It's All About Freedom

Does God control everything that happens? In the past, I've been criticized for suggesting that this is not the case. If it was, God would be responsible for all the tragedies and evils that are evident in the world.

A God who controls everything would keep us from ever maturing into actualized human beings. At some point, parents must decide to limit control over their children. Giving children freedom is a risky, painful business because freedom can be abused. Yet responsible parents are willing to take the risk and endure the pain of watching their children make bad decisions. There will be times when the parents weep as they watch their children do things that they know will have disastrous consequences.

So it is with God, the parent of us all. When God placed Adam and Eve in Eden and relinquished control over their decision-making, God took an enormous risk. But that is what God had to do. Adam and Eve were not forced to obey God's will. Instead, their obedience would have to be freely chosen.

After giving Adam and Eve and all future generations this precious gift of freedom, God's greatest fears were realized. Not only did Adam and Eve blow it, but all who came after them have made matters worse with more of their own wrong and evil decisions. We read in the Bible that things got so bad that God "repented" of ever having created the human race in the first place.

All the sin and suffering that have marked human history since Eden are the result of God relinquishing control over what we do. People like you and me abuse our God-given freedom and thus increase the hurt and destruction that is in the world.

To all of this, most readers will say, "We agree!" Yet, when I dare to say that God is no longer in total control over this world, so many of my fellow Christians go ballistic. They refuse to stop and think. If they did, they would realize that God must be self-limited if we are to come of age and become fully human. Without God choosing to be limited, we could not love God, because love is something that must be freely chosen—nor could we freely choose to love each other. And love is what is ultimately important.

Continued on page 2: 'God chooses not to be omnipotent for the time being.' »