God’s Love and Human freedom, even the nearly absolute freedom we enjoy (in respect to our relationship with God, not necessarily with others), are not in contradiction. Most would not probably see a contradiction, except, perhaps in the case of universal reconciliation. Some believe this doctrine to contradict the idea of human freedom. We know humans have freedom to reject God. Therefore, God must not be able to reconcile us. In this model, hell is something we choose. I use to think like this. I remember having a conversation with a friend in Santa Cruz who was anything but a Christian. I said something to the effect that non-Christians, when confronted with the reality of God essentially spit in God’s face (I was more naive then and saw things in a more black and white nature. Now I understand that things aren’t so clear cut, even if we would like them to be). He responded, sort of shocked, that he would do nothing of the kind, that he thought it would be a more awe-inspiring experience. Though my friend rejected God, he did not do it out of a hatred of God, but out of either disbelief or misunderstanding. He did not understand why God interacts with the world the way God does, or would make the rules the way God did, therefore, we chose to reject the theistic model. There were blockades that stopped my friend from becoming a Christian, but if they were removed, if he was directly confronted with the power and love of God, my friend would repent and respond to God’s love in kind.
So is our understanding of freedom accurate? I don’t think so. Much of contemporary theology is radically conservative, which means it fails to recognize the influences and limitations of both our genetic predispositions and our environmental factors. I do not want to go to far the other way and say that we are not responsible for our actions, but I don’t want to say that genetics and environment influence and thus limit our ability to make certain choices in certain situations.
So what is freedom? In the following propositions I hope to come to a clearer understanding of it, as well as its obstacles.
1. Freedom is the ability to choose to act on our desires without being restricted from doing so by another and without restricting another’s ability to do the same.
2. We only desire what is actually good or is seemingly good, goodness being a matter of pleasantness or usefulness—something beneficial.
3. Anything that hinders our ability to understand what is pleasant, useful, or beneficial compromises our ability to know what is good, and thus restricts our freedom.
4. Removing or overcoming that which distorts our vision of the good increases our freedom.
5. Therefore, God’s act of purging or correcting our understanding of goodness is not a violation of our freedom.
6. This correction will result in our freely choosing God and our welcome into heaven, even after death.
We already believe all these things. Think of those who are brainwashed, either in cults, or as children in terrorist groups like the LRA. Their ability to understand what is good has been compromised. We also say things like “If he only knew!” when some one we care about is making or has made a bad decision. We understand that such a person’s understanding of what is good is distorted. They are not acting with their best interest in mind, and are, therefore, acting irrationally. But irrationality and freedom are not compatible, which is why we punish those with lower brain capacity less for the same crimes as those of us with full capacity. We also understand that mistakes do not warrant full culpability, some culpability, but not full. And this is where those of us who reject God fall: we reject God and God’s way because we do not understand it (though many who accept it do not understand it either), but our lack of understanding is a mistake. Something blocks us from choosing properly, whether predisposition, environmental factors, or misinformation. In any case, these can all be cleared up. We can be healed, retaught, and told the truth. Wouldn’t we do the same for our children? God desires that all be saved and God desires that we freely choose to be saved. If we cannot freely choose, then God will give us the freedom we need to make the right choice and dwell in love for eternity.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
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