Sunday Sermons
Free Will
Free Will
Do I Really Have It?
There are varying views in the world concerning free will. One view is that reality is shaped by various sociological or biological forces beyond our control. Another view is that whatever we happen to think, do, or say at any particular moment can be traced back to a preceding series of causes and effects, and therefore, what we said, thought or did was merely shaped by the past. “The conclusion people draw from this assumption is, no matter how hard we try to gain objectivity or arrive at the truth about a matter, our historical and cultural context or our genetic makeup ultimately overpowers us. Thus, all we can say is, ‘This is just my perspective – and no more’” (That’s Just Your Interpretation, Paul Copan, p. 42).
Biases and Prejudices Do Exist
There are two sides to us. On the one hand we have been shaped by environment, culture, family upbringing and genes, so that on our own we are not 100-percent bias free. Please note; this is true of everyone, including those who claim we do not have any free will. “A couple of years go, on a plane to Boston I sat next to a rather hard-nosed atheist. When I talked to him about objective moral values, he maintained that they do not exist. He said, ‘What we call morality is nothing more than an attempt to survive and reproduce. In fact, all that we do is nothing more than our struggle to survive and reproduce’. I replied, ‘Does this mean that your own atheistic beliefs are nothing more than an attempt to survive and reproduce? If you take this route, then you’ll have to admit that both your atheism and my theism spring from the same underlying instinct to survive and reproduce, and there’s no way to tell which of us is correct—or if we’re both wrong’” (Copan, p. 43). The lesson here is that non-Christian men and women who speculate about how we do not have any free will,always exempt themselves from the discussion. They always assume that their statements or the book in which contains their theory is completely objective. Such people, when they talk and write, give the impression they have been able to evade or resist the physiological forces that control what the rest of us are thinking.
The Good News
The Bible is clear that man on his own is blind (Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 16:25), and yet the Bible is equally clear that we can still achieve objectivity despite all the influences that are attempting to shape us:
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We do have the ability with the gospel to resist harmful influences, “And do not be conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2).
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With the Bible, we do have the ability to clearly see not only reality, and other people, but we can equally see ourselves, including our own shortcomings and prejudices, “Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is a great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. And keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me” (Psalm 19:11-13).
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With the Bible, not only can I clearly see sinful actions, but I can also see many times the reasons why I do things, “For the word of God is…sharper than any two-edged sward, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
I find it ironic that people who depart from God in the name of “freedom” often end up believing that they do not have any real freedom. By contrast, the person who comes to God and submits to His authority, discovers that he or she has a tremendous amount of freedom, so much freedom, that they actually make the final call on whether they go to heaven or hell (Romans 2:6-11), and can truly stop the sinful addictions that the world often says are impossible to stop (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Remember, any time you are tempted to buy into the idea that you were born a certain way or that your choices are not truly your own, you are being asked to surrender your freedom. Not only do I find Christians in the Bible being able to leave behind them highly addictive sinful habits (1 Peter 4:1ff), I also find them able to overcome ingrained prejudices. The apostle Paul at one time was a highly prejudiced Pharisee, and yet he became the apostle to the Gentiles. When he said to the Corinthians, “Am I not free?” (1 Corinthians 9:1), the logical response is, “Yes, you are beyond a doubt free”.
Is Environment All-Powerful?
It is clear that environment can be powerful, both in a good and bad sense. A wholesome environment is important in raising children (Ephesians 6:4), and the wrong kind of friends can lead to a person’s demise (1 Corinthians 15:33). Yet environment is not all-powerful, it does not make the final decision for us. Christians are actually commanded to resist the environment (the world) that surrounds them everyday of their lives (1 John 2:15). In Ezekiel 18, we have an enlightening passage on environmental influences. In this chapter we have two situations that undermine the idea that we are purely the product of our environment. 1) A righteous man who has a violent son (18:5-13). 2) A wicked man who has a righteous son (18:14-17). I find it amazing that college teachers who argue we are nothing more than the product of our environment, view the first task at hand to be to change the minds of young people who were raised in a different environment, and that they often see young people radically change and forsake influence of their parents when they come to college. If we are a product of our environment, then why are these professors so successful at undoing a lifetime of parenting?
The Application to History
For centuries skeptics have been arguing that the Bible has been corrupted, although we have proficiently answered this claim many times. Yet what is happening now is that the attack that was once directed toward the Scriptures is now being directed toward all historical documents. It used to be that knowledge about past historical events was presumed to be accessible and knowable, “For most of the last 2,400 years, the essence of history has continued to be that it should try to tell the truth, to describe as best as possible what really happened. Over this time, of course, many historians have been exposed as mistaken, opinionated and often completely wrong, but their critics have usually felt obliged to show they were wrong about real things, that their claims about the past were different from the things that actually happened. In other words, the critics still operated on the assumption that the truth was within the historian’s grasp” (The Killing of History, Keith Windschuttle, p. 1). “Since the beginning of the 1990’s, however, historians have increasingly disbelieved that there is any distinction between myth and fact, between fiction and nonfiction. The newly dominant theorists within the humanities and social sciences assert that it is impossible to tell the truth about the past or to use history to produce knowledge in any objective sense at all. The writing of history is virtually no different from propaganda” (Copan, p. 44).
Applications
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We should not be surprised that when men reject their Creator, not only do they become ignorant and unsure of God, moral truths, and even who they are; they likewise are consigned to be completely unsure of all past historical events.
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It therefore should be no surprise that God says that such people or cultures are “lost” (Luke 19:10), and in “darkness” (Acts 26:18).
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When Jesus described the multitudes as “distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36), isn’t this is a precise description of modern men? Yet do they really believe this? The answer is no.
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The historians who are saying that nothing can be known for sure and that objectivity about history is impossible are exempting themselves from this category. They believe that their comments are accurate; they believe that what they are writing is objective and is based on fact. “He expects his audience to take what he is saying to be factual rather than mythical. He certainly does not want them wondering, ‘Is this scholar giving me fact or fiction?’
Claims and Responses
“History is simply the record left by the victor. Therefore history is nothing more than an attempt by one racial, social or political group to assert power over another”
Really? So if all history writing is nothing more than an attempt to exert power or to further one’s own agenda, then does this equally apply to the historians who are writing that all history is nothing more than propaganda? Are their works propaganda?
“There are no facts, only interpretations”
Really? So is the above statement a fact or an interpretation? Here is another example of how many people will make a statement – and yet this statement they just make is to be viewed as an exception to the rule. Just as the person who says, “There is no absolute truth, actually means – except the absolute that there is no absolute truth.
“Question Authority”
Yet this slogan “presupposes an authority of its own. It essentially says, ‘Question all authority, but don’t question my authority!’” (Copan, p. 45). The same contradiction is found in the statement, “All truth is just an assertion of power” – of course the person who just stated this “truth” wants to exempt themselves as merely wielding power. Others claim that they can make a text or document say anything they want – yet don’t try this with the textbook which contains the kinds of claims the lesson has addressed, or any material handed out by the professor; he or she will be greatly offended if you twist their documents say anything you want.
