Our discussion today centers around God's will. The illustration used to start discussion is a drunk driver careening into a sidewalk at a mall, killing a mother and her six year old. Was this God's will? Man's choice? If man's choice, what did the mother and child do to "deserve" this outcome?
In my studies, I came across this and thought it was interesting:
Albert Einstein, whose name commands tremendous respect amongst scientists and laymen alike, believed in God the Creator. The beauty of order and planning in all of nature enthralled the great thinker. Einstein’s quest was to know “?how God created this world?”. He was convinced that God was not “?malicious but subtle?”. This last remark indicated that it required resourceful thinking and research to find out how it all happened. However, the god that Einstein believed in was not the Deity described in the Bible. His god was a scientific amoral hypothesis, not a personal God interested in, or involved in planet earth and its inhabitants. Somehow a “?superior reasoning power?” had to be associated with the whole cosmos. He was baffled by the paradox of God’s omniscience and omnipotence and man’s ability to make choices. The dilemma was expressed as follows??:
If this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also his work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty Being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would, to a certain extent, be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him?
Einstein was simply giving expression to the age old question of reconciling God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Instead of seeking an answer or being provided with one by the religious leaders of his day, he opted for an escape route wherein God became impersonal and thus the question need not be faced. He is not somebody who is interested in planet earth and its inhabitants. It is a sad piece of human history in the life of a great man.
Christians face the same problem in different ways. If God is omnipotent and in control of all history, ranging from the individual to the whole world, what is the point in praying? Does man have the responsibility to choose Christ as a personal saviour if it is predestined what he will do anyway? What do we understand by free will? If God is the original source of everything, how did evil arise in the universe?
Does the Bible have an answer to these problems, or does it at least indicate along which lines these baffling questions are to be dealt with?
Alberts, L. (1997, c1996). Christianity and the enquiring mind : Essays on the compatibility of the Bible and the findings of science. Also available in Afrikaans. Vereeniging: Christian Publishing Co.
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