(November 23, 2014 at 1:32 pm)Drich Wrote: Would it make you feel any better to know 'free will' is a greek philosophy that crept into the church, and the bible does not mention it?
In fact the bible says the opposite. In that we are all slaves with only one choice. To either be a slave a God or to be a slave of sin.
Greek philosophy or not, the Bible frequently alludes to free will. Even if we have 'only one choice' you mentioned, that is STILL an exercise of free will.
The only context in which the term 'free will' makes any coherent sense at all is in the ability of beings to make a non-coerced choice. The most obviously example in the Bible is the myth about the 'Fall'. Adam was instructed not to eat from the particular tree. In fact, it was clearly God's will that Adam NOT eat the fruit of this tree. Adam did so anyway. That is, he made a clear, non-coerced, free choice.
Dozens of other examples that I can't be arsed to research right now, but I seem to recall allusions to free will in John, Ephesians, and Revelation, for starters.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
