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19 October 2008

On Free Will & Transudationism

On Free Will & Transudationism
The issue of free will vis-à-vis God's omnipotence is one of the many important debates that have raged in theology.

The Transudationist response to the above issue is as follows:

An ordinary, mortal young woman meets an ordinary, mortal young man. They feel an attraction to one another, and they began dating and courting; their passion consumes them: they fall deeply in love and get married.

Not too long thereafter, the ordinary, mortal young woman discovers that she is pregnant! She arranges a surprise celebration dinner, at which she tells her husband the good news - and they cry and embrace.

One day, at the doctor's office, their physician enters the room and offers to tell the young couple the gender of their child. The ordinary, mortal young woman and ordinary, mortal young man look into each other's eyes, smile, and say to the doctor: "No, thank you; we don't want to know."

So far, can we agree that the above-described sequence of events is more than merely plausible? That, indeed, the above scenario is reality, in that it occurs in medical facilities many, many times each and every year? The answer is "Yes": couples do this all the time.

Then, do we all agree that an ordinary, mortal woman and an ordinary, mortal man can do something God cannot do?

And the following rebuttal does no good:

"The woman and man in question are merely expressing their imperfection in not knowing; it is only through their fallen nature, through their imperfection, that they can not know a given fact."

The above rebuttal fails because the woman and man have an option: they could know if they were to so choose; they could not know if they were to so choose. God, too, has options; indeed, if He is God, He is the ultimate free actor; He must have ALL potentialities as available options at ALL times.

The question is one of Will. And so when re-expressed, presents itself as follows:

Can an ordinary, mortal woman and an ordinary, mortal man will something that God cannot Will?

The answer must be "No."

Our free will is a gift from God; but at its present evolutionary state, it is still larval. Mankinds' respective Consciousnesses are still dominated by the material plane. God Wills not to Know, so that we can possess the necessary free will to grow toward Him. It is for this reason that quantum-based uncertainty is woven into the fabric of the cosmos. All Life has the opportunity to be an eternal thought in the Mind of God - but what Kind of thought, Will that Be? The NFL, McDonald's, and paper money, or Truth, Goodness, and Beauty?

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