Definitions-The following are some definitions I am using for the purpose of this paradox.
Perfection: X is perfect, if and only if, there is nothing Y that could add to X to improve X, and no subset of X, say Z, which could subtract from X, to improve X. That is, X is the best it can possibly be.
Genuine Freewill: A will is genuinely free, if and only if, it is unbounded by prior conditions, and it is not contaminated nor has any defects because of sin (i.e., the type of will that Adam and Eve possessed prior to the Fall).
The Paradox
I have constructed a paradox, which I have been thinking about for some time now (about a year). It is a paradox relating to the synchronicity between human nature prior to the Fall in Eden and the future state of human nature in the “New Heaven and Earth” (God’s future Kingdom). It goes like this.
Scripture says God created Adam and Eve perfectly (i.e. perfect human nature) in Eden. Adam chooses to sin, and as a result, became imperfect, as did the rest of his progeny. Adam (and Eve), having genuine freewill seemed, at the very least, to allow for the “possibility” of sin. However, Scripture also says that Christians in God’s future Kingdom will be perfect, i.e. sinless. In other words, God’s Elect, in the future Kingdom, will have the restoration of the same perfect human nature that Adam had prior to The Fall.
Since Adam had genuine freewill prior to the Fall, does this entail that the Elect will posses genuine freewill in the future Kingdom? For example, can one of the Elect, with their new nature and glorified body, freely choose to sin like Adam did (since Adam had genuine freewill, was perfect, but still choose to sin)? Would God have to start all over again if someone “actually” sinned?
Answering affirmatively to these questions seems, contra Scripture, that, the “possibility” of sin remains in God’s future Kingdom (assuming we take genuine freewill to entail the possibility of sin). However, answering negatively to these questions seems to abolish genuine freewill and thus is not a true restoration of God’s design of a perfect human nature.
Therefore, it seems God cannot make man perfect without also affecting his genuine freewill. The paradox exposes that these doctrines are at the horns of a theological dilemma.
Thoughts anyone?
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