Subject:
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Re: A sincere question about the Bible
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 21 Nov 2003 16:53:08 GMT
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Viewed:
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144 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
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Where in the Bible is the notion of free will discussed? I’m not as
conversant with the text as I could be, and a friend has asked me where he
could find the subject in either Testament.
I imagine that the term “free will” doesn’t exist in the Bible per se, but any
pointers to the subject would be much appreciated.
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I would start with archetypal story of Adam and Eve and “original sin”. We are
free to choose from good and evil. This is a recurrent theme throughout the OT
and NT. The People of God are always given the choice to choose good from evil,
and the option to repent when they choose evil.
I don’t know if this is a satisfying answer, but I don’t recall the specific
issue of free will in the Bible. It may just be assumed. If we are not free
to choose good from evil, then I daresay we are hardly responsible for
choosing evil.
That said, there are some Christian traditions that do believe in
predestination (ironically, mine is one of them-- Puritans), but if the person
is unaware of the future, I guess you could still call it “free will”.
Logically you might even have to believe this if you believe in an omniscient
God, but I believe that God is outside the bounds of logic (as far as we can
understand, anyway) so perhaps not.
It has always been my understanding that we all have been given by God 2 of the
greatest gifts one could receive-- life and free will.
HTH,
JOHN
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: A sincere question about the Bible
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| (...) I may be wrong about this, since I was raised Methodist/Pentacostal, but my understanding of predestination only affected whether you went to heaven or not. In other words, I don't think Calvinism (the origin of predestination) assumes that we (...) (21 years ago, 24-Nov-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | A sincere question about the Bible
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| Where in the Bible is the notion of free will discussed? I'm not as conversant with the text as I could be, and a friend has asked me where he could find the subject in either Testament. I imagine that the term "free will" doesn't exist in the Bible (...) (21 years ago, 21-Nov-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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