Is there free will in heaven?

[IATIA]

... we will find no need to exercise our freewill in a sinful manner ...

A generous population of the angels did.

Even those who will live in the darkness of hell will have freewill, because they had no change in heart they never experienced grace and will find no reason not to keep on with there sinful attitude.

What possible 'sin' could one engage in hell?

[Epimethean]

"What possible 'sin' could one engage in hell?"

Thinking heaven is a better place, perhaps? The ol' grass is always greener saw.

[The Grand Nudger]

It seems that a certain bent of folk is a "context nazi" until we meet some cherished belief of their own.

Heaven is an other-worldy kingdom ruled over by a benevolent and supremely powerful dictator. This dictator has armies at his command, and can effectively suppress rebellion even when the rebels are supernaturally powerful beings. His subjects never question him, they are all well taken care of, and happy. This kingdom will last for eternity.

Let's take a look at the context of this story, the culture and time that this vision of heaven finds it's origin in. Just so happens that heaven (and hell) as we currently see them really got fleshed out in Europe, during the dark ages, under fuedal society. This is anthropomorphism extended into the realm of "the unknown". There is no reason to assume that there is an afterlife. If there were, there is no reason to assume it would be like our lives. There is no reason to assume that an afterlife would need a king, or the trappings of human societal structure at any level. There is no reason to assume that an afterlife would play out like a human life circa 3000BC-1300AD. Yet, it would seem that some of us simply couldn't help ourselves. We've envisioned a heaven that is a sort of mirror for the situation we found ourselves in as uman beings when these beliefs were being shaped. This is a pervasive issue for me with regards to heaven. One never hears any stories about an afterlife that don't begin, at a fundamental level, with anthropomorphism. This type of reasoning has shown itself to be in error so many times, and at such a massive scale, that there should be a natural law against it's use. As Epi has mentioned, it all starts with a little wishful thinking.

[Godscreated]

Theophilus and Tack both make good points, I would like to add to what they have said. Those who will be in heaven have made a choice to be there and in that choice we have received grace and understand what God has done for us, we will find no need to exercise our freewill in a sinful manner, so yes there will be freewill in heaven. Even those who will live in the darkness of hell will have freewill, because they had no change in heart they never experienced grace and will find no reason not to keep on with there sinful attitude. Each will be alone and can do no harm to others, so for those who read this and go to hell you will find no pleasure there.

But. It's. Not. Real.

That's what you think, well... time reveals all truth.

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... we will find no need to exercise our freewill in a sinful manner ...

A generous population of the angels did.

Even those who will live in the darkness of hell will have freewill, because they had no change in heart they never experienced grace and will find no reason not to keep on with there sinful attitude.

What possible 'sin' could one engage in hell?

See bold above, you will continue in your hatred for God and continue to blame Him for your decisions.

[Erinome]

Time has revealed the truth about a great number of things, no thanks to the oppressive dick in the throat of scientific advancement, AKA Christianity. Over time we have learned that evolution is true. We've learned that many things that some consider supernatural, are not supernatural and can be logically explained. Over time we have learned that most of the bible is just complete hogwash, and we didn't learn it by turning our brains off in order to accommodate blind faith. So, yes, that is what NAC thinks, because he's actually thinking.

[Jackalope]

See bold above, you will continue in your hatred for God and continue to blame Him for your decisions.

How can one hate something one doesn't believe exists?

[Skeptical_Nurse]

You can only have good thoughts in "heaven" How is that free will?

[Epimethean]

Time has definitely revealed that the bible is far past its "use by" date.

Unfortunately, time has also shown what a huge set of throwbacks xtians are and continue to be in order to maintain their relationship with their sacred artifacts. The fact that their thinking cannot develop past the premises of their flawed, antiquated point of reference suggests that intellectually, they have not been growing.

[Mystic]

When were 2-3 years old, we have limited choices. We have free-will with certain choices, but there is a lot of choices we don't have. There is a lot of thoughts we don't have and don't have capability to think about. We are a person, and what we are is going to change. As we grow, what made us happy when 2-3 years old, may not make us happy anymore. We grow and become different. At no point, did we cease being whom we are. We are constantly changing. We grow up and change more. Our choices are different, we no longer enjoy everything we enjoyed when younger. We become less silier. We learn to question things. Our conscious develops. We also develop a personality. We develop habits and defining qualities. Did changing from whom we were before mean we are no longer our identity? I don't think so personally.

From the Christian perspective, we are sill developing. We will become different in heaven but we don't cease to be whom we are. Sure some chidlren may never want to cease being children, when your 20 you may never want to become 30 or 50, you may want to stay the same, but this is not the system we are in. Our mind constantly changes and develops.

Now some people want to stay the same as they are now in heaven? And say if they don't, they would be robbed of their free-will? Playing with a certain toy was a choice you had that made you happy, but you lost your will to play with that toy, because it no longer makes you happy. Did you lose free-will. Did you lose your idenity?

It seems to me people are afraid of growing to something more then what they are now. I don't know if we will have sex after death, but I don't see how should always want it, it could be part of what we are now, but why not want to grow out of it.

It's like when I was young, I thought when I grow up and get money, I will buy so much legos, and I thought having lots of legos will make me happy.

Also, a lot of people have no will to muder people. The thought is utterly against whom they are , and there is never really a struggle of choice. I don't see how if people grow with good will to not want to do evil, that they been robbed of free-will. They still can have choices. The reality is the thought of murdering people doesn't occur to everyone, it's only a choice for a few people. Some people will choose not to and fight that thought, and others will kill. Other people developed a concsious in which the thought will never occur. The same is with rape and other things. The fact the thought never occors to them to do so, doesnt mean they don't have free-will.

In the christian heaven how your personality develops to heaven, how grateful you will be, etc, all this will still can have your own will into it. You will still have choices, it's just that you will have developed into a higher state in which you won't want to do the evil things. Sure you will not have the test of free-will like you had on earth, but this happens with a lot of people. People develop personatities, and they don't get to re-decide everything that developed their character. They have limited influence on how much they want to change. Their character and how it developes dictates the type of choices they choose from...

A person living in poverty might not get to chose what food he wants to eat, he simply has to eat. He might have less choice then other people but he still has free-will.

The way look at, their is still room for free-will and how your character develops in a place where people no longer will evil.

[The Grand Nudger]

By evil you mean "the things god doesn't like". You should already be pretty well aware that many of us have different definitions of evil amigo. For example, if there isn't any hot girl on girl porn in heaven, count me the fuck out. So maybe I only pron it up once or twice a year, still like to have the option. You're speaking as though A: heaven exists, and B: that it represents some sort of personal growth.

Sanctimonious bullshit, comprised entirely of thin air on both counts.