The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Belief a Choice?

1. So are you saying you believe things unconsciously vs. consciously?

2. Choice is a matter of the will.

3. The "will" does not... cannot function independently. The will, the making of a choice, is determined by either the intellect or affections or both. Jonathan Edwards is correct in saying that a man will ALWAYS choose that which is most desirable/important to him under any given circumstance.

4. There may be choices a person makes which are not immediately perceptible to the conscious, but the majority of choices certainly are done consciously.

5. So, to sum up, choices are made and determined according to the predominate element at the time. If what a person knows outweighs the affections/desires, then the choice will be made due to knowledge. If a persons affections are stronger than the intellect, then the will; the choice, will be according to that desire. And, there are occasions when the will is moved by a combination of the two.

As an aside, and going in the direction that Robin has taken in regard to biblical saving faith... the unregenerate man will not believe because he cannot believe. And he cannot believe because he will not believe. The natural (unregenerate) man is governed by a corrupt, depraved, spiritually dead nature which is predisposed only toward sin. The natural man hates God and all that is good and and therefore every choice made is contrary to God. The regenerate man is endowed with a "renewed will", i.e., the intellect and affections are radically changed and predisposed to loving God and doing all that is good, albeit not completely nor perfectly due to a remnant of the sinful nature being resident, aka: the "old man". As the unregenerate man naturally and most willingly rejects the truth, the regenerate man naturally and most willing understands and embraces the truth.