Free Will

It seems that people today believe that they have no say in anything when it comes to their lives. They believe that God has divine knowledge and has each and every one of our lives planned. Whether we die and go to the glory that is heaven or the torment and pain of hell, it's all up to God. These people presume that they do not decide what their actions will be, but rather blame God for their actions. This is a misconception on their part.

God gave people free will to decide their own lives, He wants people to love and believe in Him by themselves and not because He told them to. God doesn't want to force people to love Him, so He gave us the power of free will. My esteemed colleague, Thomas Aquinas, stated that freedom to guide our lives is obtained through intellectual appetite. I admire him, but he isn’t always right.

Intellectual appetite is the craving to think and act for your own will. God gave us this gift to decide things on our own. He knows of the results of our actions, yet leaves the free will to decide our path. He doesn't decide for us whether we pray to him, or do not, but he knows the outcomes of both roads. We would lead totally different lives if God lead them for us, we wouldn’t have sin, but then we wouldn’t truly love him.

            I see intellectual appetite as an aim for only happiness. Just because God created us with the nature to disobey does not mean that he will command us to do those actions. The actions that He forbids do not determine happiness. I think that Aquinas is incorrect in saying that will, or the freedom to guide our lives, is obtained solely through intellectual appetite. There is another part to free will that we must decide for ourselves, because it deals with what we will do with things that are not aimed towards happiness. When these two are combined, we obtain free will to aim for happiness and to act differently towards those things that hinder us from that happiness.

            We were given life through God and He allowed us to make our own decisions. That way, we can truly love him, not just because He wants us to, but also because we want to. Intellectual appetite is a part of the free will that God gave us, but there is also another part that is based upon what our reactions to situations that may hinder us from achieving happiness. Overall, those who say that we have no say in life are incorrect and should reconsider their way of thinking.