Personal revelation vs. free will
August 22, 2012 at 10:58 pm
(This post was last modified: August 22, 2012 at 11:00 pm by Cyberman.)
The title's rather self-explanatory, really, but I can expand since I don't remember seeing it addresed before. As far as I've been able to piece it together, the only source of information regarding God and all related aspects of the character is that well-known Big Book of Multiple Choice, the 'Holy' Bible. The mythology contained therein is what defines the God character, and we 'know' the mythology to be true because God is the equivalent of Thunderf00t's creation, The Ghost That Cannot Lie. In other words, the bible is true because God says it's true and we know God is real because the bible says it is and so on and so on. The lie is safe because it guards itself (Blake's 7 reference, for my fellow geeks out there.)
However, that's not the bit that interests me, in terms of this thread anyway. No, the thing I find hard to wrap my brain around is this idea of personal revelation. It's the card that is usually played once the believer gets close to the edge of realisation that it might all just be a story, because that's the only source they have. We've seen it time and again: "I know God is real because He has revealed Himself to me in such a way that it cannot be denied".
So my question to all that would be: what price free will in all this? If God (or Allah, or Quetzecoatl) appeared in front of you in a manner that took away all doubt of its reality and authenticity, hasn't your free will been taken away?
Anyway, a simple question, I'm sure, but I'm hoping to see what our resident believers think about it. Anyone and everyone's opinion is more than welcome, of course.
However, that's not the bit that interests me, in terms of this thread anyway. No, the thing I find hard to wrap my brain around is this idea of personal revelation. It's the card that is usually played once the believer gets close to the edge of realisation that it might all just be a story, because that's the only source they have. We've seen it time and again: "I know God is real because He has revealed Himself to me in such a way that it cannot be denied".
So my question to all that would be: what price free will in all this? If God (or Allah, or Quetzecoatl) appeared in front of you in a manner that took away all doubt of its reality and authenticity, hasn't your free will been taken away?
Anyway, a simple question, I'm sure, but I'm hoping to see what our resident believers think about it. Anyone and everyone's opinion is more than welcome, of course.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
