Quote from: BADecker on January 18, 2019, 02:22:13 AM

Science has found cause and effect. If, as the standard understanding of science is, there is no spirit or soul, then all things that we attribute to spirit and soul, are simply bio-electrical (or other) impulses that operate via C&E. All electrical impulses follow exact physical laws. Everything is programmed from the beginning... programming called cause and effect. No free will. Only programming.

But the scientists who think this way, still feel that they have free will to some extent. So, is the feeling of free will, really free will? Or is it artificial free will via C&E? If it is artificial free will, and there is nothing scientific that shows real free will, how do we know that we have free will, scientifically speaking?

The atheist who is a science buff, doesn't know that he has free will. He knows that he feels free will. But he doesn't know if it is artificial or real. He can only suggest artificial, because C&E is proven, but spontaneity hasn't been proven. To the atheist, everything is programmed, except that he guesses that there might be true free will that we don't know about.

The theist understands that there is free will, because God tells him that there is free will. But where does the free will lie? Just because a theist knows that he has free will, doesn't remove him from C&E programming, which programming says that free will is artificial.

From a theistic standpoint, we have free will. But our free will isn't what we think it is. We use artificial free will in our daily operations in lives, just like the atheists. We also use real free will daily (just like the atheists who don't know it), but we don't really know how we use it. It is a complete mystery. But we feel and use our artificial free will all the time.

Cool

DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music. - Richard Dawkins

I disagree with Dawkins though. I believe that we are more than the sum of our genetic makeup and environment. We also have the spirit which can go against those two factors. The soul/spirit, which is independent of our genes and environment, gives us this free will.

You quoted Jesus yourself, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are "gods"'