Free Will
What is Free Will?
Before we can discuss anything, we need to discuss a concept that has been used for centuries.
This is…
Free Will – “The power to chose a course of action, without the constraint of necessity or fate.” Free will is the ability to make a choice without any factor determining what choice you make. (Oxford English Dictionary. (n.d.). Free will. Oxford University Press.)
The premise of this paper is that:
Creation has “freedom of choice” but not “free will.” The distinction between the two is very important.
Knowing that there are mitigating factors in choosing a coarse of action, but retaining the ability to freely act on the choice is what we traditionally have called – “Free Will” – but that is an incorrect use of the phrase – it is actually only the freedom to act or freedom to chose – not power because you have strength, autonomy, sovereignty or authority (the right or condition of self-government.)
First lets look at God’s free will:
“He does whatever he pleases” – Omnipotence 269
The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the “Mighty One of Jacob,” the “LORD of hosts,” the “strong and mighty” one. If God is almighty “in heaven and on earth,” it is because he made them. Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will. He is the Lord of the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to him and at his disposal. He is master of history, governing hearts and events in keeping with his will: “It is always in your power to show great strength, and who can withstand the strength of your arm?” Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition
God is the only one that truly has total autonomy, sovereignty and omnipotence to act according to His own will – without constraint.
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Hebrews 1:3
“For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” Psalm 33:9
“I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.” Isaiah 44:24
Next lets look at the angels:
It is implied in scripture that angels were not given a relationship structure like marriage.
“… they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” Matthew 22:30
“… But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling…” Enoch 15
Angels were created with a different purpose from man. But some rejected that and chose a different path.
“Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them,
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose … The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown. ” Genesis 6:4
The Watchers and the Nephilim were wicked. They made an active choice against God’s will.
“And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing… And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them,” Enoch 6-8
392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels.
This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably
rejected God and his reign . Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition
God imprisoned the angels – before the day of judgement…
“…the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into
the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein… and said to me: ‘Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do… And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women Enoch 10
and the Nephilim’s physical bodies were destroyed (the Flood), while their sprits were bound to earth (demons) to wreck havoc and destruction.
And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin;
Enoch 15
“And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Matthew 8:29
These spirits (Watchers) attempted to exert their will – against what God had created for them – and failed.
Lucifer
13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly – In the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14
“Because your heart is haughty. And you have said, ‘ I am a god , I sit in the seat of gods – In the heart of the seas’ – Yet you are a mortal and not God” Ezekiel 28:2
“The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. ” 2 Thessalonians 2:4
But Lucifer was cast out…
Now lets look at Adam:
396 God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition against eating “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” spells this out: “for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.”
The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition
377 The “mastery” over the world that God offered man from the beginning was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The first man was unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the concupiscence that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2 nd Edition
Lets look at what happened in the Garden:
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. – Genesis 1:28
Under God’s authority, Adam had power over the garden. In the Garden, Adam and Eve were told that they could eat of any and all of the fruits there – except from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely
eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.” – Genesis 1
“From any tree of the garden you may freely eat…”
From “any” tree you “may” “freely” eat. This limited authority is actually freedom of choice. God (the sovereign authority) is giving permission (“may”) “freely” (without constraint or consequence) eat from “any” (freedom to chose) of the many trees.
Freedom put to the test:
396 God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition against eating “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” spells this out: “for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.”
The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition
but – “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat”
The constraint “…you shall not eat…” introduces consequences if violated. This is not “free will.” Adam did not have free will. He was told in no uncertain terms that he could “not” eat from this tree and what would happen if he did. Only God has true free will. Adam was not God.
Man’s first sin:
397 Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of. 398 In that sin man preferred
himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God , against the requirements of his creaturely status. Seduced by the devil, … he wanted to “be like God,” but “without God, before God, and not in accordance with God. ” Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition
Genesis says nothing about Adams intent or motives for eating the fruit. But, what we know is that he set his own will above God. And, because of that – sin entered the world, Adam separated himself from God, he was expelled from the garden and death reigned.
404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants?
The whole human race is in Adam “as one body of one man. ”By this “unity of the human race” all men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that
Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature.
By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin , but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state.
It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called “sin” only in an analogical sense: it is a sin “contracted” and not “committed” — a state and not an
act. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition
Lets look at the tree and Eve for a minute:
And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise , she took some of its fruit and ate… Genesis 3
The Book of Enoch makes an interesting comment…
[Chapter 32] 1 And after these fragrant odours, as I looked towards the north over the mountains I saw seven mountains full of choice nard and fragrant trees and cinnamon and pepper. And thence I went over the summits of all these mountains, far towards the east of the earth, and passed above the Erythraean sea and went far from it, and passed over the angel Zotiel.
And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and from afar off trees more numerous than these trees and great-two trees there, very great, beautiful, and glorious, and magnificent, and the tree of knowledge, whose holy fruit they eat and know great wisdom.
That tree is in height like the fir, and its leaves are like (those of) the Carob tree: and its fruit is like the clusters of the vine, very beautiful: and the fragrance of the tree penetrates afar.
Then I said: ‘How beautiful is the tree, and how attractive is its look!’
Then Raphael the holy angel, who was with me, answered me and said: ‘This is the
tree of wisdom , of which thy father old (in years) and thy aged mother, who were before thee, have eaten, and they learnt wisdom and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they were driven out of the garden.’
Notice it is now called “ The Tree of Wisdom” no longer the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The serpent did not exactly lie to Eve – He manipulated the truth into a desire” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise…” – Genesis 3
Eve fell to her desire
“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust (desire). Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death…” James 1:14
God’s will was to learn wisdom from Him.
“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” James 1:5
The basic idea behind “Free Will” is that people think that if God made man like robots – who had no free will to chose, we could not chose to “love” God, we would just be following programming.
It is more than that. At the core of choice is position. Will you let God be God or will you place yourself on the throne as god. It is common to hear people say :
“I have a right to decide for myself how I want to live!”
That is exactly the same sin as the angels, Lucifer and Adam. God puts the choice before all men. That was the purpose of the tree in the Garden. Not to test love, but to establish position.
What will you chose? Obey My commands and live or follow your own path and die!
Desire:
Now God had also created plants, the beasts of the field, the fish in the sea and the birds of the air. “Nature” governed the earth and life proceeded according to the natural laws of the universe. God created these living things to enhance creation. But, unlike man they had no responsibility of following God’s path of righteousness. They were not intended to be eternal or be in the presence of God.
When Adam chose his own path, the only path to follow – led outside of God’s Garden – into this natural world.
8 Now they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” – Genesis 3:1
Once Adam made the choice and ate, the knowledge of good and evil enlightened them. They became afraid and embarrassed and hid. Adam walked away from God – both by placing his will above God and then by hiding from God after he disobeyed. They stepped off of God’s path of righteousness and started their own path.
Sin exists in the absence of righteousness – just as darkness exists in the absence of light. You dont have to turn darkness “on.” It is just there. Natural behaviors exist as part of the natural order of life, but some of these amoral behaviors are immoral by Gods righteous standards for man. Adam became aware of desires, thoughts, behaviors that are “natural” instincts, biological drives, survival attempts and even perversions of goodness when he gained the knowledge of “good and evil.” He became aware that there were many desirable paths.
Adam chose to be the one who sets the rules. He exercised his “Free Will.” No constraints, absolute authority, the ability to chose his own path. And that is exactly what he got.
But he is not God. There is only one God
So, it cost him his life -. And as a consequence – so did all of mankind. Man was now set on his own path, separated from God making his own rules and following his own desires. Man follows the laws of nature apart from God. The proof of that separation is because man eventually dies.
Its really important to see that “sin” is not the cause but the ” result ” of separation from God.
If you are infected by the flu virus, then you begin to show symptoms: Cough, runny nose, fever etc.
When you are infected by “Self Will” then you show symptoms: moral impurity, hate, greed etc.
Temptation is choice in the balance. When we are seduced and taken captive by our desires to chose a path that is not righteous, and act on the choice – the action becomes “sin.”
That is why “sins” can be forgiven – but denying Christ and the Holy Spirit cannot.
Eve was judged for her disobedience in following a desire not sanctioned by God.
Adam was judged for placing his will above God’s.
“I will be like God” = “I have a right to chose how I want to live.”