Sovereign in all ways, at the same time, for all time?

You are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ......

I disagree with you brother, "free will" is implied in many places in scripture. Now if you "mean" absolute free will, then we may have a point of agreement.

 

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:


We freely make choices....but our wills are not free..[absolutely]

The ability to choose something ...does not constitute free will...

 

...........

 

Luke's appeal to Augustine, doesn't answer the question I've posed to him on numerous occasions, though he thinks it does.

He refers to Augustines teaching of evil as the "privatio boni ('privation of good'), or that which occurs when a being renounces its proper role in the order and structure of creation."

Augustine's teaching that 'sickness and wounds are nothing but the privation of health', works when it comes to sickness, and may apply to other aspects of life. However, this doesn't answer where evil (or the ability for things to become corrupted), first begin? It tells us the condition of a person who does evil, but it doesn't tell us how and where the evil intent originates. Who first thought of the idea to molest a child, for example? There had to be a first time, right? Where did that intent originate and how?

Augustine does indeed provide an answer to that question, but his views of privation only address apart of the answer. So, what does Augustine teach?

"Well as far as Augustine is concerned, evil entered the world as a result of the wrong choices of free beings (free in the sense that there was no external force necessitating them to do wrong). In other words, corruption occurred as a result of freewill."

Now, this view of freewill may be argued to be more in line with the "compatibilistic" model of freedom (but that is in question) which is defined as, "someone is free if they are acting in accordance with their desire/intent." In other words, the compatiblists thinks someone is FREE if that someone is doing what they want. But, notice the KEY point left out by the compatiblists? What is the ORIGEN of the intent which makes the agent WANT to do what they end up doing?

So, once again the question remains. Who originated the intent to molest? Did God think of it first, like an author of a book does and write it into the nature of His made up characters? Or did the idea originate in the free moral agent?

Don't expect an answer to this question anytime soon because to do so forces the Calvinist to either admit God is the author of evil or that man is able to originate an intent (thus validating the concept of libertarian freewill, which Augustine appears to do at times in his writings.)

 

Humble,

look this over;
http://www.sgbcsv.org/literature/ProblemOfEvil.pdf

Not sure what people believe those terms mean or imply........
I believe this;

I just believe all of the bible...that is why i am what is called a calvinist.

 

It is impossible for God to lie. Heb. 6:18.

 

God is absolutely free to choice to do Whatever He wills to do, it just that due to His Nature, there ARE things that He cannot will Himself to even do,

Such as sinning or causing others to sin!

 

It is impossible for God to lie.

He cannot deny Himself, 2Tim 2:13.

 

Looks like we are in agreement!

 

Just a question, how do you define God being Soverign, per the Bible?

 

The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
Ps. 135:6

The problem is when people presume that "whatever God pleases" is equal to their pet dogma.

 

yes, God can do anything, as long as it does NOT disagree with His own divine nature!

 

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Would say that God allows humans to have a "limited" free will, in that being born spiritually dead in sin and depraived, limited in responses available to us!

That is why God would HAVE to save us from or sins, by drawing His chosen ones to faith in jesus!

Also, he does allow/permit humans and other beings to at times do as they please, just that whatever we decide, He can and does "direct: it into His sovereign will and plan!

 

That could be a problem as well as those who say they believe God is sovereign , but when they speak of it,look to diminish God's absolute glory.

 

I couldn't agree more.:thumbs:

I think it diminishes His Glory to suggest that He sincerely calls all men to be reconciled while relegating them to a condition of total inability from birth by which they can't willingly respond to that so-called genuine appeal.

 

God is NOT the one that regulated all men to being spiritually dead and depraved though, that was outr "father" Adam at his fall

God indeeds allows/permits man to "do as he wills" its just that being corrupted by the fall, he cannot chose to come to God/accept jesus 'willfully", and that is why the Lord has to provide for us the Grace of the Cross in order to save us!