Board index ‹ Free Will

[Reasons]

Let's say there's a girl being raped by a guy. Let's assume there is free will, as most Christians would believe in. Would god respect the free will of the girl or the guy? The girl obviously doesn't want to be raped, the guy wants to. How does free will work to you guys? I'm a Christian just wondering what are your beliefs on free will?

[jimwalton]

God gives us free will, which I believe is essential to life and reason as we know it. Without free will, the whole system pretty much collapses. That means we have just as much free will to do horrible things as much as good ones, harmful as much as beneficial, and wrong as much as right. The guy in your hypothetical has chosen to use his free will to abuse, harm, and to do something horrific. The girl in your hypothetical is a victim of someone's evil choice. Free will is not exercised in a vacuum. We are relational beings who operate in a sphere of cause and effect. One person's exercise of free will flows over into the lives of others without necessarily requiring their exercise of free will (parents who choose to have a child; a terrorist who drives a car into a crowd, a shooter who murders worshippers).

In this case the guy used his free will to commit a heinous crime. We can assume the girl used her free will to flee, resist, fight, and scream. The result would either be success for him (generally by strength or violence), or success for her (also by strength or violence, speed, or luck [someone happened along who helped save her]).