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The Illusion of Free Will
How the Concept of God Contradicts Freedom
In theological debate, it is generally a given that the god of choice, albeit that of Christianity, its various sects, or that of most monotheistic religions, has to be a god of unlimited power that exists beyond the scope of natural law. This god is the creator of everything in existence, eternally present, and knows the outcome of the entire future prior to even bringing life to fruition. Given all that, there of course should be the question, why would an all-powerful god allow things like evil and suffering to exist and what would be the point of causing such atrocities to befall his own creation? Without fail, the explanation given for this is the concept of free will. Believers in this all-powerful version of god will say that evil and suffering is brought about not by the will of their god, but by the choices of the creations who operate of their own accord. Having said that, believers will also be quick to mention that God works in mysterious ways and the tests of suffering on Earth are all part of his plan for his creation. How is it possible for both of these things to be true?
I argue that it is not possible for both these things to be true. The concepts contradict one another, and are a paradox of beliefs that shift back in forth of the mind of the believer as a matter of convenience for…
