For determinists everything that happens is
caused by a prior event, the law of causality. The idea states that there are
laws of nature that govern everything that happens and therefore an external
force causes all our actions. Because of this, within determinism, free will is
an illusion and moral responsibility is flawed. This perspective can be
observed within Christian teaching and is most often referred to as
‘predestination’. An example of this is Augustine’s writing on Divine Election
in which he states “The potter has authority over the clay, to make on vessel
for honour and another for contempt”. This suggests that before birth God has
already elected who will go to Heaven and Hell and eliminates any concept of
humans having freedom to shape their own future. This is reinforced by
teachings such as Ecclesiastes 3:1 which claims there is an “appointed time for
everything” and the Calvinist approach which sees predestination as the
“eternal decree of God”.
In opposition to this, Libertarianism rejects
the belief in determination and view humans as free autonomous agents who are
therefore responsible for all their actions. This is also the traditional
Judeo-Christian approach on human free will. An example is within The Fall in
Genesis, in which Adam and Eve exercise their free will by eating the forbidden
fruit and by doing so, disobey God and bring sin into the world. This is also
discussed by the Christian Theologian Aquinas, who argues, “man chooses not out
of necessity, but freely” (Summa Theologica). He argues that using ones reason
to free oneself from passions or desires brings about human free will. Equally
Mark Talbot introduces the concept of Imago Dei Voluntatis, which argues that
because humans are in God’s image, we are free just as he is.
However, a problem with religious concepts
of free will is the idea that God is omniscient, because if God is seen to know
everything past, present and future, surely the actions we consider as freely
made are actually already set and determined. For example the verse in Psalm
139 “Before the word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely” reveals
God to know all our actions before we have made them. This problem of Divine
Foreknowledge can be seen to have led to a middle way between determinism and
libertarianism, the approach of Compatibilism. This is the idea that it is
possible to be both free and determined as some aspects of our nature are
determined due to prior events but our ability to make free decisions is not
undermined by these. Within Christianity this can be interpreted as shown in
Proverbs 16:9 and the idea that “the heart of man plays his way, but the Lord
establishes his steps”.
