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Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Does that Bible Teach That We Have Free Will?

Photo by William White on Unsplash

The Bible has lot of things to say about lots of topics. It doesn't speak specifically about how much screen time kids in middle school should have, but it speaks to what we should put our time and energy into. Sometimes the Bible implies certain things about a topic. For example, when it says that we shouldn't murder, we can infer that if something is murder, we shouldn't do it (i.e. abortion).

Other times the Bible assumes that you already have some prerequisite  knowledge that doesn't need to be elaborated on. It's assumed that you have enough understanding to sufficiently grasp the main teaching point of the text.

I think the nature of free will is something like the last option. The Biblical authors assume that you have some concept of free will that you are bringing with you when you read the text. That's not to say that the Scriptures can't set the parameters for your view of free will. It just means that the Bible doesn't offer a treatise on the subject. So when we try to determine "what the Bible says about free will" we shouldn't expect it to directly address contemporary philosophical debates on the subject.