V - Free will

Being allowed to choose — but what does that choice mean within the faith? WHAT DOES FREE WILL MEAN? Free will generally means that a person can make choices and is not being fully controlled like a robot. Jehovah's Getuigen teach that God created people with free will. On JW.org, free will is described as a gift from Jehovah. According to this teaching, a person can choose for themselves whether they want to serve Jehovah. God wants people to do this voluntarily. The starting point is: God gives humans free will ↓ Humans can choose whether they want to serve God ↓ God wants that choice to be made voluntarily Within the teaching of Jehovah's Getuigen, however, free will does not mean that every choice for God has the same value or the same consequences. FREE WILL WITHIN THE TEACHING OF JEHOVAH'S GETUIGEN Jehovah's Getuigen teach that human freedom has limits. A person can choose for themselves, but is encouraged to use that freedom within what, according to the Bible, are God's laws and principles. Adam and Eve are used as an example here. They were given freedom, but also a limit. The idea can be simply represented as: You have free will ↓ You can choose for yourself ↓ God has indicated what is right and wrong ↓ The right choice, according to the teaching, is to serve Jehovah JW.org therefore encourages people to use their free will to serve Jehovah. JW.org - What will you do with your free will? WHAT DOES 'SERVING JEHOVAH' MEAN? This is important to understand. Within Jehovah's Getuigen, God's will is not interpreted solely on an individual basis. Through the Bible, publications, meetings, and the organization, members are given explanations of what is considered Jehovah's will. JW.org, for example, speaks about guidance through ‘the Bible and his visible organization’ . The idea then becomes: I have free will ↓ I am allowed to decide for myself ↓ I learn what Jehovah requires of me according to the Bible and the organization ↓ I decide whether I want to live accordingly ↓ Spiritual consequences are attached to my choice Jehovah's Getuigen will generally not see this themselves as taking away free will. From their faith perspective, Jehovah provides guidelines that help people make a good choice. JW.org - The freedom enjoyed by worshippers of Jehovah FREE WILL AND THE EARTHLY PARADISE An important difference from many other Christian traditions is the expectation for the future. Jehovah's Getuigen do not teach that all faithful Christians will eventually go to heaven. They believe that a limited group has a heavenly destiny and that obedient people have the possibility of living forever on a paradise earth. An important Bible text for this is: Psalm 37:29 “The righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.” Jehovah's Getuigen therefore also connect human choices to the hope of everlasting life. God gives free will ↓ Humans can serve Jehovah or not ↓ Serving Jehovah is seen as the right choice ↓ Obedience to God’s will goes with that ↓ Everlasting life is held out as the reward JW.org - What do Jehovah's Getuigen believe? BIBLE TEXTS THAT FIT FREE WILL Genesis 2:16, 17 Adam and Eve were given freedom, but God also set a boundary on what they were allowed to do. Deuteronomy 30:19 Here, humans are presented with a choice between life and death, followed by the encouragement to choose life. John 8:31, 32 Jesus speaks about the truth that sets people free. John 17:3 Coming to know God and Jesus is linked with everlasting life. Psalm 37:29 According to this text, the righteous will possess the earth and live on it forever. Romans 8:21 This speaks about the future freedom of God's children. BUT HOW FREE IS A CHOICE IF THE CONSEQUENCES ARE GREAT? From the perspective of Jehovah's Getuigen, the answer is clear: No one is forced to serve Jehovah. Every human being has free will. At the same time, the faith teaches that the way someone uses that freedom has consequences for their relationship with Jehovah and their future. That gives rise to an interesting philosophical and psychological question: When do people experience a choice as truly free? Is there, for example, a difference between: “I am allowed to choose.” and: “I feel free to choose either option.” When one choice is linked to God's approval, eternal life and paradise, and another choice is linked to very serious spiritual consequences, a person may ask themselves how much freedom he or she personally experiences in that choice. That is not a question that applies only to Jehovah's Getuigen. Within religion and philosophy, people have been thinking for centuries about the relationship between free will, obedience, punishment, reward and God's authority. HOW DO OTHER CHURCHES VIEW FREE WILL? There is not just one Christian view of free will. Many other Christian churches also teach that people have free will and that God expects people to choose what is good. The Roman Catholic Church , for example, teaches that people can act freely and are responsible for their choices. There, freedom does not mean that good and evil are equally valid. True freedom is linked to choosing the good and ultimately choosing God. Catechismus van de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk - Freedom and Responsibility An important difference lies, among other things, in the expectation for the future. Catholic teaching speaks of eternal life with Jesus in heaven. Catechismus - Heaven Within Protestant traditions, there are again different views. Some place strong emphasis on human freedom of choice, while others place more emphasis on God's grace and predestination. It would therefore not be correct to say: Jehovah's Getuigen believe in free will and other Christians do not. Many Christian denominations believe in some form of human freedom of choice. The differences mainly lie in the way free will, God's grace, obedience, church authority, salvation and life after death are connected to one another. QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT • What does free will mean to me personally? • Is being able to choose the same as feeling free to choose? • What consequences were linked to certain choices during my upbringing? • Which choices did I make because I truly wanted them myself? • Which choices did I make out of love for God? • Which choices did I make out of fear of possible consequences? • What role did the opinion of family or the faith community play? • Can a choice be both voluntary and strongly influenced at the same time? • How would I choose if no one else would ever know my choice? • What does freedom of conscience mean to me? IN SHORT Jehovah's Getuigen believe that Jehovah has given people free will . He wants people to choose him voluntarily. Within their faith, however, that freedom does not mean that every choice has the same spiritual significance. Serving Jehovah and obeying his will is seen as the right choice and is linked to God's approval and the hope of eternal life. Many other Christian traditions also recognize free will, responsibility and obedience to God, but differ greatly among themselves in their ideas about grace, salvation, church authority and what happens after death. That is why free will can ultimately lead to an interesting personal question: Am I free when I can choose — or does freedom also mean that I feel free to explore, to doubt, and ultimately to make a different choice?