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Maybe cross reference religious claims with the scientific method Ex: https://trendguardian.medium.com/free-will-a-rich-fairy-tale-4fecf8095812 https://trendgu

• brightball 4y ago
  Cross references like that article are sort of the basis for a lot of what I'm talking about. You're citing it as an examination of using the scientific method on religious, but it's making religious claims that don't exist with metrics that it's made up. To but it mildly, nothing in this article holds water. Simple points: The article discusses belief in free will while using the basis of it to cite societal outcomes from hard work creating wealth or success. This is a regular topic, but it has no basis at all in Christianity. I certainly can't speak for all religions. Free will: You are responsible for making your own choices and decisions. Reality: Your circumstances will sometimes force you to make choices that you don't want to make to survive. If you read the Bible, you will find pretty quickly that it repeatedly reinforces contentment, humility, charity, love and above all else: faith. It does not equate any of these with material wealth aside from the prosperity of Israel itself. Every person has the free will to be thankful for what they have. They have the free will to have faith in God. They have the free will to love their neighbors and to be kind. They have the free will to give of themselves, whether it be their time and skills or their money. Reading the Bible is eye opening specifically because you get beaten over the head with themes that are discussed over and over, through centuries while your eyes are also opened to topics that are barely mentioned at all yet amplified in culture to attempt to make a point. Free will is ultimately a big part of the discussion of what people often call God's plan. It's where questions like "why do bad things happen to good people?" come from...because the Bible never says bad things aren't going to happen. There's also never a point where it describes God as some type of puppet master who is in constant control of every detail that happens in the world. What you do see, is God periodically intervening. If you read, you'll eventually notice a pattern to the circumstances where God intervenes. That revelation is best left for people to discover themselves.
  • mgh2 4y ago
    > Yet copious studies from science, economics, mathematics, and theology seem to point by consilience, to the impossibility of free will. I am not sure you went through all the references (links), the evidence collected is substantial - the article itself is too short to explain them all.