Can We Really Exercise Free Will?

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Blue155 said:
If Calvinism is consistent, then if God unchangeably determines every thought, motive, and deed, then you can't just give him credit for the good things. He may decree them in different ways. He has a secondary means for ways for one thing and for another he decrees it differently. But he's still unchangeably decreeing all of it. And there is no human power for any human being to do anything differently. And by the way, that would include Adam. And so, that makes him the author of sin. Because even the first evil intention, even the one in Satan's heart, Satan had no control. He had to do it. He had to want to do it. Whatever it is, you have to be consistent. I think Calvinists are inconsistent here. If you're going to give God the credit for all the good things, you have to give him the credit for all the bad things. and saying he's the author of sin, that makes him evil.
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don't see anyone saying these things but you.

I wonder if you have a big nose 🤪
 
Bible_Highlighter said:
Thank you. I will take that as a compliment.
Just know that if you want to research anything within seconds, Google.com and Perplexity.ai can be your friends.
Granted, in some cases you have to double check those sources of course.



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make sure your waring your glasses on Google 🤩
 
Jordon said:
make sure your waring your glasses on Google 🤩
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Thanks. I should wear them more often, though I do always use them when I’m driving.

Another site I often use is ChatGPT.com. It is a really helpful tool, though you do need to fact-check it since it can sometimes get details wrong. It works best for general or creative tasks like translating languages, summarizing long PDFs, breaking down multi-hour YouTube videos, helping refine a writeup, checking grammar, creating images, or even assisting with building and launching a website.

When it comes to looking up what specific people believe, though, ChatGPT can sometimes produce false or misattributed quotes, so I usually rely on Perplexity for that kind of research.

For example, if I want to analyze the Beza 1598 Greek text that underlies the King James Bible, I can ask ChatGPT to give me a word-for-word breakdown and explore deeper meanings of Greek words that align with the KJV. It is also great for testing or defending your beliefs. You can request an unbiased biblical analysis, such as asking whether there are more verses for or against Calvinism, or use it to find scriptural support for a particular doctrine.



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Blue155 said:
God doesn't have to determine both sides of the chessboard to get his end result. He's that good. Think about how many people are disillusioned or discouraged because of the belief they think “well, everybody is already in the category they're determined to be in, whether it's to be saved or lost, it can't be changed, and those who are born without God electing them to salvation have got no hope. Jesus didn't even die for them. So, they got no hope. There’s nothing they can do. They're born with a God-hating nature that doesn't even allow them to want to do anything different. They are helpless. Helpless to do anythingdifferently. And they will be condemned for all eternity for what they had no human power to do anything differently. That is extremely upsetting to a lot of people. You can say, "Well, it's what the Bible says if you're Calvinist." No, I disagree. But still that's the practicality of it. What is assumed often by Calvinists is that you can't choose to do one or the other. Well, tell that to Peter when Jesus said, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." But yet Peter was able to go back and stop doing that.

According to Calvinism, God must have eternally decreed all decisions that man will make and choose in order for Him to be sovereign and retain ultimate sovereignty. However, that presupposes that granting man free will somehow renders Him incapable of exercising sovereignty. But a truly sovereign God does not need to do such order to accomplish His purposes. Is God not still all sovereign, all-powerful, etc etc without having to eternally decree both sides of the chessboard? If not, why not?
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Right. The truth is that God providentially intervenes according to His omniscient whereby our sin, error and failures are nullified, resolved, and His eternal promises and purposes are realized. God fixes the sin problem for those who ask Him.

Two wills, both of them free, interacting.
 
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Whenever a Calvinist says: “Perhaps you should take that up with God” it means “I don’t know the answer” in Calvinism.

Same for when they say every other thing.
 
Jordon said:
do you have an iPhone or an android phone

Do you have a pc or a Mac
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I am an Apple guy. I use a Mac desktop, and other apple devices.

On my desktop Mac, I run Parallels software so I can use certain PC programs like Sword Searcher, which includes both the Scrivener Greek (Textus Receptus) and the Ben Chayyim Masoretic Hebrew. These tools are very helpful for me since I enjoy studying the original languages underlying the King James Bible.

Granted, Scrivener’s Greek text is not identical to Beza’s 1598 edition, which the KJV translators primarily used.



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Bible_Highlighter said:
I am an Apple guy. I use a Mac desktop, and other apple devices.

On my desktop Mac, I run Parallels software so I can use certain PC programs like Sword Searcher, which includes both the Scrivener Greek (Textus Receptus) and the Ben Chayyim Masoretic Hebrew. These tools are very helpful for me since I enjoy studying the original languages underlying the King James Bible.

Granted, Scrivener’s Greek text is not identical to Beza’s 1598 edition, which the KJV translators primarily used.



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oh good just thought I would ask cuz android and pc are full of mirror images.

It's where the world wide web takes over your screen and you don't notice your staring into a mirror image of somebody's else's screen. but I'm just wondering if it's come to mac to and apple and iPhone to. I'm on them for that reason.

And it seems you just keep on posting false images
 
Blue155 said:
Calvinism is inconsistent.
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Right, if a person wants to be unbiased about their belief in Calvinism, all they have to do is ask different Ai's to see how it is inconsistent in light of the rest of Scripture. Have they ever wondered why certain verses like 2 Thessalonians 2:10 are never explained by their fellow Calvinists? These things should give the average Calvinist pause, but we know that many of them simply like the belief they hold to (for whatever reason that might be). Logical problems in their Calvinistic belief, and Bible verses are things that they just have to ignore.



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Bible_Highlighter said:
Right, if a person wants to be unbiased about their belief in Calvinism, all they have to do is ask different Ai's to see how it is inconsistent in light of the rest of Scripture. Have they ever wondered why certain verses like 2 Thessalonians 2:10 are never explained by their fellow Calvinists? These things should give the average Calvinist pause, but we know that many of them simply like the belief they hold to (for whatever reason that might be). Logical problems in their Calvinistic belief, and Bible verses are things that they just have to ignore.



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Your committing the same thing in thess 2.10

Your deceiving people by printing False images of the teaching of grace by assigning it to Calvinism.

I wonder do you see his enabling grace in the Bible anywhere and if so where do you see it the most ?
 
Bible_Highlighter said:
Right, if a person wants to be unbiased about their belief in Calvinism, all they have to do is ask different Ai's to see how it is inconsistent in light of the rest of Scripture. Have they ever wondered why certain verses like 2 Thessalonians 2:10 are never explained by their fellow Calvinists? These things should give the average Calvinist pause, but we know that many of them simply like the belief they hold to (for whatever reason that might be). Logical problems in their Calvinistic belief, and Bible verses are things that they just have to ignore.



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Why are they never explained?
 
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If God has already elected the saved, then why would He desire all people to be saved, if the elect is part of the all? And why would He desire all to be saved if He has eternally determined to damn people He has chosen? And why would He not wish that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance if He has eternally decreed the elect and the lost? Why would He not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, the one who dies, when He has eternally decreed the individuals who are wicked to be and die wicked?
 
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If anything, this thread is further proof of how dangerous, inconsistent, and illogical Calvinism really is. It has enough holes in it that you could sink a battleship lol.
 
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