{"id":36579,"date":"2014-08-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=36579"},"modified":"2014-08-10T14:23:20","modified_gmt":"2014-08-10T22:23:20","slug":"no-free-will-in-calvinism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/no-free-will-in-calvinism\/","title":{"rendered":"Do humans have a free will? Calvinism says “No!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often wrapped up in a discussion of Total Depravity<\/a> and Total Inability<\/a> is a discussion of free will.<\/p>\n

\"free<\/p>\n

Though it is variously stated, most Calvinists believe that humans do not have a free will.<\/p>\n

Some argue that humanity did have a free will<\/em> before Adam and Eve rebelled against God and fell into sin by eating fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Others argue that a form of free will is awakened in the minds of the Christian. What almost all agree on, however, is that no unregenerate person has free will. Of course, even here, you will occasionally run across a Calvinist who claims to believe that unregenerate people have a free will, but that the free will of unregenerate people is only <\/em>a free will to do evil. That is, though they can choose of their own free will to do what they want, their choices are only between various forms of evil, and they cannot choose to do any good.<\/p>\n

Calvinism and Free Will<\/h2>\n

\"freeHere are some Calvinist quotes about Free will:<\/p>\n

Free will is nonsense (Spurgeon, Free Will a Slave<\/em><\/a>, 3).<\/p>\n

Free will is the invention of man, instigated by the devil (David Wilmoth, The Baptist Examiner, <\/em>September 16, 1989, 5).<\/p>\n

Free will makes man his own savior and his own god (Tom Ross, Abandoned Truth<\/em><\/a>, 56).<\/p>\n

The heresy of free will dethrones God and enthrones man. \u2026 The ideas of free grace and free will are diametrically opposed. All who are strict advocates of free will are strangers to the grace of the sovereign God (W. E. Best, Free Grace Versus Free Will<\/em><\/a>, 35, 43).<\/p>\n

To affirm that [man] is a free moral agent is to deny that he is totally depraved (Pink, Sovereignty of God<\/em><\/a>, 138).<\/p>\n

In matters pertaining to his salvation, the unregenerate man is not at liberty to choose between good and evil, but only to choose between greater and lesser evil, which is not properly free will… As the bird with a broken wing is \u2018free\u2019 to fly but not able, so the natural man is free to come to God but not able (Boettner, Reformed Doctrine of Predestination<\/em><\/a>, 62).<\/p>\n

Inasmuch as Adam\u2019s offspring are born with sinful natures, they do not have the ability<\/em> to choose spiritual good over evil. Consequently, man\u2019s will is no longer free (i.e., free from the dominion of sin) as Adam\u2019s will was free before the Fall. Instead, man\u2019s will, as the result of inherited depravity, is in bondage to his sinful nature (Steele & Thomas, Five Points of Calvinism<\/em><\/a>, 19).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What are your thoughts on free will? Does it exist? Does it not? If it does, how can we have free will and God remain sovereign? If free will does not exist, how can we avoid the charge of fatalism or determinism?<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God<\/a>.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most Calvinists teach that humans do not have free will. Or if we do, our free will is only free to sin until God regenerates us. What are your thoughts on free will? Does it exist? Does it not? If it does, how can we have free will and God remain sovereign? If free will does not exist, how can we avoid the charge of fatalism or determinism?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14,1534,1296,1272,1179,39,1183],"class_list":{"0":"post-36579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-books-by-jeremy-myers","8":"tag-calvinism","9":"tag-free-will","10":"tag-sin","11":"tag-theology-man","12":"tag-theology-salvation","13":"tag-theology-sin","14":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nDo humans have a free will? 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