Andy Naselli (research asst. to D.A. Carson), has put together a few very helpful resources on the thorny topic, “Do We Have a Free Will?”: - MP3 (1 hour and 45 minutes including Q&A)
- Handout (7-page PDF)
- Condensed Essay (4-page PDF, which Reformation 21 reprinted)
His basic outline is this:
- What is “free will”?
- What have noteworthy theologians thought about “free will”?
- What are biblical and theological reasons for “compatibilism”?
- How does “free will” relate to the origin of both sin and conversion?
- Concluding Applications on the Free-Will Debate
- Recommended Reading
He gives the following theses to summarize the biblical teaching:
- The Bible never says that humans are free in the sense that they are autonomously able to make decisions that are not caused by anything.
- God is absolutely sovereign.
- Humans are morally responsible, which requires that they be free.
- God’s absolute sovereignty and human freedom and responsibility are simultaneously true.
- The Bible condemns some people for acts not done with a libertarian free will.
- God is omniscient (e.g., he predicts future events).
- God breathed out Scripture through humans without violating their personalities.
- God enables Christians to persevere: Christians work because God works.
- God himself does not have a free will in the libertarian sense.
- God’s people do not have free wills in heaven in the libertarian sense.
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