Judas Iscariot and Free Will
During the recent Easter season, there was a focus on the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.According to the Biblical account, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.
Jesus, who is also God, (being part of the Godhead or Trinity), knew beforehand that Judas would betray him.
God is said to be infallible, that is, he can never be wrong or mistaken.
To have free will, one must be free to do how one chooses.
Judas was not free to avoid betraying Jesus. If he did not betray Jesus, then it would mean that God was mistaken.
But God is infallible and can never be mistaken.
Therefore, in the context of God's infallibility, Judas did not have free will in the matter.
What do you think?
(I look forward to any relevant comments, criticisms, etc.)
Comments (54)
I am glad you enjoyed the blog.
Take Care!
I fully appreciate and respect the psychological security and sense of meaning that some persons derive from their religious faith.
A special welcome to omonoountes. I look forward to him posting his own blogs and sharing his knowledge and views with others here at CS.
You wrote for me to your friends:
"I am not bothered by the comments of our learned friend from Greece."
and
"A special welcome to omonoountes. I look forward to him posting his own blogs and sharing his knowledge and views with others here at CS."
Any intellectual person can understand very well what your intention is, by reading the above.
Now, I am absolutely sure that you are IGNORANT of Philosophy and Theology. I do not want to believe that you are an obsessed atom, but I have understood that you make many people confused.
Any-one that wants to find out how much confused are many people about this topic, I suggest them to look it up on Internet.
We, Greeks, have been tought, at school, that a man that does not know, he does not know is fool; a man that does not know he knows, teach him, and the man that knows he knows nothing, is wise. (If I rember well; I am too old, yo see).
you wrote:
"...a man that does not know, he does not know is fool;
a man that does not know he knows, teach him,
and the man that knows he knows nothing, is wise."
Okay Sir, please pardon me for my ignorance.
Would you kindly share some of your wisdom with us
by posting some blogs of your own?
I look forward to reading them.
Thank You!
I think I understand now why you wrote in your profile:
"Nevertheless I like to think constantly of my sins, of how many people and how many times I have made them feel sad and worried. I try to regret for my bad deeds."
All the best to you, Sir.
Have a nice day!
From an ATOM
Pay no attention to him...he really sounds smug!!...or maybe that is his way of unleashing his anger and unhappiness?...whatever...blog on!!
I will heed your advice, my friend.
Best Wishes To You!
Everyone approaches the like of
Your opinion about me is correct! I would be grateful to you, if you could be kind enough to tell me the reason. Thank you.
Thanks for your comment.
My response to it would be similar to my response to SistaCallie's comment in which she gave her answers to my questions. Please view it.
Have a nice day!
Serendipity
SistaCallie
XuanMai
CalmHeart
Thank you all for your input in this blog.
I wish to state that the position expressed in this blog is based on a logical deduction made from the premises that I have mentioned.
I respect your position which, I believe, is based on your faith and which may not be in agreement with the deduction I have stated.
The Bible(KJV), in Hebrews 11:1 states:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
This indicates that faith is based on hope and trust. It is not based on the evidence of things seen, which I refer to as “hard” evidence. Rather, it is based on evidence of things not seen, which I may refer to as “soft” evidence.
Faith is a personal internal experience.
I would like to believe that your faith provides you with a psychological security and sense of meaning in your lives, and I am happy for you all in this regard.
Best Wishes to you all!
Thanks for your last comment.
You asked what is my interpretation of Mark 14:18-21:
Mark 14:18-21King James Version (KJV)
18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?
20 And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish.
21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.
To me, this simply confirms that Jesus (God) knew beforehand that one of his disciples would betray him. The passage does not state which one but Jesus, being God, would have known who it was. And what God knows must come to pass. So whoever Jesus (God) knew would betray him had to betray him since God can never be wrong. Jesus (God) must have known it was Judas since God knows every thing.
Therefore Judas could not have avoided betraying Jesus, that is, he was not free to do otherwise.
You wrote:
“For there is no irresolvable conflict between an event being predetermined by an all knowing God and also being freely chosen by us.”
If an event is predetermined by an all knowing God, who can never be wrong, then the event must come to pass as predetermined by an all knowing God, regardless of how we view it even though we may think it is our choice. The bottom line is that it can only come to pass in accordance with God's predetermination.
You wrote:
“For God does not force them (events) to happen against our free will, but rather He predetermines that they occur through our free will.
If God predetermines that events occur through our free will, is that really free will?
Our will, whether we consider it to be free or not, is irrelevant since those events must occur as predetermined by God.
You wrote:
“infallible knowledge and free choice are not contradictory,”
I suppose you are referring to God's infallible knowledge.
All events, including human actions, must take place in accordance with God's infallible knowledge; it cannot be otherwise. Human beings do not have a choice in the matter even though they may think and feel they do.
Your last comment was quite long.
I responded to parts that I consider significant.
If you would like me to respond to any other parts, please let me know and I shall try to do so.
Take Care!
Does God's Foreknowledge Negate Free Will? http://www.onlinedebate.net/forums/showthread.php/2463-Does-God-s-foreknowledge-negate-Free-Will
No. God, knowing what will be chosen, has no bearing on us choosing it. It simply means that God knows what we will choose.
Free will does not stop being "free" because God knows what we will do. For example, if I put a plate of chocolate cake in front of a child, as well as a plate of meat, I know they will eat the chocolate cake. My knowing this has no bearing on their decision to choose the cake. Likewise, God knowing what we will choose, does not negate the choices available nor the choice made. It merely means God knows what our choice will be.
Now I know it's a favored objection to state, "But man is not omniscient (knowing everything) like God is." This is irrelevant ( as well as illogical). It states that God's foreknowledge somehow prevents the choice from being made in the first place. It's claiming there is an action by God that somehow removes that choice, thus rendering the choice to be non-existent.
The problem is, there is no logical connection between God knowing and the person doing. You have to show a connection between God's foreknowledge and the mind of the one who makes a choice, so that the mind of the person no longer is making a choice. You must somehow show that the choice maker is being affected by God's knowledge, and the ability to actually choose is taken away.
To sum up, if God knows all things, and knows what we will choose, then we are still making a choice. The argument itself states, "knows what we will choose". Logically, if God knows what we are going to choose, then we must have a choice... for if we don't have a choice, then God couldn't know what was chosen.