If God Knows What We Are Going to Do, He Has No Right to Reward the Good and Punish the Wicked. Discuss
If God knows what we are going to do, he has no right to reward the good and punish the wicked. Discuss
The idea that God gave humans free will is one that is essential to the Christian faith. This is highlighted in Genesis. If we were to believe this concept consequently, we would believe that we are morally responsible for our actions. The idea of omnipotence logically requires God knowing what we will do before we do it. This is a problem with the idea of free will, as this may mean that we do not entirely have freedom. It could be argued that God has no right to reward and punish if he is able to foresee what will happen. In the Bible there are many passages which demonstrate God rewarding and punishing.
The God of classical theism rewards and punishes. This is clearly stated in many ways in the bible. A universally accepted feature of the Christian faith is that you are ultimately rewarded in heaven or punished in hell. A passage that demonstrates this idea is the parable of the sheep and the goats. God is also shown to punish and reward people such as Noah in the story of Noah and his Ark. It could be suggested by Christians that evidence of God rewarding and punishing is also visible in the world through Gods interaction with the human race. People are motivated and rewarded by answered prayer and the justice of God but may be punished by bad fortune. Augustine writes ‘God is sovereign and human beings have free will. Free will has been weakened through sin. God foresees what human beings will do.’ It may be suggested that a good God should reward and punish to give people an incentive to be a good person. However this may mean that being a good person could be used as a vice. One could argue that If God was not able to do this, people may not learn from their mistakes. Although this may be an answer for this problem, it could be said that God should not reward and punish as it may lead to religious morality being selfish; people may only act
The idea that God gave humans free will is one that is essential to the Christian faith. This is highlighted in Genesis. If we were to believe this concept consequently, we would believe that we are morally responsible for our actions. The idea of omnipotence logically requires God knowing what we will do before we do it. This is a problem with the idea of free will, as this may mean that we do not entirely have freedom. It could be argued that God has no right to reward and punish if he is able to foresee what will happen. In the Bible there are many passages which demonstrate God rewarding and punishing.
The God of classical theism rewards and punishes. This is clearly stated in many ways in the bible. A universally accepted feature of the Christian faith is that you are ultimately rewarded in heaven or punished in hell. A passage that demonstrates this idea is the parable of the sheep and the goats. God is also shown to punish and reward people such as Noah in the story of Noah and his Ark. It could be suggested by Christians that evidence of God rewarding and punishing is also visible in the world through Gods interaction with the human race. People are motivated and rewarded by answered prayer and the justice of God but may be punished by bad fortune. Augustine writes ‘God is sovereign and human beings have free will. Free will has been weakened through sin. God foresees what human beings will do.’ It may be suggested that a good God should reward and punish to give people an incentive to be a good person. However this may mean that being a good person could be used as a vice. One could argue that If God was not able to do this, people may not learn from their mistakes. Although this may be an answer for this problem, it could be said that God should not reward and punish as it may lead to religious morality being selfish; people may only act