Does God have free will?

warmheart: “It is more like his complete and total sovereignty”

So if he’s all-powerful, can he do anything he wants, including commit what the Bible describes as sin?

toadaly: “If you answer that it’s in some way superior to other possible natures, that leads to the question ‘what makes it superior’.”

Well, as you know, the typical Christian response on here to hell/suffering related questions is, God gave us all free will and wants us to choose. I’m interested in hearing them explain whether God is capable of such free will decisions. If they think God is the most perfect being that can possibly exist, he wouldn’t be able to do evil. Yet, if he is not capable of that, and we are, he is obviously not all-powerful because our actions would limit him, nor is he the most perfect possible being, since such a being wouldn’t create free will creatures that can do bad stuff.

jimahl: “I would submit that if he does in fact exist, he has chosen to commit evil acts many many times.”

I agree, which is why I think the ancient Hebrew concept of God was someone who was both all things good and all things evil (just like the pagan gods in lands around them). Most Christians I know strongly disagree and insist it’s the same being they follow, but by then the concept of God had clearly changed.