In my many wondering, I find people who are puzzled about one aspect of God they do not understand. To be more accurate, they take one aspect of God's nature and form it into a club to bludgeon him. This specific lack of understanding hinges on an accusation stating mankind has what is known as "free will" and the accusation that God is omnipotent and therefore in control of everything.

The argument goes something like this:

If God is omnipotent and in control of everything, how can mankind possibly have free will. If God is in ultimate control, then he can make mankind do what he wills against mankind's will. If mankind is not in control of his choices, then God must be responsible for the killing of innocents (or some other morally reprehensive act).

And if mankind really has free will, well then God is not really omnipotent. If God is not omnipotent, then how can he really be God.

[More:]

Now I realize that some will argue that there is not such thing as free will, that in fact the two words together are an oxymoron. "Since free denotes an absence of direction, and will denotes an existence of direction, then you cannot have both an absence and an existence of direction."

Since is clearly deductive terms, the above holds some force, I would like to just interject and say that "free will" has come to mean "a person’s freedom to choose a direction." (Tony's definition). Military Intelligence has been stated as an oxymoron, but it does exist. So indulge me the existence of something that we all hope exists. While the English language is not perfect, its ability to make exceptions for the sake of communication is admirable. I digress...

Free will becomes a very essential concept to the human belief that we are in control. Our sense of independence forces us to seek a definition of something that is essential to that independence. Free will defines the phrase in the US Declaration of Independence stating "...the pursuit of happiness...".

More so, in our post slave existence, we do not like the thought that someone else is controlling our destiny. It is the very hope of atheists. By eliminating God, they have no one to which to answer but themselves. However, most have enough ethics to believe that we need to be responsible to each other if we are to succeed. Special thanks are given to the modern discovery that teamwork and synergy is stronger than the personal endeavor for bringing about this ethical change. I digress....

So, having a basic definition of what we are talking about with free will and knowing that it is so very important to our fragile egos, it very well makes sense that a supreme creator would have created something like this into the human direction. In fact, if you follow the life of Jesus Christ, you realize that he believed that our ability to make choices was the fundamental core of his earthly ministry.

Now I am not going to use deduction to try and prove that free will exists in humans, but I will use induction to state that if you have ever watched a young child, that the will to do what they want in opposition to what a parent wants is a constant reminder that the will of a child is very free to make a choice which pleases them. (This is a secondary example that we will use below). In fact, this is such a reoccurrence that it can almost be predicted, almost.

However, with this kind of evidence, there is always the question of the puppet master, holding all the strings and making us believe that the choice is ours. Each string of our will is pulled in unison with our realization of the "choice". Could this be the omnipotent God pulling our strings and making us do things but also making us believe that we wanted to do it?

I am reminded of the Matrix,

you have already made the choice (before this event), now you need to live through the choice to understand why you made it?

Ah, this topic of free will is a full study of philosophy and not the real intent of what I am trying to present. There could be pages and pages of philosophical debate about the question of free will.

I will just come to the chase that even if the puppet master is behind it all, we just cannot tell from our vantage point in the universe. There is no solid evidence that the puppet master exists (no the puppet master is not God here, keep reading), therefore, lets make the assumption that it does not exist and move on with the freedom to make our own choices.

So if free will exists, then God cannot be omnipotent, because if we make a choice that he does not like, he does not have the power to change it. If he did, he would be violating that free will we just stated we assume exists.

Just a minute there, back up that thought train. If God is truly omnipotent, isn't one of the aspects of power the ability to "choose" to use that power and not. In fact, what is there about an omnipotent God means that he must use his power.

Now I am sure that Superman was tempted to use his X-ray vision as a teenager to undress the opposite sex. Yet in this comic strip, we find that human beings do understand the ability of having power and not using it. In fact in the "good" people of this world, we expect that trait. We call that ability mercy and it is just a much of a divine God as omnipotence.

Mercy says that while I have the ability to force you to do my will, I will not. As superman, I will allow you to keep your clothing as a barrier between my eyes and your privates. God has the ability to use his powers as he will.

"So then if we make a choice that is not in line with God, and God allows us to make that choice, then how can God control the universe?" Okay, let’s back up here. However, we have just introduced a fallacy that needs correcting.

Free will means that we can make whatever choice we fancy, no? But just because we choose something, does that mean that what we choose occurs.

My children choose that they are going to have candy. Daddy, realizing that the candy is not a good idea just before bedtime, ensures that my kids do not have the candy. Therefore, I choose that the candy that my children have taken will be put away (and it is). My child makes a choice of their own free will. I did not do anything to change their choice, what I did was change the outcome.

Therefore, while we have choices which we choose, we do not control the world events or their outcome. We are still responsible for our choices; we just may not get that piece of candy because the jar is empty.

Let's use my favorite example, you are standing at busy intersection, it is your choice when you wish to cross the street. In fact, nothing prevents you and any moment from crossing the street at any time, in any way and with any pair of bunny slippers, pink tutu, flannel shirt, and baseball cap that you wish.

The thing about the intersection is that you do not control the traffic. While you can work to time our entry into the street, you do not control the actions of others, nor do you control the outcome.

At the exact moment you decide, you exercise your free will by choosing to step into the street. However, you find there is a bus that is behind in its schedule and is speeding down the road, skips the light and you become the bug on the windshield.

Now let's not say that the entire thing was the fault of the bus driver, but recognize that it was our glorious choice to step out and become so much pâté.

It is my belief that God has the ability to control the outcome of our choices, you get the choice, and he gets to say what happens to your choice. Your choice is not worthless, because if you had not made that choice, you would never have met the love of your life (who happens to be an exceptionally beautiful, knockout, gorgeous, brown eyed nurse.) No pain, no gain right?

But there is the fault of the bus driver, right? What happens to him? Well he is required to send his only Son to die in your place. You get your life, and he looses a son. Isn't that fair for you?

See there is no need to worry about your choices. God is perfectly okay with you believing he does not exist. In fact, you can have that choice, but just know that because of your choice there will be many that do believe in him. Because of your choice, the outcome is different than you expect.

So please do not consider that these two events are exclusive. In addition, know that God did take the sins of the world upon him and took responsibility for his actions.