Can God Make Us Freely Love Him?
“In his book God Reforms Hearts: Rethinking Free Will and the Problem of Evil, [Thaddeus Williams] reexamines the place that libertarian free will has taken in Christian responses to the problem of evil, and more particularly whether authentic human love requires libertarian free will.” - TGC
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I look forward to reading this book. I am dubious about the author’s ability to reconcile soft determinism and compatibilist freedom. Pointing to secondary causes (which is usual) does not answer the problem. What he will have to do is to demonstrate how a will that is determined (a person is determined to will a certain way, whether by first or second causes) has no necessary connection to God. If God’s will is the initiating cause of our will the problem of evil for compatibilists is as intense as ever.
Dr. Paul Henebury
I am Founder of Telos Ministries, and Senior Pastor at Agape Bible Church in N. Ca.
The article asks this, “Does God make us love him and love one another?” It seems to me all people, irrespective of whether they are elect or not, are ordered to love God. Furthermore, Jesus commands us to “love one another.” So it seems obvious to me that God does not “make” us love him or others, but He commands us to.
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