Terminology: Free Will
Free Will: The ability of an agent
to make genuine choices that stem from the self. Libertarians argue that free
will includes the power to determine the will itself, so that a person with free
will can will more than one thing. Compatibilists typically view free will as
the power to act in accordance with one's own will rather than being constrained
by some external cause, allowing that the will itself may ultimately be causally
determined by something beyond the self. Hard determinists deny the existence of
free will altogether. Most Christian theologians agree that humans possess free
will in some sense but disagree about what kind of freedom is necessary. The
possession of free will does not entail an ability not to sin, since human
freedom is shaped and limited by human character. Thus a human person may be
free to choose among possibilities in some situations but still be unable to
avoid all sin.
1. C.Stephen
Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of
Religion
(Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 46-47.
(Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 46-47.
