Amy.G said:
I can't speak to what WD views as free will, but I what I meant was that free will exists and predistination exists. Predestination implies that God's will must override man's will, yet we still have a free will. I cannot explain how this works, yet it's clear in God's word that they are both at work.
I do not know the definition of free will according to Jonathan Edwards.
Me confused?? :laugh:
Here's a link where a man has briefly summarized JE's definition of free will.
http://reformedperspectives.org/newfiles/tul_tchividjian/TH.Tchividjian.edwards.free.will.introduction.html
Of course, you can read JE's book yourself, but I thought this shorter article might assist you right now.
Here's a short quote from the article:
We choose according to that which we desire most. The problem, however, as we noted earlier, is that because the fall was total and not partial, and as a result we are all dead in our trespasses and sins desiring only sin by nature, what seems to us to be right, proper, and good is often wrong, improper, and bad. Sin has made us God-haters at the core of our souls so that we are all by nature at enmity with God. In order for us to do what God would have us to do, we need to be who God wants us to be. And in order for us to be who God wants us to be, we need new natures. And because we cannot change our own nature, no more than we can push a bus while we are riding in it, we are in need of the sovereign hand of grace to change it for us. We cannot do what pleases God because we will not do what pleases God. And the reason we will not is because we don’t want to.
And according to the first bolded sentence, that's what makes our wills "free". We are free to do what we desire the most. No one is coerced to sin, we all freely sin because at the moment of our sin, the desire to-sin is greater than the desire not-to-sin.
And the second bolded sentence describes why we are not "free" like the non-Calvinists describe "free-will".
We cannot according to our sinful nature, desire that which is right and holy(i.e. repentance) until we have been given a new nature which gives us new desires.
We are not free to choose to be God's friends until we have been given a new nature.
So in summary, JE's point about the freedom of the will, is that prior to regeneration, our will is only free to do that which our sinful nature desires. It is not however free to choose to desire Christ until God's Spirit graciously gives us a new nature and new desires.
I hope at least some of this makes sense to you.
If you read the article linked, I think it will really help you in your pursuit of understanding.
