Greg Koukl - Free will and a loving God?

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason answers the question, "What is the problem between free will and a loving God?" For more visit http://www.str.org.

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[ChipArgyle]

Yep, God displays genuine love for us as he stands beside the furnace, just waiting to happily throw most of us into it for all eternity to suffer hellfire after we die. Yes, most of us. He's ensured that by allowing so many different religions to arise. What a great guy. I sure want to spend all of eternity with a guy like that.

[MrAnagern]

I find the implications of "god not being able to do evil" rather disturbing. If this is true, there is no moral code or ethical framework that dictates his actions, rather his actions themselves sufficiently satisfy morality. This would mean any action taken would be justified, regardless of the nature of the action. He could slaughter millions (and has btw), and rectify his own actions because he simply took the action.

[sensical1]

4 minutes ago

I greatly admire Kokul for his apologetic work but... this is where I still find the form of Compatiblism implied by Kokul to be problematic: When we speak of Determinism, even its soft interpretation known as Compatiblism, as being problematic in regards to mankind, we do so needing to acknowledge a fundamental difference between us and God...

[sensical1]

: God is NOT bound by nor determined by some law outside of Him. God is understood to act in accordance to his nature, and not acting against it. It is done so by his perfect and infinite will. Determinism in regards to a finite creature implies that mankind is determined not only by his own finite nature but also from without. This is something very important to keep in mind. Kokul is sincere in his objection, but I would say it is ultimately starting from a faulty understanding of God's nature

[earthseller]

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

[Gernatch]

I admire Koukl's response but I don't agree with where he went with it. I agree that the idea that people won't be able to do otherwise in heaven doesn't mean love would be rendered meaningless. However, the reason why it won't is because it's only on earth that we can choose otherwise. Our choices here will be actualized throughout eternity. Those who reject God will be empowered to reject him forever. Those who choose him will be able to not sin for all eternity.

[adstanra]

Do you really think we choose to love? or our beliefs are completely freely chosen ?Do you think adam and Eve were real people? If so, when do you think they lived?

[RichieRighteous]

I agreed up until here.. The issue is if determinism can produce true love and the answer is no. Love has to be a choice. Even an all loving God allowed a flood that drowned the world . (Was that God choosing to do evil) Was that an evil act. (to destroy people because they don't submit to you) Or does an all loving God himself have a choice to love whoever he wants..

[shas1814]

"Dear Child, You are my offspring. Nothing will ever separate you from my love. I will always comfort you. Unless you don't believe me, in which case I will torture you for ever and ever in the torture chamber I made. You know I'll do it, too. I already tortured and mutilated and killed and abandoned my only REAL son. Trust me."

[eternalrequiem157]

2

What God wanted was not beings who wre bound to love Him, but beings who could choose to love Him or not, and that is what makes the love so much more rich. That, I think, necessitates the ability do "do otherwise." If not, then God wasn't looking for free moral agents to love Him, but simply looking for a fallen race to redeem. While that is not necessarily bad, that scenario does not seem to be the case at all. Those are my thoughts anyway