Will of Man
The Freedom of the human will has been a very aggressively disputed issue throughout the history of the Christian church. According to the Dictionary of Evangelical Theology, free will, or self determinism is defined as the following: “This is the belief that people determine their own behavior freely, and that no causal antecedents can sufficiently account for their actions.”[1] This article, written by Norman Geisler, continues, “In this view a person’s acts are caused by himself or herself… Inanimate objects do not change without an outside cause, but personal subjects are able to direct their own actions. As previously noted, self-determinists reject the notions that events are uncaused or that they cause themselves. Rather, they believe that human actions can be caused by human beings.”[2] In Predestination and Free Will, Geisler argues, “Irresistible force used by God on his free creatures would be a violation of both the charity of God and the dignity of humans. God is love. True love never forces itself on anyone. Forced love is rape, and God is not a divine rapist!”[3]
Geisler is an avid proponent of the free will of man. He argues his point from verses such as Joshua 24:15, which says, “choose this day whom you will serve,” and 1 Kings 18:21, which says, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” He also states that Jesus emphasized free will in Matthew 23:37, when He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” Geisler claims that these verses emphasize the human responsibility regarding personal moral choices and eternal destiny.[4] The moral responsibility of man requires a free will according to those who support the idea of the freedom of the will. Millard Erickson states, “Humans would not be genuinely human without free will. This has given rise to the argument that God cannot create a genuinely free being and at the same time guarantee that this being will always do exactly as God desires of him.”[5]
It is also claimed that the free will of man is a valid solution to the problem of evil. John Feinberg in his article for the Trinity Journal entitled, “And The Atheist Shall Lie Down With The Calvinist: Atheism, Calvinism, And The Free Will Defense,” says the following regarding the Free Will defense, “The final implication of all this is that the free will defender can solve the problem of evil which confronts his essentially Arminian theology. If one begins with incompatibilistic freedom, there is no contradiction in using the Free Will Defense to solve one’s problem of evil.”[6] He defines a difference in the terms regarding freedom, in which exist both compatibilistic freedom and incompatabilistic freedom. Noting Anthony Flew’s definition of both compatibilistic and incompatibilistic freedom, Feinberg notes, “One sense of the term ‘free’ means ‘unconstrained,’ while the other means ‘libertarian,’ according to Flew.”[7] Feinberg continues, “The distinction is simply the following: To say that someone acted freely in the unconstrained sense, as Flew uses the expression, means that ‘there are contingently sufficient non-subsequent conditions for a person’s being such that he chooses to act, and acts, in one particular way and not another.’”[8] Feinberg claims that his system of thought is a valid solution for the problem of evil. He also claims that free will is a, “good of the highest order which counterbalances and overbalances the evil which is present in the world,” This, according to Feinberg, is a validation of the system as a possible theological construction of thought.
However, does the logical consistency of a system of thought truly prove that it is the most Biblical form of thought? Should not the thought be formed by the Bible, with logical consistency only building upon the Biblical foundation? The Bible has very decisive input regarding the will of man, but does it support the concept of a “free will”?
The Bible speaks very certainly concerning the nature of the will of man. Paul, in Ephesians 2:1-3 says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Along the same thought line, Paul writes to Titus in Titus 3:3, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Galatians 4:4 states, “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.” Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:25-26, “God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”
Paul is not the only one in the New Testament who presents the nature of the human will. Peter, in 2 Peter 2:19, speaking of false prophets declares, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” Jesus Himself spoke on the nature of the will in John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.’” Jesus continues in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
These passages seem to speak not of a free human will, but of a human will which has been enslaved to sin. Many theologians throughout Christian history have concurred with this Scriptural understanding of the will of man. John Calvin, noting Augustine’s view of the will of man says,
“Augustine hesitates not to call the will a slave. It is certain, he elsewhere admits, that without the Spirit the will of man is not free, inasmuch as it is subject to lusts which chain and master it. And again, that nature began to want liberty the moment the will was vanquished by the revolt into which it fell. Again, that man, by making a bad use of free will, lost both himself and his will. Again, that free will having been made a captive, can do nothing in the way of righteousness. Again, that no will is free which has not been made so by divine grace.”[9]
Calvin also says, “ In this way, then, man is said to have free will, not because he has a free choice of good and evil, but because he acts voluntarily, and not by compulsion.… An admirable freedom! that man is not forced to be the servant of sin, while he is, however, “ejthelodou'lo” (a voluntary slave); his will being bound by the fetters of sin.”[10]
Martin Luther, in the Bondage of the Will, states, “’Free-will’ cannot be applied to any one but to God only. You may, perhaps, rightly assign to man some kind of will, but to assign unto him ‘Free-will’ in divine things, is going too far. For the term ‘Free-will,’ in the judgment of the ears of all, means, that which can, and does do God-ward, whatever it pleases, restrainable by no law and no command.”[11] Luther continues, “But you cannot call him Free, who is a servant acting under the power of the Lord. How much less, then, can we rightly call men or angels free, who so live under the all-overruling command of God, (to say nothing of sin and death,) that they cannot consist one moment by their own power.”[12]
The nature of the human will is a subject addressed by many theologians, and more importantly the Bible. The Bible addresses clearly the nature of the human will, and it does not paint a very “free” picture. The Bible instead presents the human will as enslaved to its sinful nature, and unable to free himself. Theologians throughout Church history have dealt with the nature of the will, and have confirmed this Scriptural teaching of the “bondage of the will.” How then, can we harmonize the sovereignty of God with the will of man?
[1] Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001.467
[2] Ibid 469
[3] Basinger, David, and Randall Basinger. Predestination and Free Will. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1986.69
[4] Ibid 64-65
[5] Erickson, Christian Theology, 448
[6] Feinberg, John S. "And The Atheist Shall Lie Down With The Calvinist: Atheism, Calvinism, And The Free Will Defense." Trinity Journal, 1980: 142-153.151
[7] Ibid 146
[8] Ibid
[9]Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol. II. B&R Samizdat Express. 229
[10] Ibid
[11] Luther, Martin. "The Bondage of the Will." Christian Classics Ethereal Library. November 22, 2005. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/luther/bondage.i.html (accessed April 17, 2011). XLI.
[12] Ibid
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