Dear Chas:

Well, if this subject comes up the first thing to say is that God does not create people who are hellbound. God created man perfect. It is man, not God, who makes the decisions that placed him on the road to hell.

The idea that God appointed some people for heaven and others to hell comes from the heritical notions of John Calvin. In Calvin's economy or predestination there are some people God creates to go to hell and there is nothing those people can do to avoid it. Similarly, Calvin says that God creates other people for heaven and there is nothing those people can do to refuse it. Such a theological economy means that there is no free will. This is nonsense. If there is no free will then what was the test of Adam and Eve about? A test requires an ability to choose between alternatives. Adam and Eve had a choice. Choice requires free will.

The people who think that God creates people to go to hell are making the choice to believe that. That is free will. People who choose to be Catholic or Baptist are making a choice. That is free will.

It is often lamented "why did God..." For example,  "Why did God allow me to be fired from my job?"  Well stealing from one's employer might be a clue. It was the free will decision of the guy to steal from his employer. God cannot save us from our own stupid decisions.

That is right, God "cannot" save is from our choices. He can try to pursuade us to not make this or that decision, but the choice is ours and God cannot stop that. Why can't He stop that? He cannot stop that because God does not act contrary to His nature. His nature is free will. God freely will as He chooses. When He created man He created us in His image. Since God freely wills as He chooses, that image (capacity) was imparted to us. An animal, in contrast, has no real choice. The animal is animated by instinct and environment. Only humans are created with the Rational Soul that imbues us of God's image for love, choice, free will, intellect, self-awareness, etc. Free will is the foundation of all the other attributes for without the freedom to choose we can be only animals dictated by instinct and environment.

If God interfered with our free will then we would no longer have free will and we no longer have the capacity for love.  That would like being 99% pregnant. Either you are or you are not. In fact, He can't interfere with our free will for to do so would destroy the gift He gave to man. One cannot have 99% free will.

We often say, "if it is God's will." If we think about it God does not get His will most of the time. Each time we sin we have chosen to violate God's will. Free Will choice sometimes interferes with God's Particular Will for us.

So with all this being true why did God give man this gift of free will?

So that we can love Him and each other. Love cannot be forced, it must be chosen. To choose requires the ability to choose which means that we must have free will in order to choose love. The risk that God takes is that to allow us to choose love, He also necessarily allows us to not choose love. This is the nature of choice -- to choose for or against.

God tells us in the Bible, through St. Peter, that He does not wish "for any to perish but for all to come to repentence" (2 Peter 3:9). St Peter says God does not want ANY to perish and wants ALL, not some, to come to repentence. Clearly John Calvin's idea is false in light of this and many other verses.

Now, because God wants all to be saved does not mean that all will be saved. Each person must make the decision for himself to accept or reject God.

But, does not God know who will be saved and who will not? why would He create persons who will be damned?

Well, actually the only humans that God directly created are Adam and Eve. The rest of us come from the free will decision of our parents (or at least our father if we were conceived in rape). As mentioned God does not interfere with our free will.

Thus, except for Adam and Eve, all human beings came into being through human free will. Even Jesus came into this world through free will -- the free will decision of Himself and the free will decision of the Blessed Mother who gave her fiat.

Whether or not we, who are born of free will choices, accept God or reject Him is ourr choice. The fact that God knows what ourr decision will be does not mean that we do not make the decision.

We can see this dynamic even in our human experience. For example, it is not unusual for a couple who have been married 50 years to "know" what each other will do in a given situation. Let us say that Sally "knows" that her husband, Bill, will decide to stay in bed if the temperature outside is below zero in the morning. She knows this in advance because she knows him so well. Morning comes and sure enough the temperature is below zero and Bill decides to stay in bed. Did Sally's pre-knowledge of what her husband would do cause Bill to stay in bed? No, Bill made that decision freely despite his wife knowing he would do so.

while God's knowledge is not like that of Sally's who can predict what her husband will do because she knows him well, this story can help us to understand. Unlike Sally, who's predictions of her husband can be wrong, God does not need to predict, He knows and knows perfectly and absolutely. God sees all, the past, present, and future in the eternal present. What this story seeks to illustrate is that it is possible for us to know something without causing it. Sally knew what her husband would do, but she did not cause him or force him to do it. God knows what we will do but He does not cause or force us to do it. Our free will is fully intact and respected.

But why does God allow us this free will that can bring babies into the world who may grow up and freely choose to reject God? Because of love.

God loves us so much that He takes the risk of (that is, allows) rejection in order to give us the gift of Love, which is to give us Himself because He is Love. And for love to be love it must be chosen.

What a privilege we have. God gives us the image of Himself, not to the animals or plants, but to us humans. His image gives us a dignity not given to any other creature on earth.

God loves us all and does not want to see anyone hellbound. It is not His will that anyone should perish. But, He knows that some will reject Him. If He prevented that choice none of us would be able to love since love requires choice.

God bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary