Thanks so much for your comment. I'm always up for discussions.
It's not that I think free will and evil are incoherent, but that if there is no free will then how can there be human morality.
This is basically my understanding of Calvinism: God made humanity with the predetermined outcome that some humans would receive salvation but most wouldn't. Further, the ones that don't receive salvation were made in such a was that they were incapable of behaving any different than they did but they were going to be eternally punished for it anyway.
So I don't see how free will fits with the T, U, L, I, or the P.
You say we all deserve death and punishment, but I see that as logically inconsistent. If some people were predetermined to go to hell it means they were created incapable of moral goodness yet still they are punished. That is unjust, and God cannot be unjust.
You have a different picture of God's character than I as well. You say that:
"God gave us a natural inclination to choose sin; so, no matter how many good deeds we did, our hearts are naturally still impure and rebellious towards our God."
Does that sound good and just? Why would God make us so that we would be sure to sin and then punish us for doing what He made us to do? I can't see how that's moral. You have God CREATING evil.
Yes, I believe these hard topics are great discussions between believers and non-believers alike. May it continue to be a stepping stone in advancing our faith and loving our God all the more.
First of all, thank you for addressing that. I see where you are coming from. If free will is really just a myth, how can there me moral standards?
I believe John Calvin explains free will as us - humans - voluntarily choosing to sin, until we are transformed by the grace of God. I think this aligns with the T of TULIP - Total Depravity. Of course, there is an asterisk there. Free will can have so many different definitions in different contexts.
What free will here means is to make our own decisions. This is human nature. No one likes to be the same - hair, face, status, etc., and so, this is how we were built by God. Furthermore, when you say that we His people "were created incapable of moral goodness yet still they are punished. That is unjust, and God cannot be unjust." I take that in you saying that by the moral standards ordained from the Supreme God, people are incapable of knowing His goodness simply because they were predestined not to be saved in the first place. I believe this goes back to the matter of free will and God's justice.
God is outside of the Universe because He is the creator of it. Us as humans cannot comprehend His predestination, and thus should be fearful of His sovereignty. That's why as believers, fearing the LORD is biblical and natural.
Furthermore, I believe that God made us different apart from other creatures in the world. He gave us the rationale to communicate in different languages, have moral choices, and ultimately, to give Him glory. Life's purpose outside of glorification is limited and futile in my view. Sin cannot fill our hearts with full satisfaction.
Finally, I don't think God created evil; rather, He made it permissible back in Genesis 3 - the fall of Adam and Eve. If you really want to talk about having an unjust God, we should discuss the fall. I think the question "Why did God allow Adam and Eve to sin?" is the wrong question. God is perfect, just, and holy. He is outside of sin. We as HUMANS are the fallen nation. Humanity and the one true God are completely different entities.
Rather, I would challenge you with the following question, "Why did Adam and Eve fall to the Serpent?" Tempted to be just like God? To replace God in their lives? You see, in this instance, God created the Serpent; but, the Serpent's heart was inclined to leading them into sin. Why? Choice. Just because the serpent's heart was wrong, doesn't the Creator of the Serpent is wrong either. I don't think you would blame your friend for breaking a window if his son was the culprit.
Did God predestine Adam and Eve to sin? I would think so. Without the fall, there would be no need for us to be saved through Jesus Christ. It's all in His divine plan, something bigger than we can all comprehend.
I don't think you're quite getting my point about human nature. To be clear, I do not believe in predestination and my explanation was an attempt to illustrate why. What I'm saying is that if God made men and predetermined what they were going to be and do, then God really can't punish men for sin because they were unable to not sin. Under predestination man only does what God programmed him to do so how can that be morally wrong? If I made a chair, but wanted a ladder, I would now punish the chair for not being a ladder. That may be a bad analogy but to me, it only makes sense if man had actually possessed the potential to not sin and of their own free will decided to anyway.
I don't really have an issue with why God permitted Adam and Eve to fall because I believe in free will. I can't understand how you can hold that Adam and Eve had an actual choice, but God predestined what choice they would make. That seems incoherent to me. Rather, in my view, God did actually give Adam and Eve free will to chose, and they could have chosen to refuse the serpent. However, God, having created the serpent, Adam, and Eve, knew what was going to happen by virtue of His intimate knowledge of His creation coupled with infinite intelligence and wisdom.
It's the tension between Free Will (Choice) and predestination that I'm questioning.