A friend of mine had her fiance in from England this past weekend, and she decided to throw a party in his honor. At some point during the party, a large majority of us ended up getting into a religious discussion. (You might think this is odd to happen at a college party, but this definitely isn't the first time it's happened to me.) It was pretty evenly split between Christians and atheists. What was nice is that it really was a discussion. No one was making any accusations, no one was trying to convert anybody, and nobody was yelling. It was a civil and enlightening discussion.
I like to think I'm a pretty intelligent guy, and I like to adhere to logic. To me, one of the most amazing things about Christianity is just how logical it is. I've found that my atheist friends would rather engage in a discussion that is logical and intellectual than one that is pushy and accusatory. Most of them (not all of them) value good logic too.
One thing that came up at the party is something I've been thinking about a lot, the subject of free will. Atheists do not understand how Christians can believe that there is an all-knowing God who can see not only the past, but the future, and also believe that they have free will. The reality is, most Christians are misinformed when it comes to this subject in particular. We often mistake the freedom of choice for free will.
There is only one being that has free will, and that's God. Humans do not have free will. Just the fact that we are all born without any say in the matter completely negates the idea that we have free will. I did not will myself into existence, and I will not will myself out of existence. If I have the will to jump off my roof and fly away, I will just fall to the ground. (Sorry that there are so many "wills.")
What we do have is the freedom to make choices. This is what a lot of people get confused about because they believe it's the same thing as free will, but it's not. God has not granted us the power to do or be anything, but He has granted us the ability to make choices within criteria that He has set for us. This is something some of my atheist friends don't understand. They don't get how God can know what we're going to do before we do it, but we still have a choice. The most abstract answer would be that God does not fall under the constraints of time as we do, so He can see our choices from an objective viewpoint. A more concrete (but imperfect) example would be if I gave you the choice between eating a handful of rocks or a cookie. I know that you're going to choose to eat the cookie. Just because I knew that you were going to pick the cookie doesn't mean I didn't give you the choice.
I could go on for a long time discussing the free will argument, but the important point of this post is the conversation that I had with my atheist friends. It was a civil and engaging conversation with no argument and an agreement to disagree. These are the types of conversations that need to happen more often between atheists and Christians. We need to stop seeing each other as enemies and start engaging one another.
I don't hate atheists and I don't think they're stupid. I try to understand why they think the way they do, just as many of them would like to understand why Christians think the way we do. Once we stop making attacks at each other and starting having open and honest discussions, maybe then we can actually make some progress. Whether atheists believe it or not, it really is a life or death subject.
*I'm not pretending to be an expert on this subject. This is merely how I have come to understand and comprehend this subject. If you have ideas about it, I would absolutely love to hear them!
I like to think I'm a pretty intelligent guy, and I like to adhere to logic. To me, one of the most amazing things about Christianity is just how logical it is. I've found that my atheist friends would rather engage in a discussion that is logical and intellectual than one that is pushy and accusatory. Most of them (not all of them) value good logic too.
One thing that came up at the party is something I've been thinking about a lot, the subject of free will. Atheists do not understand how Christians can believe that there is an all-knowing God who can see not only the past, but the future, and also believe that they have free will. The reality is, most Christians are misinformed when it comes to this subject in particular. We often mistake the freedom of choice for free will.
There is only one being that has free will, and that's God. Humans do not have free will. Just the fact that we are all born without any say in the matter completely negates the idea that we have free will. I did not will myself into existence, and I will not will myself out of existence. If I have the will to jump off my roof and fly away, I will just fall to the ground. (Sorry that there are so many "wills.")
What we do have is the freedom to make choices. This is what a lot of people get confused about because they believe it's the same thing as free will, but it's not. God has not granted us the power to do or be anything, but He has granted us the ability to make choices within criteria that He has set for us. This is something some of my atheist friends don't understand. They don't get how God can know what we're going to do before we do it, but we still have a choice. The most abstract answer would be that God does not fall under the constraints of time as we do, so He can see our choices from an objective viewpoint. A more concrete (but imperfect) example would be if I gave you the choice between eating a handful of rocks or a cookie. I know that you're going to choose to eat the cookie. Just because I knew that you were going to pick the cookie doesn't mean I didn't give you the choice.
I could go on for a long time discussing the free will argument, but the important point of this post is the conversation that I had with my atheist friends. It was a civil and engaging conversation with no argument and an agreement to disagree. These are the types of conversations that need to happen more often between atheists and Christians. We need to stop seeing each other as enemies and start engaging one another.
I don't hate atheists and I don't think they're stupid. I try to understand why they think the way they do, just as many of them would like to understand why Christians think the way we do. Once we stop making attacks at each other and starting having open and honest discussions, maybe then we can actually make some progress. Whether atheists believe it or not, it really is a life or death subject.
*I'm not pretending to be an expert on this subject. This is merely how I have come to understand and comprehend this subject. If you have ideas about it, I would absolutely love to hear them!