Can the both exist? ... No. But its ok. There is a Solution.
Thomas
If we have no free will, then we have no 'choice' and if no choice then we can't be held responsible for what we do ... the 'choice', and the fault, lies with God. That's illogical — you end up with a god who's a very nasty piece of work ... if such was true then the whole premise of the Abrahamic God is a nonsense.
The only other alternative, if not choice, is to be at the end, right at the beginning.
But then there'd be nothing to do.
All that really matters is why does God allow you to make the wrong choices?
Thomas
Not necessarily.
I understand your concern, as I shared it for a long time. However, one has to accept the simplicity of the problem before us, without complicating the issue:
If the universe is deterministic, then there is no free will.
So is it deterministic or not? If God is All-Knowing, and All-Powerful,
then the universe is, by definition, deterministic. If you look at the issue objectively you will have to accept that there is no way to avoid this conclusion.
However, (and this is the important bit) even though it is deterministic, there is a way to avoid the follwing conclusion:
"...you end up with a god who's a very nasty piece of work ... if such was true then the whole premise of the Abrahamic God is a nonsense."
There is a solution to this paradox. But it requires an answer to a VERY DEEP question which has troubled mystics since the beginning.
How do you reconcile the Wrath of God, with his Mercy?
These are two, seemingly contradicting attributes. If we understand how this is possible, that God can have both these qualities, at the same time, we will understand the solution to the paradox. This understanding, I believe, is essential for anyone who wants to progress on the path of any of the Three Abrahamic Faiths.
In the Quran, for example, it is clearly stated that If God wanted, He could have guided all mankind. But He lets those go in error who "wrong themselves". Is there a contradiction here? It seems at first sight there is. But lets look closer. And to do this, we have to understand what the purpose of Hell is.
Those who "wrong themselves" are the ones who will enter Hell. But what is Hell? Is it a place where pain is meted out for eternity? No. This is a misconception. Hell is a place which the wicked will go through as a purification. But purification towards what?
This is not a seperate question, but is essential to understanding the paradox. God created man, to take his place above the angels. Not just some men... but "Man"... Mankind (and womankind of course). But all men have to go through a purification. And what is "purification"?
Lets look at nature (this usually always helps). How is gold purified? You melt it, until the impurities are separated from the core metal. But this process is very harsh is it not? Rumi (the Persian Sufi poet) once wrote of the harsh stages a seed of wheat has to go through before it can become bread, and bring benefit to mankind. All such processes, require a lot of effort in order to return a benefit.
Now lets look at human nature, how do good men attain character? They go through trials. Which seem like "hell" when one is going through them. This is exactly the concept of Hell. To purify man. According to sayings of Jesus (PBUH) in the Bible, and Mohammed (PBUH) in the hadith, the wicked shall be taken out of hell.
So now, the last and most pressing question:
If God is All Powerful and so Merciful, why did He not create a world in which man could have been purified without all the hassles? Why does one have to suffer so much pain in order to experience eternal bliss.
The answer to this question is simply mathematical. Lets examine the word "eternal". What does it mean mathematically? Eternal means infinite. So "eternal bliss" would mean "infinite Bliss". So basically, the comparison here, is between something finite (hell/pain) and infinite (heaven/bliss). This might seem like a fair comparison from the point of view of philosophy. But mathematically, there is NO comparison here. Why? Because nothing finite, could ever be compared with anything infinite. Even if man spent billions of years in hell, but ended up in infinite bliss afterword, there would still be nothing to shed a tear about. And according to one saying of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) the longest time anyone will spend in Hell, is the time span of 80 years (basically a human life time). The point being, infinite bliss is a reward which is so unimaginably out of proportion, that even if man is put through whatever trial, as he is going through that pain, he will feel it... but when he reaches the destination, he will understand that the reward he got in the end... was priceless.
This is how we can understand how even in a deterministic universe, in which no one has any "free will", God can still be understood as "The Benificient, The Merciful". Because ultimately, God is in total control of
everything. And He knows what He's doing, and where He is leading us. And its all good. So in this way, even without clinging on to this concept of "free will" we can get through the day just fine.
Take Care
