Choice vs. Freedom There is an important distinction, which most people overlook, between free choice of the will, commonly known as free will, and freedom. Choice is consequent of multiplicity, but freedom is consequent of power of being or becoming. For example, when a person is present at a crossroad, he has a choice between one way or the other, but he does not necessarily have the freedom to walk […]
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Institutes of the Christian Religion: Grace and Free Will
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one. Psalm 14:2-3 Calvin inherits Augustine’s doctrine of Original Sin, which teaches that, subsequent to his infidelity and disobedience against God in the Garden of Eden, Man’s nature, including his […]
Read moreInstitutes of the Christian Religion: III. The Cause of Evil
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence comes evil?” This saying attributed (perhaps incorrectly) to Epicurus is a common argument against the existence of God. When talking about the problem of evil, everyone seems to point his finger at either God, or the world around him. […]
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A Discourse with Descartes
N: Cartesius, ever since I read your treatise “Meditations on First Philosophy: In which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated”, I’ve wished to meet you in person and discuss the subjects in detail. C: Is that why you imagined this conversation with me? N: Unfortunately, I have no power of imagination, with which you are abundantly gifted. C: Nemo, you’re gifted with the faculty […]
Read morePlutarch: Divine Will and Free Choice of the Will
[Homer] does introduce divine agency, not to destroy, but to prompt the human will; not to create in us another agency, but offering images to stimulate our own; images that in no sort or kind make our action involuntary, but give occasion rather to spontaneous action, aided and sustained by feelings of confidence and hope. Certainly we cannot suppose that the divine beings actually and literally turn our bodies and […]
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The Divine Comedy: XIII. Free Will and God’s Will
The essence of this blessed life consists in keeping to the boundaries of God’s will, through which our wills become one single will; so that, as we are ranged from step to step throughout this kingdom, all this kingdom wills that which will please the King whose will is rule. And in His will there is our peace: that sea to which all beings move-the beings He creates or nature […]
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