Before Christmas I asked whether or not we believe anything by choice. Most of the comments agreed that we do not. Today I want to explain why I believe that is true. This post will probably be somewhat redundant, and I will no doubt belabor the point, but I want to leave no holes in this argument because it is crucial to my understanding of the relationship of the will to salvation.

Proposition: It is impossible to choose what one believes.

The desk I am sitting behind is solid oak. I believe it is solid oak. I believe that because I know a few facts about it. (1) I chose the lumber myself at the lumber yard. It was labeled as red oak. It could possibly have been labeled incorrectly, but (2) I know what oak looks like. I know what color it is, and I know what the grain looks like. I know what it smells like, and I even know what it tastes like (although I did not taste it). This wood has all the physical characteristics of red oak. (3) Other people who know wood have commented on the oak furnishings in my office. They recognized it as oak without any prior suggestion that it was oak. These facts have convinced me that my desk is solid oak. Knowing these facts, I cannot believe otherwise.

I have a friend who is an attorney. I haven’t been to his office in a long time, and I don’t remember what his desk looks like. If he told me it was oak or mahogany, or something else, I would believe it based on facts that I know: (1) my friend is known by me to be honest, and (2) even if he was not honest, I would doubt any motivation to lie about such a thing. I believe the information because I trust the source.

Now, someone might say, in the case of information that lacks proof one way or another that one might choose to believe it. I have heard that language used, and I may have used it myself. Perhaps a child has proven himself untrustworthy. I will probably, for a time, restrict his freedom to limit his opportunities for mischief. When it seems appropriate, I will give him his freedom back, with the understanding that he will not repeat the infraction. He promises that he can be trusted, and I “believe” him. But I don’t necessarily really believe him. I don’t necessarily believe he will fail, either. I don’t actually believe either way. I am simply proceeding as though I believe him, giving him the opportunity to convince me.

Conversely, someone might say he refuses to believe something. Something might be so distasteful or abhorrent to him that he refuses to acknowledge the possibility that it is true. The truth is that he is either (1) denying facts that he actually believes so that he is free to proceed in a way that he could not if he acknowledged the truth, or (2) closing his mind to any information that might convince him, purposely remaining ignorant.

When we say we are choosing to believe, we really mean that we are proceeding as though we believe. We are testing claims to see if they are true. Our “choice to believe” might be anything from being pretty sure to wishful thinking; but it is not genuine belief. Genuine belief is, in all cases, involuntary and irresistible.

This is not a theological issue. It is simply a fact that cannot be denied. We believe what we know. Our knowledge might be incorrect, and we may be wrong, but belief is based on knowledge, and we cannot honestly deny what we know.

It must also be said that belief and faith are not synonymous. However, the same principle applies if we are claiming that faith is exercised by free will. Faith is trust in what we believe, or trust in the source of what we believe; so varying interpretations of Ephesians 2:8 are not going to throw me off at all.

I have said that this is not a theological issue, and so far it is not. The theological implications will come in a later post.

Next: Free Will: What Can It Do?