Free Will in the 5th dimension

Section IV (i)

Miracles vs Free-Will

Another difficulty presents itself in regard to the very existence of

G-d's intervention in history.

Since man's actions are meaningful only inasmuch as they result from

free-willed decisions, any limitation on the freedom under which the

decisions are made lessens the meaningfulness of the action decided upon.

The meaningfulness of our actions derives from the fact that we

chose to do these actions from a number of possibilities available to

us, i.e. due to the fact that we have a free will. If free action

would be compromised, then our actions would be devoid of meaning to

ourselves and to G-d. The most direct way to frustrate free will would

be for G-d to continually and unequivocally manifest Himself while

demanding obedience and threatening punishment - good deeds done under

such circumstances would be merely self-serving obsequiousness

motivated by the fear of definite punishment. Thus, it would seem

absurd and self-defeating for G-d to manifest himself unequivocably to

Man. It thereforefore stands to reason that any question that Man can

ask about the natureof the universe should be answerable withut

recourse to the explanation that "all is a work ofG-d". (and if a

question defies answer, this can be attributed either to a temporary

lack of sufficient knowledge, or to the limitations of the finite Human

Brain - not to the fact that "the ways of G-d are mysterious". In

fact, in order tothat the workings of the universe not seem to be so

erratic and idiosyncratic that its maintenance in spite f chaos must

needs be the work of a higher intelligence, G-d would create a

self-consistent system of 'laws of nature' to govern the workings of

the universe. Indeed, this is also the simplest way for G-d to run the

universe!

Man, with his innate curiousity, can wonder about the mysteries lf the

universe and discover some of the laws of nature - he then has the free

will to attribute these laws to G-d or to some other source.

However, what then can we say about obvious manifestations of G-d, such

as miracles, etc. which seemingly prove G-d's existence, G-d's

intervention in the world, reveal G-ds Will etc. and therefore limit free-will?

The Problem of Prophecy

The Bible contains many prophecies for unspecified future times and

also tells of prophecies being revealed to people concerning events

which would take place in their own lifetimes. The very ability of a

prophet to foretell the future would seem to conflict with the idea of

free-will; and the fact of his telling this future to people would seem

to take away their initiative since they would feel that all is

predetermined anyway.

The problem here is however merely semantic - deriving from the

ambiguous meaning of the (English) word prophecy. "Prophecy" as

mentinoed in the (Torah) Bible is not a description of predestined

events. In fact the exact opposite is the case. Most prophecy is

given in the hope that the prophesied events will never take place.

That is, prophecy is not a prediction made by a human - rather it is a

warning given by G-d.

Prophets were messengers from G-d to the people bearing the message "If

you continue as you are, such and such will be the results" - however,

if you change your ways, the results will be different". The classic

case of Jonah and the repentence of the city of Ninveh shows clearly

that prophecies of disasters are given precisely in the hope that they

will cause themselves not to be fulfilled.

Indeed, the people of the Bible who were confronted with prophets did

not react fatalistically - they understood that no predestined events

were being foretold (again Ninveh is a good example).

Of course, some future trends or events are inevitable results of

present events (e.g. if one stands in front of a speeding car, one will

definitely get hurt - the extent of the injury however may well depend

on how one acts). Similarly, certain historical events may follow

inevitably from the unchangeable past, but their future ramifactions

etc may be changed by proper action etc. Thus, even prophetic

predictions do not deny free-will.

Thus there is no conflicts at all between prophecy and free will.

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NOTE 4

That is for us to know the future, the universe would have to be

determinsitic and thus lacking free-will. However, for G-d to know

'the future' it is ok if the universe is undeterministic - so it is

possible for G-d to be omniscient even though there exists free-will.

(The reason G-d can see even the unpredictable future is because He is

above time, not because it is predictable).

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NOTE 5

In fact, we can in a way transcend space-time. In a space-time so very

curved that it closes into a closed figure, going forward, straight, in

any direction, will bring one eventually back to the starting point (in

space and time)! There is no outside! (even thought is a closed

surface). This may however involve causability paradoxes. However, a

universe whose space is closed is also possible (See Godel and etc)