Sunday, September 19, 2004
William Lane Craig's Free Will Defense
I recently heard William Lane Craig on the Bible Answer Man broadcast. He is a very good apologist, with many keen insights. However, he falls back on free will too much for a solid defense. When he uses it inappropriately, I understand the frustration of those atheists who are asking good questions which deserve solid answers.
Here is one of those questions: why did God create people if he knew the majority of them would end up in eternal punishment?
Good question.
Craig falls back on "God gave everyone free will to make they're own decisions" defense. I don't like this answer for one simple reason. It's man-centered. It assumes the clay is more important than the potter. The potter has to be more concerned with the free will of his clay than anything else?
My answer, for the record, would be the following: God has designed a universe where all of his attributes are on display for his glory. Both justice and mercy.
Romans 9:22-24: What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
I recently heard William Lane Craig on the Bible Answer Man broadcast. He is a very good apologist, with many keen insights. However, he falls back on free will too much for a solid defense. When he uses it inappropriately, I understand the frustration of those atheists who are asking good questions which deserve solid answers.
Here is one of those questions: why did God create people if he knew the majority of them would end up in eternal punishment?
Good question.
Craig falls back on "God gave everyone free will to make they're own decisions" defense. I don't like this answer for one simple reason. It's man-centered. It assumes the clay is more important than the potter. The potter has to be more concerned with the free will of his clay than anything else?
My answer, for the record, would be the following: God has designed a universe where all of his attributes are on display for his glory. Both justice and mercy.
Romans 9:22-24: What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
