Belief about free will

One belief I was thinking about this morning was whether human beings have "free will."  Our actions are shaped by our worldview. Willed Induction is a way to express my worldview. Worldviews are shaped by our personal web of beliefs.  It is after all why I named this blog Willed Induction - in part because God wills matter into existence and also because I believe that humans beings, made in God's image, have the power to carry out their will freely. Free will is the idea that we have the God-given ability to take or refrain from taking some action. This seems fairly obvious, but some believe that we do not have a will, free will or only have the ability to exert our will at certain times and not others.  Slippery slope.  Responsibility for our actions can be ours alone.

My VW customers, for example, have willfully thought about a number of vehicle options before freely deciding whether or not to buy a Volkswagen from me. There are hundreds of small decisions made along the way - from whether to keep the old car running or not, to buying new or used, to prioritizing safety or not, factoring the thickness of the steel or not, the salesman's appearance or not, his breath (yikes! where are my mints?), perceived honesty, vehicle color, interior materials, optional equipment, buying or leasing, and so on.  Literally hundreds more I could list that I've personally seen people struggle with out loud and an innumerable amount they are only privy to from a first person's perspective.

We decide who to vote for, who we listen to, whether we want to have a baby or not (whether we can or not is a different issue), who we spend time with, who we believe, who we follow.



God created a perfect world with perfect creatures with the ability to interact with their environment in the most perfect way.  We can see things that are beautiful to see, smell things that smell so delicious, taste things that are out of this world yummy, touch things (or other people) that feel so good to our fingertips, and listen to delightful music or a magnificent voice.  Just think about what those things were like before Eve and Adam screwed up.

Most wonderful of all, we have the ability to think and to think about our own reasoning from a first person perspective, and analyze the reasoning of others from a third person's perspective.  We can weigh the evidence and acquire a new belief by just pondering about it in our mind.  This stuff fascinates me.  What really gets me going is creating matter out of just thinking about things.  Ever sang a song that you made up in your mind, or written a thought down on paper, maybe the plan for a whole vacation?  The mind is an incredible gift from our Father.

So I was reading in the Bible, which I believe is God's word, verses which reinforce the fact that we have a will and the ability to freely chose what we want to believe. Consider the following verses:

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? Pro 17:16

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. Jhn 3:19

"For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. Jhn 3:20

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Rom 1:28

and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2Th 2:10

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 2Th 2:11

in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2Th 2:12