Free Will, Determinism & Compatibilism In the Bible

 

Traci

September 27, 2013

                                                Biblical Readings

             There are verses throughout the bible that support determinism, free will and compatibilism. Psalm 139 specifically says in the verses that “all of the days of my life are prepared before I would ever even have lived one day.” This supports the determinism theory that everything is determined in our lives even before we are born into this world. The Psalm shows us that our plan is set before us long before and after we are here. In Mark 10, free will is demonstrated by the choice that Jesus gives the rich man in the story. In comparison, if determinism was a factor here, then Jesus would have already made the plan for the man to lose his riches, but instead he gave him the free choice to decide for himself. His specific question is “What will you do with your riches?” This is a question not a pre-determined answer. However, it could be that Jesus already knew what his answer would be and knew the decision that he would make. In the story of Jonah, this is an example of compatibilism. There is a portion of the story that includes Jonah making specific choices on his own, yet there are other portions that show where God was most definitely part of the plan and came to the rescue of Jonah in his time of need. All three of these different theories are present throughout the bible. So, who is right? It may be that each person can perceive the stories in a different way; or choose to believe in a portion of all of them.

Compatibilism in the Bible

It is fascinating to read the different ways free will, determinism, and Compatibilism is presented in the Bible. It is interesting to me that out of all the biblical readings: Psalms 139:1-18, Jonah 1:1-2:10, Mark 10:17-22, I definitely feel the strongest connection to the story of Jonah. The story of Jonah is about a man who was called by God to go to the city of Nineveh. However, Jonah refused and ran from the Lord. He decided he would travel, by boat, to Tarshish. While on the boat, a huge storm faces the passengers. Through many different discussions and decisions, Jonah is thrown overboard by the other passengers. In the end, Jonah is swallowed whole by a large fish sent by the Lord. Jonah then realizes he is wrong and decides the Lord is right. The Lord commands the fish and Jonah is puked up by the fish. This story lines up with exactly what I have been saying for weeks in my other blogs. I believe that God has an overall plan for all of us. He knows what He wants us to do. As well as, He has every ability to keep us on the path He has chosen for us. He gives us the opportunity to choose the path we want. He gives us the opportunity of free will. He wants us to make the right choice. However if we chose a path that takes us away from is ultimate plan, He will do what He needs to do to get us back to where we need to be. In the case of Jonah he was choosing to disobey God, so God put him back on the path He wanted. He caused the storm and the fish to put Jonah on the path He had chosen for him. Overall, I believe God knows what is best for me. Therefore if I’m choosing the wrong options, He will help me travel back to the right path. 

Determinism and Free Will in the Bible

As I look further into the meaning of determinism and free will, I think it would be beneficial to see what the Bible has to say about it. Therefore, it would only make sense for me to go to the Holy Book for insight, which was written so we may have a glimpse of God in people’s life and essentially in my own life as well. 

Specifically I want to analyze the passage in the book of Jonah. The passage is in Jonah 1-2. For those that do not know about this story, basically God calls a man named Jonah to go to an evil city called Nineveh to preach against its immorality and the doom that is lurking towards its future. Apparently this plan did not sit well with Jonah, so he runs away from God, but God manipulates events to the point where Jonah is desperate for God. It takes Jonah being in the belly of a large fish to break down and decide that he needs God more than God needs him. Some might think automatically that since God is manipulating these events, he is in charge and therefore, determinism is the theory one must believe in. This may make sense because in Jonah 1:4 it says that, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up..”. In Jonah 1:17 it says that, “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah..”. Lastly, in Jonah 2:17, it says that, “...the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” I italicized the verbs in those verses because I want you to notice the direct connection between God and these verbs. I find it interesting that these verbs, “sent”, “provided”, and “commanded” are all things that God did with Jonah as well as with the natural environment. God wanted to send him on a journey, He provided a fish to save his life from the waves, and He also commanded that Jonah go to the city of Nineveh. All these actions were because God did them. He created these events to put Jonah where He wanted him. This seems a lot like determinism is at play in this passage. 

At the same time, I find it interesting that even though God has the power to do it, God did not specifically force Jonah to do what he wanted. Instead he used natural things, such as a storm and a big fish, to get his attention. Jonah, a mere human against an all powerful God, couldn’t be forced to do something because he had something that argues against the laws of determinism; that is free will. Hence, that’s why Jonah ran away in the first place. He had the choice to run away from God’s will. The interesting thing to me is that the reason why we have free will in the first place is because God gave it to us. So, if God has given us a freedom of choice, does that mean that since He created it, He should have a say with what we do with it?

Adjustment Bureau

Traci Marie Hollandsworth

September 20, 2013

                                                The Adjustment Bureau

            The Adjustment Bureau was a movie starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. David (played by Matt Damon) is a political figure running for Senator at the beginning of the movie. Elise (played by Emily Blunt) is a dancer. They meet by chance in a men’s restroom. They are instantly attracted to each other. According the “Adjustment Bureau” there is a certain time for everything in everyone’s life. Everyone has a plan; and it is important to stay on track with the plan. David comes into contact with the “Adjustment Bureau” men by mistake. When he sees them they are actually in the act of changing the pattern of someone’s thoughts. The “Adjustment Bureau” represents determinism. They determine the plan and track that each person is to take. David represents free will. He is focused on making his own decisions and will not let anyone get in the way. There is a slip up with the “Adjustment Bureau” and the plan that allows David to see Elise again on the city bus. However, the Bureau takes David to a private location and tells him that Elise is not part of his plan. They burn her contact information to prevent him from contacting her. Three years later, after riding the same city bus every day, they meet again. David is determined to make his own choices and through his persistence it pays off. David has a personal bureau guy named Harry. Harry is sympathetic to David’s heart from the beginning. The “Chairman” is the ultimate decision maker and decides that because of David’s persistence the plan has been re-written to include Elise. The entire movie is full of both determinism and free will. It still seems as though the Chairman is the final decision maker and that in certain circumstances he may change his original plan.

The Adjustment Bureau

The movie The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, is a very interesting tale of having free will, or better yet not having free will. The movie is all about a man trying to fight against the plan the chairman wrote. In this case, I believe it is safe to assume that the chairman is God. Ultimately, the chairman writes the plan for every person. These plans sometimes fall off the correct path. This is where the Adjustment Bureau come in. These men “nudge” people to make sure they stay on there designed path. For example, in the movie David, the lead character, was supposed to spill coffee on his shirt. This act would have prevented him from seeing Elise, as well as make him late for work. The idea here is that everyone is supposed to see these small little actions as accidents but in reality it is the adjustment bureau. Another aspect the adjustment bureau cant control is chance. The movie states that chance can still occur. When chance occurs in the world, the adjustment bureau steps in. In the end, however, David fights so hard against his plan, he changes it. I find that this is interesting concept. In previous blogs, I stated that I believed that God had an ultimate plan for us. He intervened when necessary but overall we made the tiny decision. I saw this as free will. Basically that there is not one set path but options. Each path, however, would lead me to my ultimate plan. That is exactly what the movie shows. Every day people go on and live their lives normally. They do not realize they are even on a plan. If they deviate from the plan, something will intervene. Once put back on the right path, they continue to make decisions just like before.  

September 17, 2013

Who's Script is it?

I honestly was a little skeptical when it came to watching The Adjustment Bureau because I had seen so many Matt Damon movies that involved everyone out to get him. I didn’t want to watch the same type of story especially when I had other things I needed to get done. Even though my attitude was unbecoming in the beginning, I found that I enjoyed the movie a lot. Since this movie was so enthralling and mind provoking, I’ve already encouraged a few people to watch it! The Adjustment Bureau brings this question to the floor that all humanity seems to have wrestled with over the centuries; Who is writing the script of my life? Is it a divine power that dictates every person’s choice in life, or is it up to man to choose his own destiny apart from God?

I find that The Adjustment Bureau does a good job at showing the difference, and at the same time, an over-lapping connection between freewill and determinism. In the movie, Harry Mitchell, one of the people working in the Adjustment Bureau, says this to David Norris, the protagonist of the story, “Most people live life on the path we set for them, too afraid to explore any other. But once in a while people like you come along who knock down all the obstacles we put in your way. People who realize freewill is a gift that you'll never know how to use until you fight for it. I think that's the chairman's real plan. That maybe one day, we won't write the plan, you will.” I believe that Harry is right when he says that freewill is a gift, but at the same time, I believe that the plan for a person’s life that the chairman, or God, writes down is the most satisfying and perfect plan for a person’s life. How can a perfect God write an imperfect plan for a person’s life?  Wouldn’t you want to follow God’s plan if you knew that it would be the one that gave you the ultimate life experience while on earth? The true beauty of God’s plan is that he also gives a person the right to choose it or not, and that is the choice of freewill. If a human chooses to make choices that deviates from that plan, it does alter “His”, or God’s, plan if you will. Even if it “alters” God’s plan, God can use that choice made by man for some other plan that God creates as well.

Although to some people, it may seem like God is a cruel dictator who only wants man to do what He writes down in the "plan book", but the way I see it is that God created man to choose his own destiny and at the same time God also created man to have the choice to follow what God wants for him. I see this as a balanced effect of freewill and determinism because like I said in my last blog post, “I believe that life works out to where there is a combination of both determinism and free will. I think we need both of these categories to be considered fully human. Without one category, there is an imbalance that reflects a lack of either free will or a divine power to interact in our lives.”

Reference: The Adjustment Bureau. Dir. George Nolfi. Perf. Matt Damon Emily Blunt. Universal Studios Home Entertainment, 2011. DVD.

Compatibilism

As stated in my previous blog when I addressed the question who is writing the script of my life, I definitely believe it is a collaborative effort between my own free-will and God. Doing more research and more readings, I have discovered I am not the only one who thinks the way that I do. The category I would fall in, along with others, is Compatibilism. Compatibilist believe that some of the details in your life are already determined but you also have the ability to make your own choices. So in my life, I believe that all the overall and big moments in my life are pre-determined. To me, this would mean things like my college, my degree, the man I marry, huge events in my future, and the people in my life. The free-will, my free-will, comes in when I make decisions to get to the big moments or the path that I take. So for example, my roommate has had a huge impact on my life. It took me choosing to be in a sorority, choosing to be in Greek Sing, choosing to get closer with other women in my sorority, choosing to then live with these women along with a woman I didn't know. This woman I didn't know turns out to be my roommate. If I wouldn't have done that I might not have met her, but to me I believe she belongs in my life. If I didn't meet her that way, I would have met her some other way. God wants her in my life, so He would have got her there. This is what I mean by my big moments are pre-determined, but the path I take is through my own free-will. 

Classic Categories #1

                                               

Traci (Marie) Hollandsworth

September 11, 2013

                                                Classic Categories #1

            I most identify with the idea of Compatibilism. I believe in determinism and free will as a joint effort in life. Free will is offered to everyone but some things in life are already set in motion by determinism. The example given on p.7 is exactly the way I feel about life; we are dealt a certain hand of cards and how we play it is up to us. After experiencing life for a certain number of years we can look back and play the hands a little differently. I personally believe that we can overcome any difficulties that come our way. Just because we inherit certain genetic qualities that are beyond our control doesn’t mean that we cannot choose a different path and become the exception.

            Theological determinism makes perfect sense to me through my faith. I believe that God does write the script for my life; and he lets me have a hand in it by giving him my trust and putting my faith in him. When I do that…things work out for the better good. When I have tried to make my own plans it never works. In the bible the Lord says that he knows the plans he has for us. I have said thanks for many unanswered prayers. There are so many things that I prayed for at the time that I am so very thankful never came to pass. I can see now exactly why those things did not work and why the greater plan is much better than any I could have. I believe that we are each given opportunities to make the best choices possible, but sometimes we don’t. Grace and Mercy are extended to each of us.

 

What Position Would I Choose Regarding Free Will and Determinism? 

Christen Ferris

September 10, 2013

As our country goes into yet anther anniversary of September 11th, it has influenced me on how I reflect on the theories involving free will and determinism. The theory of determinism can be described in the article “Who is Writing the Script of My Life?”, “All of our choices to some degree are already determined before we make them as I can easily take either each view as sensible so it is hard for me to choose between them.” Free will consists of. “the power to make our own choices in spite of all influences”.

When I think of determinism I think of the people who went to work 12 years ago on September 11th, and something happened to where they weren’t in the building when the airplanes crashed into it. It makes me see the beautiful art of divine intervention. Maybe the person who was stuck in traffic on the subway or whatnot, looks to these circumstances as a predetermined set of events that were put there in order to save their life. This circumstance brings me to ask one question; How and why does the divine coordinator, God, go about choosing who to save? A passage in the bible helps me understand that God too much of a mystery to understand. Job 11:7-9 says that, "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens--what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave--what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.”

On the other hand, maybe the person who was lucky to not be caught in one of the towers on September 11th may have a different view and think that it was free will that saved their lives. They might see that it was THEIR choice to take that specific subway route that morning which essentially delayed their arrival. Maybe they see themselves as their own savior. They consider their life as saved because of their individual choice without anyone’s, including God’s, influence on it. I believe that God does give man a sense of free will because he wants to give humanity a chance to CHOOSE to love and follow Him.

It is hard for me to choose between these two theories, so I like to take the compatability view in this case. Compatibilism is the view that “some of our choices are already determined but some are not and thus we are free to make some of our own choices” I believe that life works out to where there is a combination of both determinism and free will. I think we need both of these categories to be considered fully human. Without one category, there is an imbalance that reflects a lack of either free will or a divine power to interact in our lives. I believe there is always a purpose for everything in our lives. At the same time, we are GIVEN A CHOICE on how to live out the circumstances we are placed in. A wise person once told me that life is 90 percent of what happens to us, and the last 10 percent is how we react to the other 90 percent.

Refernces

Simpler “Who is Writing the Script of My Life” Classic Categories #1 p. 2

Answers to the Two Questions

I am going to address two questions. Questions which I feel are frequently asked by many. These questions are, “Who is writing the script of my life?” and “Who’s to say what’s right?”  For the first question, I approach it like a book company. I am the author and God is the editor. I write the story. I make all my decisions. I strongly believe, I have free-will to choose whatever path I wish to take. Therefore, I write my story. All of the details, the action packed chapters, and the ultimate ending are completely up to me, based on my decisions. God comes in as the editor throughout the entire story. Just like an editor would edit and change the story as he reads each chapter, God will help me along in each chapter of my life. He will place things in my life to guide me in the right direction. He will interfere when He believes I am off course, allowing me the option to take a different path. Nevertheless, I chose between my options. I remain the author and I ultimately decide the final story I wish to live. The second question to be addressed is “Who’s to say what’s right?” I believe that as a society we decide what is right. We are generally raised in the same ideals as our neighbor, our friends, our family, and the community in which we live. For example, as a whole, society believes that stealing is wrong, rape is wrong, murder is wrong, and lying is wrong. These are not usually debated. Society has decided, unanimously throughout many years, that these actions are morally wrong and we all know it. We as a community, society, and government say what is right. We do this together. 

Assumptions

“Who is writing the script of my life?” My starting place on this question is that God has a plan; although I do believe that we make our choices and we have free will. I have been taught from a very young age to believe in the Lord with all of my heart. With age I have learned to appreciate the peaceful comfort that comes along with giving all situations to God. When I start with that I can deal with whatever comes my way. In my past experiences, when I have deterred from my beliefs and done things my own way, it doesn’t end up well for me. When I pray and ask for guidance, I then go with my instincts on what feels like the best decision at the time. “Who’s to say what is right?” My starting place on this question is that everyone has a different definition of “right.” Who’s to say that everyone isn’t right? The way I see it is that every one of us is on our own personal journey; going in directions that others may not ever be able to comprehend or understand. I have felt a tremendous amount of peace in my life by simply coming to the realization that I am not ever going to understand everything. I am fine with that. I have decided to embrace life’s mysteries rather than be afraid of them. Maybe everyone is right in some way or another. Maybe everyone has a piece of the puzzle that would make it whole. Maybe everyone is right. I only know my own heart; but cannot fault anyone for having a different "right" than I do.

Group Meeting Aug 28, 2013

Here are some main assumptions and thoughts that I have processed about the two main questions given in my Junior Cornerstone course; “Who is writing the script of my life?” and 
“Who’s to say what’s right?”. Ever since junior year of high school, I have been asked the question in which I saw a particular emphasis on the personal pronouns, “What are YOU going to to do with YOUR life?” or “What are YOUR next steps in YOUR future?”. Over the years, I have found that a lot of what I want to do with MY life depends on a lot of choices that I make. The popular phrase “You make your own luck” has been somewhat engrained in my head. Yet, I have a contradictory belief because after living a little more on this earth, I have also found that it isn’t all about what I decide. The question, “Who is writing the script of my life?”, makes me think that there is something bigger other than myself that’s orchestrating events and creating situations that help guide me toward the place I need to end up. That something that I make mention of is my Creator. So, I would say that whenever I hear the question, “Who is writing the script of my life?”, my starting point to answering this question would be that God is writing the script of my life because His plans most certainly work out better than mine. The sticky question that creates heavy debate in our world today, “Who’s to say what’s right?” makes me automatically think to return to any biblical truths that I have learned throughout my life. I think a good place to start would be the Ten Commandments and then go from there. The Ten Commandments can be looked at as “rules” or “life guidelines”. One way to look at it is that they are a good moral compass to go by throughout life. In Matt. 22:37-39, Jesus talks about what the greatest commandment in the bible is. He says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you think about it, these are the Ten Commandments in a nutshell. It takes true love for God to really follow him and listen to what he says about what is “right” and what is “wrong”.