Yeah it says he does this to the pharaoh, not every person for every decision. Just because one person wasn’t in control of their decisions in one specific instance does not imply that no one is in control of their decisions ever. It demonstrates that this is a power that god has, which is obvious considering he’s supposed to be all powerful. This does not mean anything when it comes to free will.
It is a good point that the ability existing isn’t the same effect as the ability being used. Presuming He leaves most people alone, you do have a strong case for individual free will.
I would argue that God’s endgame existing at all does mean quite a bit in terms of how “free” a predictable chain of events can actually be, but it’s easy to get lost in the weeds there and I don’t know if that angle is something either of us is likely to be swayed on. At the very least, this is probably the nicest disagreement I’ve ever had on anything religious.
Yeah it says he does this to the pharaoh, not every person for every decision. Just because one person wasn’t in control of their decisions in one specific instance does not imply that no one is in control of their decisions ever. It demonstrates that this is a power that god has, which is obvious considering he’s supposed to be all powerful. This does not mean anything when it comes to free will.
It is a good point that the ability existing isn’t the same effect as the ability being used. Presuming He leaves most people alone, you do have a strong case for individual free will.
I would argue that God’s endgame existing at all does mean quite a bit in terms of how “free” a predictable chain of events can actually be, but it’s easy to get lost in the weeds there and I don’t know if that angle is something either of us is likely to be swayed on. At the very least, this is probably the nicest disagreement I’ve ever had on anything religious.