As usual, Geoff blows off a sincere question, being a high theologian and all, and gets it wrong.
Why the question is relevant *to questions of deep theology*: 1. It gets to the question of what makes us different from angels and other created beings. Free will is not the primary differentiator -- though it is interesting to note that angels appear to exercise a form of it once for eternity, and are not subject to grace or salvation after their "fall." Rather, what makes us different from all other created beings is that we are uniquely made in the image of God, having body, soul and spirit. Many created beings have one or two of these elements, but only we have the trifecta. This is of great theological significance. 2. Satan himself was not just an angel, but God's favorite, till he rebelled, and, as Mike noted, took a third of the heavenly hosts down with himself. Just who Satan is, and how he and the angels (now demons) under his command have acquired power and authority on earth (he is described as the "god of this world") is immensely important to understanding why grace and salvation themselves matter. 3. It gets to the nature and character of God, particularly that aspect of it that is incomprehensible (particularly to natural man) -- namely, why He would make the universe the way He did, and suffer all these rebellious spirits at all, or require so many seemingly strange things of his vast, varied creation. I am ruminating on this and will give a fuller opinion tomorrow. Suffice to say for now I think they get a kind of "one-shot" free will, whereas the nature of our free will is a tad more complex and interwoven with the complexities of God's own character -- in whose image we were created. - Publius On Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 10:25 PM, geoff <[email protected]> wrote: > AS questions of deep theology go, this is hardly the most relevant. > > Geoff Flight > General Manager > > Sustainable Resources Industry Training Pty Ltd > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Ricardo Araoz > Sent: Monday, 8 November 2010 7:02 AM > To: ProFox Email List > Subject: [OT] On christian mythology > > Hi all, > question to all, though it's probably best addressed to Minimus. > Over dinner last night came a couple of questions. > Let's start with the first : Do angels have free will? > Some said no, only man has free will. Others said they do. > What is the official stand on that? > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
