Posted by James 5:16 on April 07, 2001 at 21:24:00:
In Reply to: Re: Hola! posted by Ezekiel 25:17 on April 03, 2001 at 06:22:13:
O.K. Onto the issue of fate vs. free will.
In a very real sense, Christians know that we have both.
God is a triunal being that exists beyond the ten appreciable dimensions that we, as lowly humans, can measure. One of those dimesions is time. (Along with length, width, height, mass, and others...) God exists beyond time. If we were to say that, God goes through time in the same way we do (day to day, minute to minute, second to second, for exxample), then we would be limiting God appreciably. He would be forced to follow time along and not be able to control this one dimension. If God is omnipotent, then this is false. Therefore, time is something that God has complete control over and is immune from its effects.
Next, if then we were to say that fate (namely the absence of choice) were true then our lives are meaningless. That is another aspect of our lives as humans that He would control. So, in that case, we have a serious problem, how could we have fallen from grace due to Original Sin? Why was there a need for a savior? Just so God could get His kicks? May it never be! Only an evil and unjust God would have wanted us to fall from perfection in Eden. An evil and unjust God would never have sent a savior to take away the sins from the world. Only an evil God would do all of this just for kicks or humor. To restate that second rebuttal, God would never have given us a second chance through the sacrifice of His only Son had He been evil Himself. No, this evil nature is out of character for God. A God who performed such evil could never be the God who sent that sacrifice for the Cross. God must therefore be omnibenevolent too. The Bible teaches that.
So, therefore, we have a being outside of time that is aware of all things past and all things present and all things to come making Him omnitemporal. Also we have an omnibenevolent God as we just proved. Therefore, we can have both fate and free will in our dimensions.
James 5:16