Roger Olson on Divine Determinism and Human Freedom
Grace, Divine Determinism, and Libertarian Free Will
If God is omnipotent — all-powerful — and we creatures have no power of our own, does this mean what we experience as free will is a delusion? If our omnipotent and omniscient God already knows what you and I will do in the future, do we have the freedom to do otherwise? If God and God alone decided before the foundation of the world who would be predestined to heaven and who would be predestined to hell, does this nullify human free choice regarding our relationship to God?
Yes indeed, systematic theologians ask these kinds of questions. Is your head spinning yet?
I would like to ask one of my favorite theologians to weigh in on the free will question we have been engaging in this Substack/Patheos series.
Meet Roger E. Olson.
Roger has served since 1999 as the Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. He is author of Essentials of Christian Thought: Seeing the Reality through the Biblical Story (Zondervan, 2017); The Mosaic of Christian Belief (2nd Edition) (InterVarsity Press, 2016) ; The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction (InterVarsity Press, 2013); and so many others I have lost count. Don’t miss Roger’s posts on his Patheos column.
1. Roger, how do you describe the classical Christian conundrum that sees divine omnipotence and even foreknowledge in conflict with human free will? What is at issue?
Roger Olson writes. Several things are at issue. First, IF, as many Calvinists and Lutherans have argued, libertarian free will (power of contrary choice) is incoherent, then even God cannot have free will. This makes the creation necessary. This in turn makes grace not gracious.
Second, IF humans do not have libertarian free will and IF universal salvation is not true, then God is monstrous by sending people to hell who could not do otherwise than they do.
Third, IF humans do not have libertarian free will, evil ceases to be evil. People simply do what they are programmed to do.
Therefore, I see no conflict between God’s omnipotence and libertarian free will insofar as God is able to limit his power to allow for libertarian free will. If God voluntarily limits divine power over every event, then you and I are free to make choices and take actions in our daily life.
As for divine absolute foreknowledge, I am “on the fence” about that. I am not sure God’s knowledge of future events can be reconciled with libertarian free will. It is an issue I keep working on for myself. I am impressed that German theologian I. A. Dorner believed God “learns” as he goes along with us in history. That was long before so-called Open Theism was a thing.
2. Where are Luther and Calvin on human free will in light of divine determinism?
Roger Olson writes. Both Luther and Calvin rejected free will. If we could ask them, however, I suspect they would agree with so-called compatibilist free will—that a person is “free” insofar as he or she does what he or she wants to do and only because he or she is doing what he or she wants to do, even if he or she could not do otherwise. This position makes human free will and divine determinism compatible.
3. What is the Arminian position on free will? Are you an Arminian?
Roger Olson writes. I am Arminian in my soteriology. This means I believe fallen sinners can freely respond to God’s call to salvation because of God’s prevenient grace. I reject divine determinism and predestination unrelated to free will. God-enabled our choice to believe. As Reformed theologian Emil Brunner taught, the “elect” are those who believe.
4. How should Christians think about human free will in our own era, when various forms of biological determinism seem to deny everyday decision-making?
Roger Olson writes. spent some time one afternoon in Washington, DC, with scientists who work on the mind-brain problem and free will. They did not say that modern, contemporary science falsifies free will. When pressed, they said it’s an open problem.
5. Finally, Roger, what do you recommend for Christians today to think about free will?
Roger Olson writes. Libertarian free will is necessary for human responsibility. Every criminal and civil court case assumes it. It is also necessary for divine grace. Divine grace without human free will is not grace.
I reject the common claim that only “true freedom” is free—that is, the claim made especially by Calvinists that “true freedom”—living in God’s will—is freedom. Free will is a God-given tool, as it were, for arriving at true freedom—living in God’s will. God does not coerce people to obey him. Rather, God gives gifts that enable people to obey him. These gifts are in essence supernatural, not part of natural, fallen human “equipment.”
Ted’s Comment
Thank you, Roger, for clarifying what is at stake among Calvinists and Arminians on divine determinism and human freedom.
It seems to me that Christian theologians — including Martin Luther and John Calvin — largely assume that you and I enjoy libertarian free will in everyday affairs. We deliberate, decide, and take agential action. This makes us morally and legally responsible citizens.
Where we lack free will is in our relationship with God. It is God — acting out of grace — who creates us, provides for us, and redeems us. It is God acting in the Holy Spirit who enters our soul, enlightens us with understanding, and empowers our will to choose to love God and love our neighbor. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to free us from ourselves so that we can love our neighbor selflessly, so to speak. This is what Augustine and Lutherans call, “Christian freedom.”
The action of divine grace in the person of faith is somewhat paradoxical. What actually happens is that the human self empowered by divine grace becomes capable of self-transcendence. This is a moral self-transcendence, a giving of the self over to a principle of virtue or to the well-being of a neighbor in need. Such selfless loving requires self-generated initiative, creativity, and courage. Paradoxically, the giving of the self defines the self as a giving self. This makes the self godly. The godly self is liberated from the determining dictates of the selfish self.
Well, that’s Ted’s take on Christian freedom within divine determinism.