People like rules. That's why we compete in athletics, write poetry, and play sudoku. Creativity is not as meaningful when it is not within the context of restrictions.
Playing basketball allows me to express myself through dribbling, passing, shooting, defending, and everything in between. When I drive to the basket, I exercise my creativity by deciding between a reverse lay-up or a no-look pass. Nobody forces me to make decisions on the court; I control my own destiny.
Of course, I cannot do whatever I want--I cannot run with the ball or dribble out of bounds, kick the ball or kick my opponent --but these restrictions are what allow my creativity to develop. The strategy of manipulating the rules to my advantage is what makes basketball fun for me.
I see basketball as a microcosm for life. We are bounded by certain earthly laws (such as gravity) which partially control our lives, and we do not have complete power over the decisions of others. So, we are not free to do whatever we want; like in basketball, there are restrictions on our freedom. But we also have the ability to choose our own actions. We may not have power over the world around us, but we do have a certain amount of power to determine our behavior within the environmental restrictions.
Let's say you are one of fifteen applicants for a managerial job. You do not have the power to give yourself the job, but there are certain steps you can follow to put yourself in a good position. You can earn a college degree, excel in your graduate studies, speak eloquently and dress professionally in your interview. You have the ability to control these factors, but not necessarily the outcome.
Basically, we do not have total power over our own destiny, but we do exercise considerable control over it.
Most theists argue that free will is the cause of evil in this world. If humans had no freedom, then we would have never sinned, and the world would remain a perfect Eden paradise. But of course, our world is far from perfect; it's full of greed, sickness, death, and corruption. This can only lead us to conclude that humans have sinned, and we thus have free will.
The bigger unknown, to me, is the extent of our freedom. As a Christian, I believe that God has a plan for me and everyone else He created. But I do not believe He controls every single move I make. If He did, then why even bother to create us? He wants us to have a sense of autonomy, to choose between lying and telling the truth, giving and taking, Coke or Pepsi.
We are like players in a game of chess. We are free to make our own choices, but not free to do absolutely anything we please. We can move our rook, our queen, our bishop, or our knight--but we cannot move our queen in an L-shape or our bishop straight ahead. We cannot force our opponent to move his king where we would like, but this does not affect our own free will. We do not control our environment; we do control our actions. Perhaps someone starts the game off without their queen (they are born into poverty, or have an alcoholic father)--their chances for success have already been minimized. But if they start off with two queens ( they are from a wealthy family and have two doting parents)--their chances for success have been enlarged. They are not automatically resigned to particular fates, but their situations make it more likely.
I believe that God knows the future. It is too difficult for me to ignore verses such as Jeremiah 29:11, which states "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."' Some argue that the future is unknowable, so it takes nothing away from His greatness to say that He does not know the future. I disagree. I believe that God knows the future, and that is why we can trust that He will protect us at all times. What kind of peace could we have if we worshipped a God who is just as surprised by the future as we are?
The rising idea that God knows all possible futures, but not which future will take place, is intriguing but leaves me with a few questions. Namely, if God does not know which future will take place, then how did He make such bold and specific prophecies about Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection hundreds of years before the birth of Christ? I suppose one could argue that for that particular event, there was only one possible future. Still, I'm not sure I find this theory altogether convincing.
I do, however, like the idea that God is outside of time and space. He created the universe, and thus is not bound by the earthly laws He set up. The idea is a bit confusing, but ultimately God sees everything unfold as a movie; He is watching it as it happens.
My personal belief is that it's impossible to be certain of whether or not God knows the future. But I do think it is an important question. I certainly would lead my life differently if I did not think God was in control.
It is easy as privileged Americans to take hold of the opinion that we have complete autonomy over our lives, but I doubt we would hold similar beliefs if born under different circumstances. For example, the middle-class often ignorantly assumes that impoverished people deserve little compassion because they are lazy and unmotivated. We tend to ignore the truth, which is that we could have just as easily been born into their situation.
So how do we reconcile the belief of human free will with that of God's limitless knowledge? I'm not entirely sure. We have no control over where and when we are born, factors that undoubtedly contribute to the paths our lives take. There are many factors that control our lives, and that we cannot overcome no matter how hard we try. I have a friend who suffers from bi-polar disorder. Some days she is ecstatic, others so depressed she borders suicidal. She is increasingly frustrated that she cannot control her own emotions, despite heavy drug prescriptions. These are conditions she is forced to live under. These are the rules for her game. She can make her own choices, but only to an extent.
Certain environmental factors limit our freedom, but we are free nonetheless. God exercises certain control over our lives (such as where we are born) and we are subject to the world in which we live. We can apply sunscreen, not wear antiperspirant, stay away from cell phones, and never smoke, but we could still become victims to cancer. We are affected by the actions of everyone else, whether our boss or the criminal holding a gun to our head. Physical laws make it so that we cannot jump off a bridge and fly or be in two places at once.
We all have freedom to do what we choose--as long as its within the rules for the game, and those rules can differ for each person.
(October 21, 2010)
Playing basketball allows me to express myself through dribbling, passing, shooting, defending, and everything in between. When I drive to the basket, I exercise my creativity by deciding between a reverse lay-up or a no-look pass. Nobody forces me to make decisions on the court; I control my own destiny.
Of course, I cannot do whatever I want--I cannot run with the ball or dribble out of bounds, kick the ball or kick my opponent --but these restrictions are what allow my creativity to develop. The strategy of manipulating the rules to my advantage is what makes basketball fun for me.
I see basketball as a microcosm for life. We are bounded by certain earthly laws (such as gravity) which partially control our lives, and we do not have complete power over the decisions of others. So, we are not free to do whatever we want; like in basketball, there are restrictions on our freedom. But we also have the ability to choose our own actions. We may not have power over the world around us, but we do have a certain amount of power to determine our behavior within the environmental restrictions.
Let's say you are one of fifteen applicants for a managerial job. You do not have the power to give yourself the job, but there are certain steps you can follow to put yourself in a good position. You can earn a college degree, excel in your graduate studies, speak eloquently and dress professionally in your interview. You have the ability to control these factors, but not necessarily the outcome.
Basically, we do not have total power over our own destiny, but we do exercise considerable control over it.
Most theists argue that free will is the cause of evil in this world. If humans had no freedom, then we would have never sinned, and the world would remain a perfect Eden paradise. But of course, our world is far from perfect; it's full of greed, sickness, death, and corruption. This can only lead us to conclude that humans have sinned, and we thus have free will.
The bigger unknown, to me, is the extent of our freedom. As a Christian, I believe that God has a plan for me and everyone else He created. But I do not believe He controls every single move I make. If He did, then why even bother to create us? He wants us to have a sense of autonomy, to choose between lying and telling the truth, giving and taking, Coke or Pepsi.
We are like players in a game of chess. We are free to make our own choices, but not free to do absolutely anything we please. We can move our rook, our queen, our bishop, or our knight--but we cannot move our queen in an L-shape or our bishop straight ahead. We cannot force our opponent to move his king where we would like, but this does not affect our own free will. We do not control our environment; we do control our actions. Perhaps someone starts the game off without their queen (they are born into poverty, or have an alcoholic father)--their chances for success have already been minimized. But if they start off with two queens ( they are from a wealthy family and have two doting parents)--their chances for success have been enlarged. They are not automatically resigned to particular fates, but their situations make it more likely.
I believe that God knows the future. It is too difficult for me to ignore verses such as Jeremiah 29:11, which states "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."' Some argue that the future is unknowable, so it takes nothing away from His greatness to say that He does not know the future. I disagree. I believe that God knows the future, and that is why we can trust that He will protect us at all times. What kind of peace could we have if we worshipped a God who is just as surprised by the future as we are?
The rising idea that God knows all possible futures, but not which future will take place, is intriguing but leaves me with a few questions. Namely, if God does not know which future will take place, then how did He make such bold and specific prophecies about Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection hundreds of years before the birth of Christ? I suppose one could argue that for that particular event, there was only one possible future. Still, I'm not sure I find this theory altogether convincing.
I do, however, like the idea that God is outside of time and space. He created the universe, and thus is not bound by the earthly laws He set up. The idea is a bit confusing, but ultimately God sees everything unfold as a movie; He is watching it as it happens.
My personal belief is that it's impossible to be certain of whether or not God knows the future. But I do think it is an important question. I certainly would lead my life differently if I did not think God was in control.
It is easy as privileged Americans to take hold of the opinion that we have complete autonomy over our lives, but I doubt we would hold similar beliefs if born under different circumstances. For example, the middle-class often ignorantly assumes that impoverished people deserve little compassion because they are lazy and unmotivated. We tend to ignore the truth, which is that we could have just as easily been born into their situation.
So how do we reconcile the belief of human free will with that of God's limitless knowledge? I'm not entirely sure. We have no control over where and when we are born, factors that undoubtedly contribute to the paths our lives take. There are many factors that control our lives, and that we cannot overcome no matter how hard we try. I have a friend who suffers from bi-polar disorder. Some days she is ecstatic, others so depressed she borders suicidal. She is increasingly frustrated that she cannot control her own emotions, despite heavy drug prescriptions. These are conditions she is forced to live under. These are the rules for her game. She can make her own choices, but only to an extent.
Certain environmental factors limit our freedom, but we are free nonetheless. God exercises certain control over our lives (such as where we are born) and we are subject to the world in which we live. We can apply sunscreen, not wear antiperspirant, stay away from cell phones, and never smoke, but we could still become victims to cancer. We are affected by the actions of everyone else, whether our boss or the criminal holding a gun to our head. Physical laws make it so that we cannot jump off a bridge and fly or be in two places at once.
We all have freedom to do what we choose--as long as its within the rules for the game, and those rules can differ for each person.
(October 21, 2010)
No comments:
Post a Comment