Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Reformed Theology - Analytic ...

6. Objections to Libertarian Free will
70
Paul L. Manata © 2011
Reformed Christians can appeal to several kinds of arguments in objecting to
libertarian freedom. Reformed Christians do not need to accept the cogency of
each of these arguments, and Reformed theology does not demand that all of
them be good arguments, but they do show that rejection of libertarianism rests
on more than just some preferred theological system. There are serious
theological and philosophical objections to libertarianism. There are also serious
empirical objections. I do not mean the following to function as an exhaustive
look at these objections to libertarian free will, but only to serve as a very minor
introduction to them.
6.1 Theological arguments
Reformed Christians can appeal to their confessional interpretation of certain
biblical doctrines that, if correct, rule out libertarian free will. There are also
several proof texts that make libertarianism hard to square with. However, these
verses may only rule out libertarianism with respect to salvation and not
everyday mundane choosings. Other passages would seem to speak to everyday
mundane choosings (e.g., an inductive argument from various mundane events
and actions said to be decreed or caused by God; also Ephesians 1:11; on this, see
Feinberg’s exegesis in No One Like Him). We would also want to know how God
could bring about an inspired and inerrant Bible if all the writers wrote with
libertarian free will. Moreover, Reformed thinkers may claim that the
libertarian’s notions of ‘love’ and ‘moral responsibility’ are not the Bible’s, and so
while they claim that their view is motivated by the Bible’s, it’s really an
imposition of more modern, Western, sentimental notions of those things.