Thanks u/Plemethrock
We can have a discussion on whether or not free will exists. Discuss if every action we do is already predetermined by how our brain is wired, with the environment around us being the inputs.
We can also have a discussion on whether or not humans have souls and analyze the evidence for and against us just being our bodies
(I made an error and had to repost, apologies)
Of course it does. If it did not, sin could not exist. Predetermination is the original cope.
That implies evil exists as a consequence of free will. Is that what you're saying?
That's the correct Christian doctrine on free will and evil, yes. Evil doesn't have a positive existence but it's the negation of the good and the result of our own free will failing to choose the good.
So, are you saying this only applies to the New Testament? the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh, begs to differ. He admits to creating evil himself. Look at Isaiah 45:7 "I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.". The Hebrew word used here is raw. It means adversity, calamity, disaster, evil. He does not say he allows evil. He says he creates it. He authors it.
So, if Yahweh creates evil then how could evil exist as a consequence of free will?
u/SmithW1984 clarified your statement, noting evil doesn't have a positive existence. Evil in the abstract refers to something else from which goodness is absent. Because of this, the Hebrew word typically refers to evil events (adversities, calamities, disasters). It is not contrasted to good (abstract), but to shalom (physical wholeness).
You have taken "create" and "author" as synonymous, but they are used separately. To create is to bring into physical existence, but to author in this sense is to speak or carry out in reference to actions. So Yahweh "creating evils" isn't incompatible with humans being responsible for doing evil, because Yahweh is not evil when he selects just calamities as part of his created narrative.
There you go. Does God create calamity and disasters, which are perceived evils for men? Yes. Is this evil by itself? No, because God is the standard for the good and not man. If God wills to flood the entire effin planet and purge it from the abominations, then He's justified in doing so and it's good. If He wills that the jews wander in the desert for 40 years so that the entire generation dies out before getting to the Promised land - He's justified. If He allows His Son to be tortured and crucified by the roman and the jews, He's still justified (keep in mind the Trinity has one will so the will of the Father is the same as the Son's).
Quote mining won't help you proving much. The Bible is a liturgical text that is understood holistically and not piece by piece standing alone. I mean, I can find quotes to prove any thesis you can think of but the Scriptures are to be understood within context. And the correct context is only understood when you have the correct presuppositions which are the result of having the correct doctrines which are found within the living tradition of the Church, created by God.
If you're doing internal critique of the Christian position, you must be consistent with that position and not strawman it. Seems like your critique applies to the freemasonic/talmudic manichean Architect and not to the Christian Trinitarian God.
It doesn't imply that.