[count-your-change]

“That's as good as just admitting that everything that happens conforms to God's will, or he is no God. So, what purpose would man's free will accomplish?”

Some may say this, some may say that. So what?

Some people are just unwilling to ‘man up’ and accept responsibility for their decisions because the results were disagreeable to them. When presented alternative courses of action they make a choice and regret the results because they were unwilling to choose a better but more difficult course of action so now they whine that they “had no choice” and comfort themselves thereby.

“LOL they also left out freely!”

They also left out “illusion” according to your previous comments:

“If God decides the consequences of our choices, then the consequences God preordained by necessity force our choices, even if we are not aware of it, hence the “free will” is only something humans experience on their level as an illusion.”

I guess that “illusion” business is supposed to ease the burden of responsibility for decisions made.

[kosta50]

I do not disagree with you as regards the problem of accepting responsibility. I am simply trying to illustrate that the scriptural idea of God strongly points a predetemrinsitic world. Insisting that God is always in charge leads to a problem with man's capability, and an invitation for people to use it as an excuse, but then people have always had an excuse: either God or the devil made them do it. Even Adam blames God for giving him the woman... (Gen 3:12) and Eve blames the serpent (Gen 3:13).

The topic of Judas Iscariot is a free-will nightmare big time. It lies at the heart of it.