One Final Question

Lewis creates some very interesting points in this piece, that really add to some clarity, and to some consistency with things I have been confused about in my faith.  The idea that God cannot create or do "nonsense" is intriguing.  I have never thought of it that way.  Can God make a rock so heavy he can't lift it?  This is a worthless and circular question that really does not mean anything in the end.  It is not God's ability one way or another for that question, it is merely useless to talk about, because it is a nonsense question.  Then when adding in that given free will, there must be pain begins to make more sense.  As if free will without pain would be yet another nonsense question.

This makes me wonder then, going back to confusions with my faith, whether or not we will have free will in heaven.  I am sure that we will not, for if we did, I have no doubt that over time, most of us would end up following the way of the devil.  Eternity is a long time to follow God.  In fact, it is not even a time at all. Eternity has no meaning in time, for it is timeless.  The the idea that God will strip away our free will in heaven is almost a comforting one to me.  Is this wrong?  I often see free will as something that actually wears down humans here on earth.  I have seen many a man choose the wrong pathway, and so be led to a walk of life that is completely away from God.  Should we have never had free will in the first place, then these sad stories would never have happened.

When we do go to heaven, I feel like taking away free will is going to be as if God were removing the burden of choice from our shoulders.  This however disturbs me, in that those who have not chosen God will be eternally damned.  That is a scary thought.  Lewis would like to believe that there is hope for those who choose to strive for a religion, or to learn more about the "why" of life, but there is no evidence for or against that desire.  In that sense I struggle to understand why we were given free will in the first place.  On that same train of thought, I would like to end with a question:  Did Adam and Eve have free will?  If they did, then their ability to go against God by eating from the tree in the center of the Garden makes sense.  Will there be a chance for failure in heaven?  (Another tree, if you will).  I certainly hope not, but am curious to see what things will be like.