Free Will B.S.
By Gary Amirault
In 1940, C.S Lewis, a leading Evangelical voice for many decades wrote in The Problem of Pain:
“Finally, it is objected that the ultimate loss of a single soul means the defeat of omnipotence. And so it does. In creating beings with free will, omnipotence from the outset submits to the possibility of such defeat. What you call defeat, I call miracle: for to make things which are not Itself, and thus to become, in a sense, capable of being resisted by its own handiwork, is the most astonishing and unimaginable of all the feats we attribute to the Deity. I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” endquote.
What do I make of this? That God has tied His own Hands that they are too short to save any of His wayward children? What would a loving mother say? Would she call this astonishing? A miracle? No! I’m quite certain she would call this…
5 thoughts on “Free Will B.S.”
I’m not a church goer anymore , not to say that I may not return if the Lord leads me accordingly but that hasn’t happened yet. I haven’t found any like minded Blessed Hope folk where I live .
This morning I was watching the Faith Family Church broadcast( a charismatic, non-denominational church) on TV and heard the preacher say in essence that we needed to keep the faith to stay in God’s grace and if we don’t, well, you know what the rest was all about. We’d fall out of grace because of what we failed to do ourselves. That is to say that we save ourselves by the choices and decisions that we make.
I grow so weary of this kind of theology. How easy it is for folks to get into lockstep with what ever the “mooing herd” is doing in the denominations of today without rightly dividing the Word of God and testing all things as the Bereans did.
Oh, that the veil be lifted! But in God’s own time, right?
Meanwhile , let’s keep sowing the seed and blooming where we are planted to the glory of God.
I’m so grateful for your blog. I am growing . . . well, I’m kinda exploding . . . with the joy and freedom I am finding, as I discover that God really IS love. The God I grew up with was said to be love, but clearly was not. Even I would wish that everyone (including Hitler, who people usually bring up) would experience true love and find fellowship with our Creator. Would God want less? Would he prefer to torture someone for all eternity, when I would not?
there is such arrogance in the religious world. Those who are “in” and those who are not.
How is that something to celebrate, except in a very selfish manner.
Thank you, thank you. Love wins. Truly. Completely.
Such an orthodoxy that is damning at least 2/3 of the mankind to hell barely touching paper with their writings pens are just the kind of people who secretly wallow in their own puny self-righteousness, having pleasure in the sound of their own voices… slaves to their own secret sins of intellectual pride… I know. Been there…
Gary this is an inspired post. I completely agree. Its sad that so many of us grew up in “orthodox” Christian households where the fear of both Death and Hell were the DECIDING FACTORS in our upbringing. Our beliefs should have RESOLVED these fears long ago, but of course orthodox teaching in no way does that…Calvinism vs. Arminianism?? wow who decided those were the TWO ANNOINTED BELIEF systems and the only two “orthodox” theological systems one can hold to as a Christian? I’ll tell you what, I don’t trust what the majority thinks! History has shown us again and again that the majority view is likely the WRONG ONE!
No wonder its taken me 47 years to grow out of the above noted “orthodox belief systems”. FEAR HELD me in a state of anguish, and sadness at the torment awaiting so many in the afterlife….! No wonder my parents were miserable as Christians, no wonder so much sadness, grief, fear and guilt ruled in my extended family. It’s utter BS as you state so clearly!
It all makes sense now that my blindness has been removed by God, i.e. the TRUE Victory of Jesus as the FINAL solution to mans problem. It makes me sad to think of all the fear based living that overwhelmes many to the point of depression, mental and emotional problems, etc… Of course i could go on for a very long time with the terrible outcome of believing LIES all of your life…
Gary, you are a true blessing and I really appreciate all you have done to help me turn around “repent” and believe the truth finally.
May our Beautiful Lord God and Saviour Jesus bless you richly my friend…
Regards –
Dave
Thanks for your comments, Dave. It’s good to see more and more people “repent” and come to their right minds. The world will be better for it. Peace, Gary