Double Agency: The Existence of God and Free Will of Man

Running head: DOUBLE AGENCY
Double Agency
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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DOUBLE AGENCY
The freedom of action in God and man has long been topic of debate among theologians.
The idea of free will of man and God are argued to be in contrast with each other as God is
viewed to be the one who has destined the lives of man. The concepts relating to the double
agency of existence between will of God and free will of man also focuses on the ambivalence
that is existent in human mind owing to religious and scientific reasoning.
Hien and Henderson states, that the omniscience and omnipresence of God in this world
cannot be defined by the presence of his will power in the life of the people. The search for truth,
according to Farrer, is one of the main reasons behind asking for explanations for the divine
actions. Moreover, it has been noticed that certain incapability on the part of the theological
interpretations have also led to the loss of faith in humankind. According to Hien and Henderson,
to elaborate it furthermore it can be said that scientific explanations have narrated the evolution
process and has pointed out facts that human evolution is a series of accidental events that has
taken place and has positively impacted the process of evolution1. However, it has been argued
that even with scientific evaluation the existence of prime mover cannot be denied. The authors
say that God is capable of intervening into every human activity. However, he allows the will of
a human being to provide them with a chance to practice their free will. This, in turn, will open
the path of human redemption.
One of the main aspects, relating to the ideology of individual perspectives of social
interactions in the society, focuses on developing ideas in the existence of God. God and his will
have been held with importance in understanding the social constructs that guide human
decisions. The free will and will of God cause a fallacy in the fact that the evil exists in the
presence of all-knowing God. It will beat the purpose of existence of free will in society as evil
1Henderson, Edward Hugh, and David Hein, eds. Captured by the Crucified: The Practical Theology of Austin
Farrer. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2004.

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DOUBLE AGENCY
exists in presences of a ubiquitous power. Hien and Henderson state in the article that God has
the knowledge of all human actions and is capable of knowing all good and evil that exist in the
community, he should not let evil exist.
The fallacy and the existence of God can be explained by one of the explanations of
theism, which takes into account the existence of God in the form of nature as shown by Helseth
et al. The presence of God in the form of nature will help in understanding the movements of
nature as the interferential ways in which God affects the actions of humanity in society. God
and his methods are one of the most critical questions that reposed in the presence of free will of
human beings. It is said that human beings have free will to choose their actions and the
consequences may depend on it. This also questions the all-good, ubiquitous God, who governs
the works of man in the society as shown by Hien and Henderson. The authority of God is
challenged through these ideals; one of the major explanations and definitions of free will also
explains the same. God gave human beings free will so that they can choose and also freedom of
their redemption through repenting their actions.
Helseth et al. state in the article that the sovereign presence of God can be felt by the
units of activity where he is the prime mover of the actions of man. The power to disobey God
has been given by God himself. How he intervenes in the activities of men are a matter of
discourse amongst the theologians. Since God is the creator of the universe, he does not need to
emphasise his power in the form of causality. According to Farrer, faith is the way to understand
natural presence of God. The question here is about causation and his existence that is to be felt
by humankind and can only be answered by the faith that humanity holds according to Helseth et
al.