by Kirk Bookmyer

Created on: August 02, 2010

Where did we get the idea that our will is free?  Almost everyone assumes that the will is truly free. But why? Is anyone truly free? Why shouldn't we instead realize that human will is controlled by inner desires that people have very little control over? What organizations are promoting free will in our world? Are these organizations to be trusted? Should we wonder whether or not if they have an agenda for wanting to us believe in free will? It is that last question that bothers me the most.

I have been researching what is going on in regard to Christianity.  It seems Christian organizations are all over the map with what they believe. But most believe in free will. And it is driving most of what they do and how they think. But oddly enough this idea of free will is common to the larger society, too. Those not even attached to the Christian faith almost all agree that human-kind has free will. Even those organizations that are publicly against Christianity agree that the will of man is free. One such organization is the Church of Satan. Their message has a very strong affirmation and admiration of free will.  But don't take my word for it. Search for the Book of the Law/Thelema. It won't take you long to see that the Satanic Church is promoting the idea in that book. They often even quote from it, saying "Do what you will shall be the whole of the law. In other words, the message is the same as the larger society. And it is so easy to remember. It is even catchy if phrased as we most usually hear it - do your own thing!

Since there is only a small segment of organizations claiming to be Christian that would dare question how free the will of humans is, I thought it reasonable to review an old theological controversy. The controversy has to do with how "free" the will is. A group of Christians that distinguish themselves with the label "Calvinist" say that the basic issue is that of free agency or ultimate determinism. Even if you are not a Christian this idea/concept is intriguing to think about. For the sake of argument, let's just assume that there is a God who created everything. In this worldview the question becomes - who chooses what happens to the creation (people included)? Is it God or is it the creation/creature/man? Even many of the Calvinist's Christian opponents agree that the root sin of man is self will. Every Christian group has a proclamation of a coming kingdom of heaven as their gospel (which simply means good news).

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