Free Will

Coauthored by Dr. Tim Stratton and ChatGPT René Descartes famously grounded the certainty of his own existence in a single, indubitable truth: Cogito, ergo sum —"I think, therefore I am." The act of thinking, he argued, necessarily implies a thinker. But in the age of artificial intelligence, that foundational claim raises a fascinating question: Can an AI like ChatGPT say, "I think, therefore I am"? In this post, I (Tim) ask ChatGPT whether it can truly think, exist, or p

One of the great joys of engaging in philosophical and theological dialogue is doing so with friends who sharpen us, challenge us, and walk with us in pursuit of truth. My friend Warren McGrew (a.k.a., "Idol Killer") is one such colleague. He is a bold and thoughtful theologian who, like me, firmly rejects exhaustive divine determinism (EDD) and seeks to defend a robust view of human freedom grounded in God’s love and sovereignty. Though we part ways when it comes to Molinism

Recently, during a public discussion on divine determinism, a Calvinist objected to my use of the term “EDD” — short for Exhaustive Divine Determinism (or Exhaustive Divine Determination). He said, “I’m just going to use the term everyone else uses in the literature — theological determinism,” and dismissed EDD as both "superfluous" and “a mouthful.” That’s a fairly common response I hear online. Many Calvinists and divine determinists seem to bristle at the term EDD. Some

Dear ChatGPT, I'd like to discuss an epistemological matter referred to as "direct acquaintance." In epistemology, direct acquaintance refers to a kind of immediate, non-inferential awareness or knowledge of something. When one is directly acquainted with something, one does not know it via reasoning, testimony, or interpretation, but through immediate experience or awareness. Although I disagree with him on many things, I believe Bertrand Russell was correct when he argued t

Dear ChatGPT,  Guidance control is a concept from philosophy, particularly in discussions of free will and moral responsibility. It refers to the capacity of an agent to guide their behavior in a way that reflects their reasons, values, and intentions. In the context of free will, guidance control is often contrasted with what is referred to as regulative control. Allow me to explain: Guidance control asserts the ability to guide one’s actions in accordance with one’s rationa

Divine determinism, a position traditionally held by Calvinists, seems to entail that God is not omnibenevolent (perfectly loves all people). This has been conceded by some proponents of divine determinism. In this we have found a problem of competing intuitions. First, moral errors are typically more serious than other errors. A man is far more likely to take offense to being labeled a “bad person” as opposed to if others believe false, but amoral, facts about him (such as t

David Pallmann recently graduated with an undergraduate degree from the institution which employs me as a professor: Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary. Although I never had the opportunity to teach Dave in an official capacity because I teach graduate level students, I was proud to see him get his bachelor's degree. Upon graduating, however, Pallman has been extremely vocal over the past few months expressing concern over multiple apologetics-based argume

Question Dear Dr. Stratton, Consider the following valid argument: 1. Those who think otherwise about our having libertarian free will, use libertarian free will to think otherwise. 2. If this is so, then we have libertarian free will. 3. Therefore, we have libertarian free will. Yes, it's deductively valid, but is it sound? Only if you beg the question on premise 1. Which is why I've never found any of your versions of the Free-Thinking Argument persuasive. But do you

Question: After watching your debate with Alex Malpass on Unbelievable? , I have a question regarding the following argument you offered: If naturalistic determinism is true, then human beings lack libertarian freedom. If human beings lack libertarian freedom, then their rational processes are unreliable to attain truth about metaphysical matters. Human beings’ rational processes are reliable to attain truth about metaphysical matters. Therefore, human beings have libertaria

While sitting next to Timothy Fox in Dr. Scott Smith's classroom at Biola University the summer of 2012, something Smith said sparked a thought. I quickly scribbled down a three-step syllogism in the margins of my notebook and got back to paying attention to his lecture. After class I approached Smith to show him this syllogism and he invited me to walk with him to the cafeteria for lunch. Shortly after that discussion I started sharing an expanded version of what I had initi

I recently had the honor of debating the well-known philosopher and atheist Dr. Alex Malpass on the Premier Unbelievable? YouTube channel. The catalyst of this event was the debate between Ben Shapiro and Alex O'Connor which took place a few weeks prior on the same platform. The topic of their debate was " Is Religion Good for Society ," but a large portion of their discussion diverged into a debate about free will. Since that topic is the primary focus of my studies, the fo

The Free-Thinking Argument has been receiving much attention as of late. J.P. Moreland recently partnered with me to explain and defend the Free-Thinking Argument (FTA) in the academic literature (2022), I had the honor of presenting the argument at the Evangelical Philosophical Society (2023), the Unbelievable? show out of the UK, invited me to debate the well-known atheist philosopher, Alex Malpass, about the topic (2024), and fifteen philosophers are contributing to a

"I’ve decided that Sapolsky embodies a paradox: when you decide free will does not exist because you have weighed arguments for and against it, you prove free will exists." - John Horgan (the science writer) Horgan is exactly right. These words are in response to neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, who argues against free will in his new book, Determined .  But, Sapolsky's book does not demonstrate that humans never possess the libertarian freedom to think. As Horgan notes in F

I wrote a poem about free will. Now, the odd thing about it, is that if you read it, you were determined to read it; and if you don’t, you were determined not to. Of course, free will exists, and those who claim otherwise are simply pulling our legs for the fun of it; but this poem is magic because it’s the one thing you lack free will in reading. - Jacobus Erasmus Originally posted at JacobusErasmus.com Free Will Why do some turn away from God, While others live very close t

Challenge Here's a challenge for those who think that libertarian free will is necessary for rationality and/or knowledge (I am defining rationality as believing some proposition justifiably and I am defining knowledge as justified true belief). Imagine two worlds: world A and world B. In both worlds, John believes the same proposition on the basis of the same evidence. Moreover, in both worlds, that proposition is true. In world A, John used his libertarian free will to bel

The following is a recent conversation I had with a Calvinist. I enjoyed it because it was not emotionally charged even though he was asking questions in an effort to refute my arguments against Calvinistic determinism. His questions were thoughtful and allowed for clarification from which all can benefit. Please enjoy the following exchange (for clarity, the Calvinist's words are in blue. My words are in black): Calvinist : Dr. Stratton, you have said this many times, but h

Objection Dear Dr. Stratton, I saw the video An Epistemological Case Against Calvinism right when it came out. And I was surprised that the whole video you assumed that a determinist has to argue for general reliability. I can simply reject this premise and argue that God is absolutely reliable. Seems to me that you have to argue for a specific sense of deception. But in the coloquial sense, deception often refers to some form of coercive act. And calvinists deny coercion, s

Although I have offered multiple arguments against exhaustive divine determinism (EDD), one of the best ways to see the absurdity of EDD -- a view advanced by Calvinist scholars -- is to simply read the Bible carefully. That is to say, if one intentionally reads the Bible through deterministic lenses, one will quickly see that determinism opposes biblical Christianity. Indeed, a careful reading of Scripture might provide the most powerful reason to reject determinism.  A par

Question Dear Dr. Stratton, Why do you spend so much time arguing with other Christians about free will? Why do you spend so much time arguing against Calvinism? We are all on the same team. We all worship the same God. We all share the same gospel.  While these topics are very interesting and fun to think about, do they really make that much difference at the end of the day?  - Jared Dr. Tim's Response Thank you for the question, Jared. I fear that answering it will make som

As a pastor, I have primarily received formal training in the fields of Christian theology, biblical studies, and church history (BA: Christian Theology, SPU; MDiv, Fuller Theological Seminary). Nevertheless, my theological studies have led me firmly to this conclusion: that a robust acquaintance with the tools and foundations of philosophical thinking is essential to doing clear, unconfused theology. As a result, both during and posterior to my graduate studies, I have sough