who said that free will can’t exist if God knows everything. He believes that if God knows everything, then we can’t actually choose anything for ourselves, and He is ultimately the one causing people to be sent to Hell. This can be a sketchy topic since answering this question can easily send a person into the theological weeds, but here’s my take.

Ultimately, the answer to this question is that knowing doesn’t equal causing. It is true that throughout the Bible, there are plenty of passages about God knowing what will happen. Take, for instance, Isaiah 46:9-10, where it says:

⁹Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.
¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning,
    from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
    and I will do all that I please.’

However, there are also a myriad of passages which talk about human responsibility. One example is in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, which says:

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

From this, we can see that while the Bible says God knows everything that will ever happen, it also says that we have a choice between God’s way and our way. Rather than being contradictory, this is more complementary. As an illustration of how this works, imagine that you have a friend who’s wildly predictable. Even when presented with numerous other choices, you know that they’ll go for the same one every time. They’ll pick chocolate over vanilla or strawberry. They always pick plain T-shirts over graphic Tees. They always wear Converse even if Doc Martins are the better choice. You get the picture.

You knowing what they’re going to pick doesn’t mean that you’re causing them to pick that thing. They could still pick any of the other options, they just don’t.

It’s kind-of like that with God. Though He knows everything we’re going to do, He gives us a myriad of opportunities and chances to pick a new path. If you’re a non-Christian, He gives you chance after chance to turn towards Him. If you’re a Christian, He gives you opportunities to obey Him.

Further, not allowing free will isn’t something that’s in line with God’s character. God is all-loving. If He didn’t give us free will, He couldn’t be all-loving because for love to exist, freedom of choice must exist. If Adam and Eve hadn’t been given the option to eat of the tree of good and evil, they could never have had a true relationship with God.

Now, at this point the question of predestination pops up, since the Bible also emphasizes predestination a lot as well. This one has led to a huge debate, with the two major sides being Calvinism and Arminianism. Some Calvinists are more extreme than others on this question, but the overall view on that end is that God’s grace irresistibly draws in those who have been elected by God to be saved. Calvinists teach that we aren’t completely free and can’t really choose God in our sinful state unless we’ve been chosen by Him and regenerated to follow Him. Arminianism, on the other hand, teaches that God’s election is based on foreseen faith, in which case it’s up to us to accept God’s grace or reject it.

[Author’s Note: Personally, I generally lean more towards Arminianism, but try to stay somewhere in the middle on this one.]

Either way you look at it, it’s not an essential of the faith and there are Bible verses to back up both views. On one hand I can understand the Calvinist view since if your heart is hardened against God, it often takes a work of the Spirit to soften it so you can accept Christ. At the same time, however, I also can understand the Arminian perspective that God’s election is based on foreseen faith. Ultimately, though, there’s a great level of mystery to it that we’re likely not going to totally understand in life, but it’s better than the alternative that atheism provides.

Until next time,

M.J.