The problem for many people is they do not recognize that the Creator God they perceive exists (or doesn’t exist, but ought to exist) is a projection of themselves. Therefore, whatever they devise within their own thinking is but a philosophy of what they themselves would like to be.
Let’s say I am guilty of the same.
However, unlike many people, I perceive God as being infinite (having no bounds to existence) and humans as biologically mortal beings—finite and limited, even in the eternal realm.
Because God is infinite, what this means is there is an infinite amount of ideas to be brought into existence. As yet the One Who Exists—and there is no other—has not even given thought to the infinite number of ideas that have yet to come into existence. Hence, when speaking of God being omniscient, from where I stand, I do not see the Creator as knowing everything that is yet to come into existence. Instead, I understand the omniscience of the Creator as being the ability to know everything that has been brought into existence so far—even if it is beyond my natural capability to comprehend or know everything that exist to date. For me to suggest that Infinite One has not the capacity to create an infinite number of ideas that have not yet been produced, or have been even given consideration, would be arrogance on my part.
Freewill is an ability that has been given to certain entities within Creation. Possessing freewill means that a person has the ability to reason. Without freewill, reasoning cannot truly be executed.
The processing of information is not quite the same as reasoning. Reasoning requires decisions to be made, and reasons given for those decisions. Merely processing information is a matter of programming: to filter and sort ideas—not to make decisions based on those ideas. Making decisions requires freewill to be initiated, even if this a appears to be a programmed capacity.
Humans have freewill to make choices between two things. Choosing is a matter of elimination, even if we might think it is intuitive, because people appear to choose one doll out of ten dolls. Choosing one doll out of ten dolls requires one to be selected and the others to be neglected. In other words, there is always only two choices, the one we like or the rest which are of no interest. But freewill extends beyond an appearance of having the faculty because one has been programmed to choose certain qualifying criterion over that which does not fit the required description.
God has freewill because knowledge is brought into being once all the variables are considered. Everything God has created is righteous and good. This does not mean that there is no violent happenings, rather this is a reference to relationships and the existence of sentient individuals. We all know the universe in which we live is a violent place as energy actively takes different forms. However, if we possess the ability to absorb that energy, or to deflect it, then mortality is not an issue. The issue is God created everything and declared it good, even though the possibility of evil could exist. So what is evil?
For God to possess freewill, there has to be a choice. A choice can be good or it can be evil. Evil is anything that which is injurious and destructive.
Freewill concerns not just the ability to make decisions as to whether the meccano pieces are to take one shape or another, but also the relationship between the pieces with the builder. If the pieces are dead lifeless parts comprising of metal or plastic then there is no relationship. If the pieces are alive and active, then the possibility of a meaningful relationship exists.
Humans attempting to build an organization using other humans will require relationships to be harmonious, if the desired outcome is going to be achieved. But unlike the Creator of Life, humans are unable to create living individuals that previously did not exist—robots are not biological and nor are they spiritual entities.
God chose to create living individuals. To do this, they were given a substance that He Himself possessed. There was no evil in anything that God created. Even though God was aware of the possibility of evil, this was not something the Creator Himself entertained. For evil to occur, God would have to hate Himself and become a masochist. Because God does not hate Himself, we can be rest assured He never chooses to do evil. God is righteous. Righteousness is the antithesis of evil; the same as unrighteousness is the antithesis of that which is good.
The problem for people who possess shallow spirituality and intellects is they read the Bible and point to verses that seem to indicate that God creates evil, or the wicked for destruction. Unfortunately, these sentences are taken out of context; not to mention the overall context of the plan and purpose of God.
When people see the punishment that they are to receive for doing evil themselves, they see this as evil.
The wicked like to see evil as good. Likewise, the wicked choose to do evil and, because of this, it appears that they were created for destruction. When judgment comes, it is as if the wicked were made for the day of destruction. In reality, the wicked are destined to be judged and destroyed, but not because God created them. The wicked are those who exercise their freewill to reject the salvation of God because of their preference for indulging in their evil desires.
God is omniscient because everything that happens is known by Him. God possesses freewill because moral choices are made by Him; such as judging the wicked and giving them eternal punishment for their deeds, yet forgiving those who recognize the futility of their ways; that is, those who come to their senses and recognize they have no power over death, nor any ultimate purpose in life if they are born merely to die.
For ignorant mortals, the fact that God possesses omniscience and freewill is difficult to comprehend; but once reality is acknowledged, recognizing that the Creator possesses the capacity to be omniscient and the ability to exercise His volition is not impossible. Humility is really the key to recognizing this truth, as it is with acknowledging any truth over one’s opinion..
Freewill, if you have not realized it yet, is the faculty that humans possess to distinguish good from evil. Freewill is about morality. Freewill is not about virtuality. For virtuality is not reality. Reality is something each one experiences—but this is a subjective experience only, irrespective of any pretense to being objective.
The truth of reality is contingent upon freewill and morality within relationships. And relationships are subjective experiences. These subjective experiences are very real to those involved (just as they are when someone upsets you). Therefore, realized subjective experiences are the reality of relationships; otherwise, even reality is unknown. Relationships based on freewill are not something humans can create and place within robots—regardless of how much they may try to code this capacity into a computer program.
No comments:
Post a Comment