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To: P-Marlowe
Where in the Bible does it say that man has any free will at all, much less some kind of inviolate Free Will that God refuses to interfere with?

EVERYTIME that God tells man to obey Him, it implies that man has the ability to do so - or not. The FACT that man CAN REFUSE to do God's will tells us that God allows man's free will to exist. God made man in His image - which includes the ability to have a free will. This is something that ONLY man has. No other material creation has free will, or made in the image of God.

Quite frankly, the Church has unanimously affirmed that man has free will. They refer to Scriptures over and over again to prove this idea. It seems fairly obvious that man has free will by merely looking at life.

Regards

8,021 posted on 10/03/2007 5:51:23 AM PDT by jo kus
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To: jo kus; P-Marlowe
free will... This is something that ONLY man has

My cat has free will; I'm pretty sure of it.;)

8,024 posted on 10/03/2007 6:06:25 AM PDT by suzyjaruki (Why?)
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To: jo kus; P-Marlowe; suzyjaruki
EVERYTIME that God tells man to obey Him, it implies that man has the ability to do so - or not.

I would argue that you have the wrong implication. Every time God tells man to obey Him is simply evidences to the rest of us that we are incapable of obedience without His help. It isn't that we have the ability. The Law was given for our instruction so that we can see how far short we fall, not how much we measure up. God has given us ALL these examples simply to show us that we CANNOT obey Him.

God tell people not to stick peas up there nose and people stick peas up their noses. God tell people not to go swimming without sun screen and people go swimming without sun screen. God tell people to back up their hard drives and people don't do it and suffer the results. All the examples in the Old (and some in the New) serves to show what a disobedient people we are and how we need God's help to overcome this disobedience. God gives us His Law and we can't keep it. As Paul states, the Law isn't bad but we died because we refuse to follow it (well at least the parts we don't like).

Quite frankly, the Church has unanimously affirmed that man has free will.

Nonsense. This was always an area of contention. The west and Church has abandon their monergistic view of the western church. Roman Catholicism is moving towards Orthodoxy.

8,028 posted on 10/03/2007 6:53:34 AM PDT by HarleyD
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