title: Loose Change

text: In April 2005, the first edition of "Loose Change" was made available for free on the Internet and was given a limited DVD release with 50,000 sold and 100,000 given away. It cost around $2,000 to make and was made primarily on Avery's laptop computer, featuring a distinctive soundtrack produced by DJ Skooly. Avery's childhood friend, Korey Rowe, left the service of the United States Army in June 2005 to assist with the marketing of the movie. Soon after Avery decided that, "There was new information that needed to be added and improvements made," and so began creating "Loose Change: 2nd Edition". Rowe assumed the role of producer, and Jason Bermas, a graphic designer, worked as production assistant. This edition cost around $6,000. It was originally released in December 2005, but was re-released in June 2006 as "Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut". Before the release of this edition, Avery, Rowe and Bermas set up an independent movie production company called Louder than Words, an organization that identifies with the 9/11 Truth Movement. In April 2009 the rights to Loose Change were bought by Microcinema International DVD.


title: Loose Change

text: In August 2006, Rowe was featured in an article admitting to the inaccuracy found in "Loose Change", such as inaccurately stating a B-52 flew into the Empire State Building (it was actually a B-25 in the 1940s). "We don't ever come out and say that everything we say is 100 percent. We know there are errors in the documentary, and we've actually left them in there so that people discredit us and do the research for themselves." In 2007, media entrepreneur Mark Cuban was going to distribute "Loose Change", entrepreneur Matthew Brown would finance, and Charlie Sheen was going to narrate the film. However, this did not happen; Fox News political talk show host Bill O'Reilly interviewed Cuban on his radio show and said Sheen's career would be over if he narrated it.


title: Loose Change

text: The third edition of the movie, "Loose Change Final Cut", was released in November 2007. According to the Loose Change website, this edition "is substantially different from "Loose Change" and "Loose Change 2nd Edition Recut" in the way it presents the information surrounding 9/11/2001. However, it remains true to the spirit that has made "Loose Change" what it is today." Professor David Ray Griffin was brought on as script consultant, and radio host Alex Jones and Tim Sparke of Mercury Media served as executive producers. Due to an estimated cost of $200,000, this version is the first that is not available for free online, although it is in fact available for free on Google Video and YouTube in a lower quality version. This edition is over two hours in length, substantially longer than previous versions.


title: Loose Change

text: Director Avery, producer Rowe and entrepreneur Matthew Brown released a new film through their production company, Collective Minds Media Company, entitled "Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup" on September 22, 2009. The film is distributed by Microcinema International. It is narrated by Daniel Sunjata, and explores historical events leading to 9/11 and its aftermath. It was financed by Joel Bachar and Patrick Kwiatkowski of Microcinema International, and its world premiere was on September 9, 2009 at the 9/11 Film Festival at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California.


title: Loose Change

text: "Loose Change 2nd Edition Recut" (2006) opens with a brief description of past suspicious and questionable motives in the history of American government. This discussion mentions Operation Northwoods, a plan put forward during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 to launch false flag terrorist attacks against the United States and blame them on Cuba as a pretext to invade that country. Focus is particularly directed at the previously proposed plans to substitute real commercial airliners with pilotless drone aircraft in order to investigate the plausibility of covertly using them as weapons while maintaining the cover of an accident.


title: Loose Change

text: Attention is also given to the Project for the New American Century, a neo-conservative think-tank that released a report in 2000 titled "Rebuilding America's Defenses". In particular the film points out a line from that report that states:


title: Loose Change

text: It also highlights the fact that during the same year the report was released, the Pentagon conducted the first of two training exercises that simulated a Boeing 757 crashing into the building. It also says that from September 6 to September 10, an unusual amount of put options were placed on the stock of American Airlines, Boeing and United Airlines. The opening montage intertwines clips of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7 with a Hunter S. Thompson interview, who talks about the motive, the public version of 9/11, and answered a question saying "Absolutely," that this worked in the favor of the Bush administration.


title: Loose Change

text: This is followed by an examination of the attacks on the Pentagon. The film opposes the official story of Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon, alleging that the path of destruction does not match what a 757 would leave. In particular it claims that the size of the hole in the Pentagon, a lack of debris and, little landscape damage seem inconsistent with prior airliner crashes. It also alleges that too few parts were recovered from the crash site to reliably ascertain that they were of a Boeing 757, and that a flywheel observed at the site seemed too small to have been part of the aircraft's engine turbine. Experts officially declared that the wheel was part of the APU, but others say it didn't come from the APU of a 757 but likely from an E-3 Sentry aircraft.


title: Loose Change

text: The film also claims that the alleged hijacker-pilot Hani Hanjour had difficulty operating basic controls on a small Cessna that he rented at a flight school, and that perhaps not even an experienced pilot could have manoeuvred the reflex angle of turn at the airspeed and altitude at which the aircraft approached the Pentagon, without going into a high speed stall. The film mentions three cameras on nearby buildings that allegedly caught the entire incident at the Pentagon on film, which it says the government confiscated and has refused to release in full.


title: Loose Change

text: The next section focuses on the destruction of the World Trade Center. The film favors the controlled demolition theory of the destruction of World Trade Centers 1, 2 and 7. It cites as evidence eyewitness reports from a janitor, firemen, and other people near the buildings who heard bangs, many of them describing them as explosions as well as videotapes that show windows far below the burning floors blow out during the collapse, and seismograph results recorded during the collapse compared to the collapse of other similar buildings. The film claims that WTC 1, 2 and 7 were the first steel frame buildings in history to collapse due to fire. Another allegation centers on an audio recording that the film claims contains two distinct explosions at the time of the impact. The film also posits that the official story of the collapse ignores the laws of physics.


title: Loose Change

text: In particular, the video alleges that the fires inside the twin towers were not hot enough to bring the buildings down. An audio tape is presented in which the Captain of Ladder 7 claims that the fires can be brought under control by two lines and it is mentioned that building 7 had taken only minor damage before its own collapse. These allegations follow a listing of buildings that burned longer than the Twin Towers and did not fall.


title: Loose Change

text: For Flight 93, the video ignores the mainstream theory of passengers crashing the plane to instead allege that it landed safely at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport where it was evacuated by government personnel into an unused NASA research center. As evidence, the film contains photographs and eyewitness reports of the crash site, media reports of a corresponding and bizarre evacuation at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, oddities in the transcripts of cell-phone calls supposedly placed from the plane during the hijacking, and the sighting of the tail number of Flight 93 on an aircraft in use at a later date.


title: Loose Change

text: The film follows this with a miscellaneous listing of allegations. It claims that cell phone calls could not be made from American Airlines flights at the time of the crash—asking why American Airlines had to install a system in their own airplanes to allow the reception of cellular signals within the planes if they could do this regardless on September 11. It suggests that calls from passengers and crew were faked using sophisticated voice-morphing technology developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico—and that the December 13, 2001 video of Osama Bin Laden claiming responsibility for the attacks was also faked, featuring what appeared to be an overweight lookalike version of Bin Laden. Finally it alleges that of the list of hijackers the government initially released, many were not in the planes and therefore survived September 11, 2001 and may even still be alive.


title: Loose Change

text: In the end, the film gives financial motives for people it says would have benefited from launching the attacks. It first mentions Larry Silverstein, who stood to receive a substantial insurance payout after the attacks due to a specific anti-terrorism clause. It makes other allegations of insider trading and Halliburton's benefiting from the subsequent launch of America's "War on Terror".


title: Loose Change

text: Although each version of the film asserts that the events of 9/11 were essentially an "inside job", there were significant revisions between the particular theories that different editions posited. For example:


title: Loose Change

text: The first edition, "Loose Change", suggested that there was an unusual device (which the filmmakers refer to as a "pod") under the fuselage of the plane that struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center. The "pod" was presented as evidence that the planes involved in the attack were replaced with remote-controlled drones. Another film "" delves into the topic of the commercial airlines being military airlines with "pods". Official flight records were also presented as evidence that the aircraft involved are still in active service, though it is stated that the producers do not know what happened to the passengers of the flights. This information is omitted from all subsequent versions.


title: Loose Change

text: "Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut" is one hour and 29 minutes in length. The film consists of Dylan Avery narrating over photographs and news footage relating to 9/11, with an underscore of hip hop and other urban style music. Avery does not appear in the video itself, though he is shown in the bonus features. Video and still footage used includes considerable video content from CNN, MSNBC NBC, and Fox News, as well as a number of other sources.


title: Loose Change

text: On May 26, 2006, a letter was sent to Avery alleging copyright and trademark infringement in "Loose Change 2nd Edition" resulting from the use of footage from French filmmakers the Naudet brothers. The letter states that Avery used copyrighted images from the film "9/11" and that those images violate the Lanham Act "by suggesting that the Naudet brothers or Mr. Hanlon have endorsed or sponsored the controversial views in your film." The letter concludes: "Accordingly, we hereby demand that you confirm to us within three (3) business days of the receipt of this letter that you have removed all footage taken from our clients' 9/11 film from your "Loose Change" film, including from the version of your film that can be downloaded on the Internet, the DVD version of your film and anywhere else you have used or are using our clients' footage." Avery announced that the recut version of the 2nd edition would omit some of the infringing material.


title: Loose Change

text: The end of the film shows a clip from The American Scholar's Symposium that was aired on C-SPAN on June 25, 2006 at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles. Jason Bermas, wearing the signature "Investigate 9/11" T-shirt that he designed, is describing their plans to peacefully demonstrate at Ground Zero on September 11, 2006. The credits music was reMo Conscious' "We Know".


title: Loose Change

text: With new distributors, "Loose Change: Final Cut" was an attempt to remove all the speculative points from previous versions and weave the reported facts into this version. For instance, references that Flight 93 diverted to Cleveland Hopkins Airport, calls from the plane using voice-morphing technology, and the stance that a missile hit the Pentagon were removed from this version.


title: Loose Change

text: Avery asserted that this was the film he wanted to make due to the new information he found out later and due to the funding and distribution he was offered; in addition, with many firefighters, survivors and witnesses going to him about events of that day, he felt it was necessary to update the film. David Ray Griffin was a script consultant and radio host Alex Jones was associated with the production of this film as well. This was over two hours long, had a new musical score, and included additional interviews and new information that was not available in the prior versions.


title: Loose Change

text: "Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup" was the 2009 edition that was written, directed, and edited by Dylan Avery. Unlike the previous editions, this was narrated by actor Daniel Sunjata. Original music was composed by Mic Cartier and the music/score used in previous versions were not used. This version started with a history of false flag operations. The graphics, interviews, and footage were changed and updated. There were interviews with Stephen Jones about the alleged nano-thermite residue found at the bottom of World Trade Centers 1, 2, and 7.


title: Loose Change

text: In addition, near the end of the film, there was an exclusive interview with Barry Jennings, an eyewitness who had been trapped in building 7, who claimed to have heard explosions and "stepped over bodies", and questioned why and how World Trade Center 7 was brought down. The film also notes the coincidence of Jennings' death occurring two days prior to the National Institute of Standards and Technology building 7 report release date, as well as the fact that Jennings' testimony contradicts the "official explanation" that there were no deaths or witnesses of explosions in building 7. It goes on to state that a private investigator was hired to investigate his death, which was prompted with a reply stating that the case was referred to the police, that a full refund is given, and to not email about that individual again.


title: Loose Change

text: The final segment of the film talked about former major general of the United States Marine Corps Smedley Butler and the Business Plot, which claims that wealthy businessmen backed by mainstream media and corporations approached him to overthrow then United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt and install a fascist regime.


title: Loose Change

text: The credits music was reMo Conscious's "Welcome to the Aftermath", which prominently features the verse "9/11 was an inside job".


title: Loose Change

text: On December 15, 2015, Journeyman Pictures re-released "Loose Change" as a condensed, high-definition version of "Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup". According to the producers Dylan Avery and Korey Rowe, this edition included the new released video by NIST, a new ending and a much shorter duration made for a digital platform.


title: Loose Change

text: On September 7, 2017, "Loose Change 2nd Edition" was released on YouTube via Loose Change's official YouTube channel. The movie was remastered into high-definition, graphics were updated, and new text was added to most of the movie. The audio from the original 2005 movie remained, however.


title: Loose Change

text: In North America it aired on Fox TV affiliates, but received further screenings internationally. On September 10, 2006 BNN (Bart's Neverending Network) Nederland 3 and Portuguese public TV Station RTP aired Loose Change in prime time hours. RTP aired it again on for September 17, 2006. FreeLooseChange is an initiative in Berlin, Germany. One-hundred shops, galleries, theatres and a daily newspaper office so far distributed 50,000 free DVDs featuring the documentaries "Loose Change" and "Terrorstorm" by Alex Jones in German language versions.


title: Loose Change

text: An August 2006 "Vanity Fair" article suggested that "Loose Change" "just might be the first Internet blockbuster." Millions more have viewed the film via unaffiliated websites. More than one million copies of the DVD have been sold, and many more have been given away.


title: Loose Change

text: The film has been broadcast on state media outlets in Belgium, Ireland and Portugal. According to "Broadcast magazine", the video was to have a special screening at the UK Houses of Parliament on June 14, 2006. Michael Meacher, the British MP who had considered sponsoring the screening, decided against it. On September 11, 2006, Dylan Avery and Jason Bermas appeared on "Democracy Now! the War and Peace Report", to debate with James Meigs and David Dunbar, two of the editors of "Popular Mechanics" and the book "Debunking 9/11 Myths".


title: Loose Change

text: Journalists, researchers, social critics, as well as scientists and engineers, and even members of the 9/11 Truth movement have spoken out against the film's claims about the September 11 attacks.


title: Loose Change

text: "Loose Change" has been subject to criticism from a variety of sources. In March 2007, the United States Department of State published an article called "Loose Change Debunked" that says the movie makes "sloppy mistakes". The article is highly critical of the evidence cited to support the claim that Flight 77 did not hit the Pentagon, and it criticizes the controlled demolition hypothesis of the World Trade Center claiming that, "Demolition professionals say controlled demolition of the Towers that day would have been impossible." The article goes on to say:


title: Loose Change

text: It also notes that "Loose Change" has also been criticized by other members of the 9/11 Truth Movement, referring specifically to the critique "Sifting Through Loose Change". Michael Green, a member of the 9/11 Truth Movement, has analyzed the film and is critical of many of its claims and methods. Several independent researchers have also written critiques of the film. Prominent social commentator Noam Chomsky has argued that any scientists with plausible evidence would have gone through the traditional channels of scientific journals to convince other professionals, and that such a course of action is extremely low-risk for the scientist.


title: Loose Change

text: In May 2006, the blog "Screw Loose Change" was created to criticize the claims in the film. Another analysis of the film has been created by the "Internet Detectives". Many of the critiques argue that "Loose Change" quote mines, uses unreliable or out-of-date sources, and cherry-picks evidence to claim that there are serious problems with official accounts of the events of September 11.


title: Loose Change

text: One of the many aspects these critiques focus on is "Loose Change's" analysis of the collapse of the World Trade Center. The comparison to other notable high-rise fires that did not lead to collapse ignores differences in building design, significant WTC structural damage, and compromised fireproofing, as most steel loses over half its strength at . The comparison with Madrid's Windsor Tower fails to note its steel-supported perimeter floors that collapsed during the fire. Kevin Ryan, described by "Loose Change" as working for Underwriters Laboratories (UL), was actually employed in a water-testing subsidiary. Furthermore, UL does not certify structural steel, and ASTM E119 certification is not meant to predict performance in real uncontrolled fires. The NIST found no evidence of any firm having conducted tests on WTC materials in the past. Another expert quoted, Van Romero, has clarified that he was misquoted by the "Albuquerque Journal"; he had actually said that it "looked like" explosives took down the WTC. When the misquote was printed, he felt his "scientific reputation was on the line."


title: Loose Change

text: On September 11, 2006, the public-TV network program "Democracy Now!" broadcast a discussion between two "Loose Change" creators and two editors from "Popular Mechanics", where they debated at considerable length various aspects of the documentary. Jason Bermas claimed United Flight 93 did not crash into the field, and classified "Popular Mechanics" as a publication in the spirit of Hearst's "yellow journalism".


title: Loose Change

text: George Monbiot, political activist and columnist for "The Guardian", wrote an article on the improbability of the conspiracies cited in "Loose Change", and then wrote a follow-up article in response to negative comments from some of his readers. On "SModcast", Kevin Smith discussed "Loose Change" and other conspiracy videos about aliens and various things. However, he maintains that he enjoys the film purely as entertainment, and does not believe or agree with the theories presented in the film. "The Best Page in the Universe" parodied the movie with a short video, "Unfastened Coins", that "exposes" a "Titanic"-sinking conspiracy, and an article mocking the logic of conspiracy theories in the film. The History Channel aired a two-hour episode entitled "The 9/11 Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction?" featuring interviews with the creators of "Loose Change". Mark Cuban, who was going to distribute the film, told the Dallas News "I don’t believe the movie. Not at all." Financier Matthew Brown shared similar remarks though "supports free speech, even when I vehemently disagree."


title: Loose Change

text: In Britain, BBC's documentary television show "The Conspiracy Files" aired two documentaries focused on 9/11 and the conspiracy theories surrounding the collapse of WTC7. Several claims made by "Loose Change" were investigated and specifically rejected. Dylan Avery was interviewed for the program, which cast him in a negative light.


title: Loose Change

text: A gapless album soundtrack for "Loose Change: 2nd Edition" was released in December 2006 by now-defunct company Third i Records and features hip-hop music by various artists. "The Beats of Loose Change" featured music by DJ Skooly, who was Dylan Avery's roommate Dustin Marshall along with Marshall's friends' work: Josue Guadalupe ("Swae Da Ricanstrukta") and Nick Hernandez ("Nick Tha 1da"). "The Beats of Loose Change" also included vocals from the film.


title: Loose Change

text: The "Loose Change: 2nd Edition" DVD release had optional "music-only" and "vocals-only" features for the film.


title: Loose Change

text: "More Beats of Loose Change" featured music from "Loose Change: The Final Cut" and was a rare album release that featured new music with a primary focus on a hip-hop score. There were also full submitted rock and rap tracks. This was another "gapless album" and was also noted as "More Beats of Loose Change: The Loose Change 3rd Edition Soundtrack". This album also included key quotes and narration that was used in the film. The track "Opinions" was also on the original "Beats of Loose Change" as "What They Saw". Also, the track "Hani Hanjour" may share the same title as a track from "The Beats of Loose Change", but it was a complete different melody.


title: Loose Change

text: The "Loose Change: Final Cut" DVD release also had optional "music-only" and "vocals-only" features for the film.


title: Loose Change

text: Original music for the 2009 revision "Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup" was composed by Mic Cartier. On June 24, 2018, the official soundtrack to this movie was released on CD Baby and subsequently to other streaming websites.


title: Loose Change

text: In 2008, film director David Lynch was interviewed on Dutch television about "Loose Change", to which he said that the film made him look at what he thought he saw, that he now had questions and "... no answers."


title: Loose Change

text: In his book "American Conspiracies", specifically in Chapter 12 ("What Really Happened on September 11?"), former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura wrote that he urged "everyone to see" the documentary "Loose Change". The version Ventura saw was the 2007 (Final Cut) and he wrote that from the film, he was "amazed at the many firefighters and other eyewitnesses who talked about a whole series of explosions before and during the collapse of the buildings."


title: Loose Change

text: In 2011, film writer and director Kevin Smith stated that he "loved" "Loose Change" and said it was a compelling watch. In 2012, Smith said "Loose Change" was a "gripping, well-made film", "excellent filmmaking", but said he did not know if any of it was true.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna (), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential Islamic revivalist organizations.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna's writings marked a turning-point in Islamic intellectual history by presenting a modern ideology based on Islam. Al-Banna considered Islam to be a comprehensive system of life, with the "Qur'an" and Sunnah as the only acceptable constitution. He called for Islamization of the state, the economy, and society. He declared that establishing a just society required development of institutions and progressive taxation, and elaborated an Islamic fiscal theory where "zakat" would be reserved for social expenditure in order to reduce inequality. Al-Banna's ideology involved criticism of Western materialism, British imperialism, and the traditionalism of the Egyptian "ulema". He appealed to Egyptian and pan-Arab patriotism but rejected Arab nationalism and regarded all Muslims as members of a single nation-community.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: The Muslim Brotherhood advocated gradualist moral reform and had no plans for a violent takeover of power. The ""Jihad" of the spirit"―self-initiated productive work aimed at bettering the conditions of the Islamic community―was a significant part of their ideology. Under Al-Banna's leadership, the organization embarked on a wide-ranging campaign of social engagement; they especially emphasized public health improvements. Following the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924, al-Banna called on Muslims to prepare for armed struggle against colonial rule; he warned Muslims against the "widespread belief" that ""jihad" of the heart" was more important than ""jihad" of the sword". He allowed the formation of a secret military wing within the Muslim Brotherhood, which took part in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Al-Banna generally encouraged Egyptians to abandon Western customs; and argued that the state should enforce Islamic public morality through censorship and application of "hudud" corporal punishment. Nonetheless, his thought was open to Western ideas and some of his writings quote European authors instead of Islamic sources.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna was assassinated by the Egyptian secret police in 1949. His son-in-law Said Ramadan emerged as a major leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Hassan al-Banna was born on 14 October 1906 in Mahmudiyya, a rural Nile Delta town in the Beheira Governorate northwest of Cairo.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: His father, Sheikh Ahmed Abd al-Rahman al-Banna al-Sa'ati, was a Hanbali imam, muezzin and mosque teacher. His father was an important spiritual influence during al-Banna's early life. Sheikh Ahmed was known for his work as a Hanbali scholar, particularly his classifications of the traditions of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani. These classifications became known as "musnad al-fath al-rabbani". Through this work, Sheikh Ahmed forged connections with Islamic scholars that proved useful when his son moved to Cairo in 1932.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: In addition to his early exposure to Hanbali puritanism, Hassan al-Banna was inspired by Rashid Rida's magazine, "Al-Manar". He was also heavily influenced by Sufism as a youth in Mahmudiyya. He attended weekly Hadra and was a member of the al-Hassafiyya Sufi order.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna was first exposed to Egyptian nationalist politics during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919; he was thirteen years old at the time. In his personal accounts, Al-Banna identified himself with the widespread activism of the time. Despite his young age, al-Banna participated in demonstrations in Damanhur, published political pamphlets and founded youth reform societies. Although Al-Banna's family were not members of the Egyptian elite, they were relatively well-respected in Mahmudiyya. Sheikh Ahmed's was a distinguished imam and the family owned some property. However, during the 1920s economic crisis, the family had trouble sustaining the upkeep of their property and moved to Cairo in 1924.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: In Mahmudiyya, al-Banna studied in the village mosque with Sheikh Zahran. The two developed a close relationship that influenced al-Banna's early intellectual and religious development. In addition to the mosque school, al-Banna received private instruction from his father. He also studied in Cairo for four years; he attended Dar al-‘Ulum, an Egyptian institution that educated prospective teachers in modern subjects. The school was not very traditional and al-Banna enrolled against his father's wishes, as a break from typical Islamic conservatism. Building upon his father's scholarly connections, al-Banna became associated with the Islamic Society for Nobility of Islamic Morals and the Young Men's Muslim Association (YMMA). He published more than fifteen articles in "Majallat al-Fath", an influential Islamic journal associated with the YMMA.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Hasan Al-Banna headed to Cairo in 1923 to enroll as a student in Dar al-Ulum college. His student life would be a significant experience for his ideological formation. In the face of an urban social life vastly different from his rural upbringing, Al-Banna "noticed a defection of the educated youth from what he considered to be the Islamic way of life." Al-Banna also had disdain for Egypt's liberal political class. It was during this time that he became exposed to the works of the Salafi scholar Rashid Rida. He was a regular visitor of the "Salafiyya" book store, at that time directed by Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib; and often attended the lectures of Rashid Rida. For Al-Banna, Rida's works provided him theological guidance to rectify the faults he was witnessing in Egypt.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna learned of the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, while he was still a student. This event influenced him greatly; although the caliphate had no power, he viewed its end as a "calamity". He later called the events a "declaration of war against all shapes of Islam".


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: After completing his studies at a Dar al-‘Ulum in 1927, al-Banna became a primary school teacher in Ismailia. At that time, Ismailia was the location of the Egyptian headquarters of the Suez Canal. Foreign influence was stronger in Ismailia than in other parts of Egypt. While living there, al-Banna grew increasingly disillusioned with British cultural colonialism. He was especially concerned that hasty attempts to modernize Egypt often had the negative effect of compromising Islamic principles. Many Egyptian nationalists were also dissatisfied with Wafd leadership, mainly because of its moderate stances and insistence on secularism.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Hassan al-Banna became acquainted with many important thinkers in Cairo, and had also established personal correspondence with Rashid Rida. Here, Al-Banna developed an ideological framework which synthesised the worldview of past Islamic revivalists in Rashid Rida's interpretation. One of the most important revivalist ideas advocated by Rida was the formation of an Islamic state that would govern by the Sharia and return to a society modelled during the time of Muhammad and his companions. This idea of a revolutionary struggle based on Islamic principles would guide Hassan al-Banna's later life and manifest in the formation of the Muslim Brotherhood.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Following the ideas of Rashid Rida, Al-Banna believed that moral decay was the primary cause of societal and political decline and felt that talks held within the arena of mosques were not sufficient to hold the influx of societal liberalisation encouraged by political secularisation. In his time at Ismailia, Al-Banna took to the cafes to preach to the general public in short lectures. His charismatic speeches attracted a large number of youth to his call. In March 1928 six workers affiliated with the Suez Canal company approached Banna, complaining about injustices suffered by Muslims at the hands of foreign colonialist control. They appointed Banna as their leader and to work for Islam through "Jihad" and revive Islamic Brotherhood. Thus, the Muslim Brothers were born; under the pledge that its members would“be soldiers in the call to Islam, and in that is the life for the country and the honour for the "Umma"... We are brothers in the service of Islam.. Hence we are the “Muslim Brothers”.”


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: At first, the Muslim Brotherhood was only one of many small Islamic associations that existed at the time. Similar to the organizations that al-Banna had himself joined at a young age, these organizations aimed to promote personal piety and engaged in pure charitable activities. By the late 1930s, the Muslim Brotherhood had established branches in every Egyptian province.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: A decade later, the organization had 500,000 active members and as many sympathizers in Egypt alone. Its appeal was not limited only to Egypt; its popularity had grown in several other countries. The organization's growth was particularly pronounced after al-Banna relocated their headquarters to Cairo in 1932. The most important factor contributing to this dramatic expansion was the organizational and ideological leadership provided by al-Banna.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: In Ismailia, al-Banna preached not only in the mosque, but also in the coffee houses; in those times, coffee houses were generally viewed as a morally suspect novelty. When some of his views on relatively minor points of Islamic practice led to strong disagreements with the local religious elite, he adopted the policy of avoiding religious controversies.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna was appalled by the many conspicuous signs of foreign military and economic domination in Ismailia: the British military camps, the public utilities, farms, food supply was owned by foreign interests by forces, and the luxurious residences of the foreign employees of the Suez Canal Company, next to the squalid dwellings of the Egyptian workers.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna endeavored to bring about reforms through institution-building, relentless activism at the grassroots level and a reliance on mass communication. He built a complex mass movement that featured sophisticated governance structures; sections in charge of furthering the society's values among peasants, workers and professionals; units entrusted with key functions, including propagation of the message, liaison with the Islamic world and press and translation; and specialized committees for finances and legal affairs. Declaring Islam as the only comprehensive religious system that could solve the challenges of modernity and calling upon Muslims to reject Western ideologies, Al-Banna wrote: "If the French Revolution decreed the rights of man and declared for freedom, equality and brotherhood, and if the Russian revolution brought closer the classes and social justice for the people, the great Islamic Revolution [had] decreed all that 1300 years before. It did not confine itself to philosophical theories but rather spread these principles through daily life, and added to them [the notions of] divinity of mankind, and the perfectibility of his virtues and [the fulfilment of] his spiritual tendencies".


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna relied on pre-existing social networks―in particular those built around mosques, Islamic welfare associations and neighborhood groups―to anchor the Muslim Brotherhood into Egyptian society. This weaving of traditional ties into a distinctively modern structure was at the root of his success. Directly attached to the brotherhood, and feeding its expansion, were numerous businesses, clinics, and schools. In addition, members were affiliated with the movement through a series of cells, revealingly called "usar" ("families").


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: The material, social and psychological support provided by the Muslim Brotherhood were instrumental to the movement's ability to generate enormous loyalty among its members and to attract new recruits. The movement was built around services and an organizational structure intended to enable individuals to integrate into a distinctly Islamic setting that was shaped by the society's own principles.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Rooted in Islam, Al-Banna's message tackled issues including colonialism, public health, educational policy, natural resources management, social inequalities, pan-Islamism, nationalism, Arab nationalism, the weakness of the Islamic world on the international scene, and the growing conflict in Palestine. By emphasizing concerns that appealed to a variety of constituencies, al-Banna was able to recruit from among a cross-section of Egyptian society—though modern-educated civil servants, office employees, and professionals remained dominant among the organization's activists and decision-makers. Al-Banna was also active in resisting British colonial rule in Egypt.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna warned his readers against the "widespread belief among many Muslims" that jihad of the heart was more important and demanding than jihad of the sword. He called on Muslims to prepare for jihad against colonial powers:Muslims ... are compelled to humble themselves before non-Muslims, and are ruled by unbelievers. Their lands have been trampled over, and their honor besmirched. Their adversaries are in charge of their affairs, and the rites of their religion have fallen into abeyance with their own domains ... Hence it has become an individual obligation, which there is no evading, on every Muslim to prepare his equipment, to make up his mind to engage in jihad, and to get ready for it until the opportunity is ripe and God decrees


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Among the Muslim Brothers' most notable accomplishments during these early years was its involvement in the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. The Muslim Brothers launched a pro-Palestine campaign which contributed to making the Palestine issue a widespread Muslim concern. The Muslim Brothers carried out a fundraising campaign said to have relied upon donations from the rural and urban working classes, rather than wealthy Egyptians. In addition to their fundraising efforts, the Muslim Brothers also organized special prayers for Palestinian nationalists, held political rallies, and distributed propaganda. Although the Palestinian Revolt was ultimately suppressed through repression and military action, the Muslim Brothers' impressive mobilization efforts helped make the Palestinian question a pan-Arab concern in the Middle East.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: When Rashid Rida died in August 1935, his "Al-Manar" magazine also perished with him. Sometime in 1939, Hassan al-Banna resurrected "Al-Manar" to further promote the revolutionary ideology pioneered by the Muslim Brotherhood and claim Rashid Rida's legacy.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: According to Steven Carol, the Brotherhood was heavily financed by Nazi Germany, which contributed greatly to its growth. According to Carol, in 1939 al-Bannah received twice as much funds from Germany per month, as the entire yearly Muslim Brothers' fundraising for the Palestinian cause.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: The Muslim Brotherhood's official publication, "Ikhwan Wiki" states that Hassan al-Banna never received financing from either Nazi Germany or the United Kingdom but insisted on maintaining the group as an independent organisation. It also states that the Nazi's "imperial" and racist agenda is completely against the Islamic ideology of the movement. Hassan al-Banna in two of his writings, "Peace In Islam" and "Our Message", criticises the ultra-nationalism of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy as being a "reprehensible idea" within which was "not the slightest good" and which gave power to "chosen tyrants".


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Between 1948 and 1949, shortly after the society sent volunteers to fight against Israel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the conflict between the monarchy and the organization reached its climax. Concerned with the Brotherhood's increasing assertiveness and popularity among the masses, as well as being alarmed by rumours that the Brotherhood was plotting a coup against the monarchy and cabinet, Prime Minister Nokrashy Pasha (whose predecessor had been slain by a Brotherhood adherent near the end of World War II) outlawed the organization in December 1948. The Brotherhood's assets were impounded and scores of its members were sent to jail. Following the murder of Nokrashy Pasha by a student member of the Brotherhood, Al-Banna released a statement condemning the assassination and stating that terror is not acceptable in Islam.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: On 12 February 1949, al-Banna and his brother-in-law Abdul Karim Mansur were scheduled to negotiate with the government's representative, Minister Zaki Ali Pasha, at the Jama'iyyat al-Shubban al-Muslimeen headquarters in Cairo—but the minister never arrived. By 5 p.m., al-Banna and his brother-in-law had decided to leave. As they stood waiting for a taxi, they were shot by two men. Al-Banna eventually died from his wounds. King Farouk and his Iron Guard of Egypt were accused of being behind the assassination. His father Ahmed retrieved his corpse from Qasr El Eyni Hospital to his house, then his coffin was carried by women with the police escort who prevented men from attending his funeral except for Makram Ebeid who was a government figure.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Al-Banna's daughter Wafa al-Banna was married to Said Ramadan, who became a major leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Their two sons, Tariq Ramadan and Hani Ramadan, are contemporary Islamic scholars as well as educationists. Hassan al-Banna's younger brother, Gamal al-Banna, was a more liberal scholar and proponent of Islamic reform.


title: Hassan al-Banna

text: Hassan al-Banna was a prolific writer who penned more than 2000 articles and many books, including an autobiographical novel entitled "Mudhakkirât al-da'wa wa al-dâ'iya" ("Remembrances of Preaching and of a Preacher").


title: Free will in theology

text: Free will in theology is an important part of the debate on free will in general. Religions vary greatly in their response to the standard argument against free will and thus might appeal to any number of responses to the paradox of free will, the claim that omniscience and free will are incompatible.


title: Free will in theology

text: The theological doctrine of divine foreknowledge is often alleged to be in conflict with free will, particularly in Calvinistic circles: if God knows exactly what will happen (right down to every choice a person makes), it would seem that the "freedom" of these choices is called into question.


title: Free will in theology

text: This problem relates to Aristotle's analysis of the problem of the sea battle: tomorrow either there will or will not be a sea battle. According to the Law of Excluded Middle, there seem to be two options. If there will be a sea battle, then it seems that it was true even yesterday that there would be one. Thus it is "necessary" that the sea battle will occur. If there will not be one, then, by similar reasoning, it is necessary that it will not occur. That means that the future, whatever it is, is completely fixed by past truths: true propositions about the future (a deterministic conclusion is reached: things could not have been any other way).


title: Free will in theology

text: However, some philosophers follow William of Ockham ( 1287 – 1347) in holding that necessity and possibility are defined with respect to a given point in time and a given matrix of empirical circumstances, and so something that is merely possible from the perspective of one observer may be necessary from the perspective of an omniscient. Some philosophers follow Philo in holding that free will is a feature of a human's soul, and thus that non-human animals lack free will.


title: Free will in theology

text: Jewish philosophy stresses that free will is a product of the intrinsic human soul, using the word "neshama" (from the Hebrew root "n.sh.m." or .נ.ש.מ meaning "breath"), but the ability to make a free choice is through "Yechida" (from Hebrew word "yachid", יחיד, singular), the part of the soul that is united with God, the only being that is not hindered by or dependent on cause and effect (thus, freedom of will does not belong to the realm of the physical reality, and inability of natural philosophy to account for it is expected).


title: Free will in theology

text: In Islam, the theological issue is not usually how to reconcile free will with God's foreknowledge but with God's "jabr" or divine commanding power. al-Ash'ari developed an "acquisition" or "dual-agency" form of compatibilism, in which human free will and divine "jabr" were both asserted, and which became a cornerstone of the dominant Ash'ari position. In Shia Islam, Ash'aris understanding of a higher balance toward predestination is challenged by most theologists. Free will, according to Islamic doctrine is the main factor for man's accountability in his/her actions throughout life. All actions committed by man's free will are said to be counted on the Day of Judgement because they are his/her own and not God's.


title: Free will in theology

text: The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard claimed that divine omnipotence cannot be separated from divine goodness. As a truly omnipotent and good being, God could create beings with true freedom over God. Furthermore, God would voluntarily do so because "the greatest good... which can be done for a being, greater than anything else that one can do for it, is to be truly free." Alvin Plantinga's free-will defense is a contemporary expansion of this theme, adding how God, free will, and evil are consistent.


title: Free will in theology

text: The consensus of reputable scholars who focus on the study of free will in the ancient world are abundantly clear that it is not to be found in the bible.


title: Free will in theology

text: The leading scholar on the subject of Free Will in Antiquity, Michael Frede, observed that "freedom and free will cannot be found in either the Septuagint or the New Testament and must have come to the Christians mainly from Stoicism."


title: Free will in theology

text: Frede wrote that he could not find either the language of free will nor even any assumption of it in the New Testament or the Greek Old Testament. According to Frede, the early Church fathers most certainly developed their doctrine of free will from the pagans.


title: Free will in theology

text: Another Oxford scholar, Dr. Alister McGrath, concurs entirely with Frede, “The term ‘free will’ is not biblical, but derives from Stoicism. It was introduced into Western Christianity by the second-century theologian Tertullian.”


title: Free will in theology

text: Pauline expert, Troels Engberg-Pedersen, unequivocally insists that, “Paul firmly believed in divine determination as an intrinsic part of his whole conception of God.”


title: Free will in theology

text: Nonetheless, many have argued an "implicit" case for finding free will in the bible. The most fundamental source for this case lies in the fall into sin by Adam and Eve that occurred in their "willfully chosen" disobedience to God.


title: Free will in theology

text: Some contend that "Freedom" and "free will" can be treated as one because the two terms are commonly used as synonyms, however, there are widespread disagreements in definitions of the two terms. Because of these disagreements, Christian philosopher Mortimer Adler found that a delineation of three kinds of freedom is necessary for clarity on the subject, as follows:


title: Free will in theology

text: (1) Circumstantial freedom is "freedom from coercion or restraint" that prevents acting as one wills.


title: Free will in theology

text: (2) Natural freedom (a.k.a. volitional freedom) is freedom to determine one's own "decisions or plans." Natural freedom is inherent in all people, in all circumstances, and ""without regard" to any state of mind or character which they may or may not acquire in the course of their lives."


title: Free will in theology

text: (3) Acquired freedom is freedom "to live as [one] ought to live," a freedom that requires a transformation whereby a person acquires a righteous, holy, healthy, etc. "state of mind or character."


title: Free will in theology

text: Mark R. Talbot, a "classical Christian theist," views this acquired "compatibilist freedom" as the freedom that "Scripture portrays as worth having."


title: Free will in theology

text: Open theism denies that classical theism's compatibilist "freedom to choose to be righteous without the possibility of choosing otherwise." qualifies as true freedom. For open theism, true libertarian freedom is incompatibilist freedom. Regardless of factors, a person has the freedom to choose the opposite alternatives. In open theist William Hasker's words, regarding any action it is always ""within the agent's power to perform the action and also in the agent's power to refrain from the action"." Although open theism generally contradicts classical theism's "freedom to choose to be righteous without the possibility of choosing otherwise," Hasker allows that Jesus possessed and humans in heaven will possess such freedom. Regarding Jesus, Hasker views Jesus as "a free agent," but he also thinks that "it was not really possible" that Jesus would "abort the mission." Regarding heaven, Hasker foresees that as the result of our choice we will be "unable to sin" because all sinful impulses will be gone.


title: Free will in theology

text: Today, theologians of the Roman Catholic Church universally embrace the idea of free will, but generally do not view free will as existing apart from or in contradiction to grace. According to the Roman Catholic Church "To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of "predestination", he includes in it each person's free response to his grace." The Council of Trent declared that "the free will of man, moved and excited by God, can by its consent co-operate with God, Who excites and invites its action; and that it can thereby dispose and prepare itself to obtain the grace of justification. The will can resist grace if it chooses. It is not like a lifeless thing, which remains purely passive. Weakened and diminished by Adam's fall, free will is yet not destroyed in the race (Sess. VI, cap. i and v)."


title: Free will in theology

text: During the era of the original Jesuits, a movement arose in Catholicism called Jansenism, which contradicted the Jesuits' teaching on free will. French Philosopher, Blaise Pascal was an adherent of this theology. There are no modern adherents of Jansenism.


title: Free will in theology

text: St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas wrote extensively on free will, with Augustine focusing on the importance of free will in his responses to the Manichaeans, and also on the limitations of a concept of unlimited free will as denial of grace, in his refutations of Pelagius.


title: Free will in theology

text: Denying the Roman Catholic teaching, John Duns Scotus asserted that "the created will acts just for internal reasons, and therefore contingently in all circumstances", even in Heaven, "regardless of the perfection of the object presented by the intellect." On the contrary, the Roman Catholic teaching affirms that, when the proper object of the will -which is God- is known with sufficient clarity in the afterdeath life, then "the perpetuity" of the free will's act is necessary and "in Heaven is guaranteed by the absence of reason for the will to will something else."


title: Free will in theology

text: The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church asserts that "Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will". It goes on to say that "God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him."" The section concludes with the role that grace plays, "By the working of grace the Holy Spirit educates us in spiritual freedom in order to make us free collaborators in his work in the Church and in the world."


title: Free will in theology

text: Reformed Latin Christianity's views on free will and grace are often contrasted with predestination in Reformed Protestant Christianity, especially after the Counter-Reformation, but in understanding differing conceptions of free will it is just as important to understand the differing conceptions of the nature of God, focusing on the idea that God can be all-powerful and all-knowing even while people continue to exercise free will, because God transcends time.


title: Free will in theology

text: The papal encyclical on human freedom, "Libertas Praestantissimum" by Pope Leo XIII (1888), seems to leave the question unresolved as to the relation between free will and determinism: whether the correct notion is the compatibilist one or the libertarian one. The quotations supporting compatibilism include the one from St. Thomas (footnote 4) near the end of paragraph 6, regarding the cause of evil ("Whereas, when he sins, he acts in opposition to reason, is moved by another, and is the victim of foreign misapprehensions"), and a similar passus suggesting a natural, cause-and-effect function of human will ("harmony with his natural inclinations", "Creator of will", "by whom all things are moved in conformity with their nature") near the end of paragraph 8 (when considering the problem of how grace can have effects on free will). On the other hand, metaphysical libertarianism – at least as a sort of possibility of reversing the direction of one's acting – is suggested by the reference to the well-known philosophical term "metaphysical freedom" at the beginning of paragraph 3 and, to an extent, a contrasting comparison of animals, which always act "of necessity", with human liberty, by means of which one can "either act or not act, do this or do that".


title: Free will in theology

text: Critique that seems more or less to support popular incompatibilistic views can be found in some papal documents especially in the 20th century, no "explicit" condemnation, however, of causal determinism in its most generic form can be found there. More often these documents focus on condemnation of physicalism/materialism and the stressing of significance of belief in soul, as a non-physical indivisible substance equipped with intellect and will, which decides human proceeding in a (perhaps imprecise) way.


title: Free will in theology

text: The concept of free will is also of vital importance in the Oriental (or non-Chalcedonian) Churches, those in communion with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. As in Judaism, free will is regarded as axiomatic. Everyone is regarded as having a free choice as to in what measure he or she will follow his or her conscience or arrogance, these two having been appointed for each individual. The more one follows one's conscience, the more it brings one good results, and the more one follows one's arrogance, the more it brings one bad results. Following only one's arrogance is sometimes likened to the dangers of falling into a pit while walking in pitch darkness, without the light of conscience to illuminate the path. Very similar doctrines have also found written expression in the Dead Sea Scrolls "Manual of Discipline", and in some religious texts possessed by the Beta Israel Jews of Ethiopia.


title: Free will in theology

text: The Eastern (or Chalcedonian) Orthodox Church espouses a belief different from the Lutheran, Calvinist, and Arminian Protestant views. The difference is in the interpretation of original sin, alternatively known as "ancestral sin," where the Orthodox do not believe in total depravity. The Orthodox reject the Pelagian view that the original sin did not damage human nature; they accept that the human nature is depraved, but despite man's fallenness the divine image he bears has not been destroyed.


title: Free will in theology

text: The Orthodox Church holds to the teaching of synergy (συνεργός, meaning working together), which says that man has the freedom to, and must if he wants to be saved, choose to accept and work with the grace of God. St. John Cassian, a 4th-century Church Father and pupil of St. John Chrysostom, articulated this view and all the Eastern Fathers embraced it. He taught that "Divine grace is necessary to enable a sinner to return unto God and live, yet man must first, of himself, desire and attempt to choose and obey God", and that "Divine grace is indispensable for salvation, but it does not necessarily need to precede a free human choice, because, despite the weakness of human volition, the will can take the initiative toward God.".


title: Free will in theology

text: Some Orthodox Christians use the parable of a drowning man to plainly illustrate the teaching of synergy: God from the ship throws a rope to a drowning man, pulls him up, saving him, and the man, if he wants to be saved, must hold on tightly to the rope; explaining both that salvation is a gift from God and man cannot save himself, and that man must co-work (syn-ergo) with God in the process of salvation.


title: Free will in theology

text: Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Russian Orthodox Christian novelist, suggested many arguments for and against free will. Famous arguments are found in "The Grand Inquisitor" chapter in "The Brothers Karamazov", and in his work "Notes from Underground". He also developed an argument that suicide, if irrational, is actually a validation of free will (see Kirilov in the Demons) novel. As for the argument presented in "The Brothers Karamazov"'s section "The Rebellion" that the suffering of innocents was not worth the price of free will, Dostoevsky appears to propose the idea of apocatastasis (or universal reconciliation) as one possible rational solution.


title: Free will in theology

text: Illustrating as it does that the human part in salvation (represented by holding on to the rope) must be preceded and accompanied by grace (represented by the casting and drawing of the rope), the image of the drowning man holding on to the rope cast and drawn by his rescuer corresponds closely to Roman Catholic teaching, which holds that God, who "destined us in love to be his sons" and "to be conformed to the image of his Son", includes in his eternal plan of "predestination" each person's free response to his grace.


title: Free will in theology

text: The Roman Catholic Church holds to the teaching that "by free will, (the human person) is capable of directing himself toward his true good ... man is endowed with freedom, an outstanding manifestation of the divine image'." Man has free will either to accept or reject the grace of God, so that for salvation "there is a kind of interplay, or synergy, between human freedom and divine grace". "Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom. On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent: 'When God touches man's heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God's grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God's sight' (Council of Trent)."


title: Free will in theology

text: God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. the fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man's free acting through his collaboration. For Roman Catholics, therefore, human cooperation with grace is essential. When God establishes his eternal plan of 'predestination', he includes in it each person's free response to his grace, whether it is positive or negative: "In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place" ().


title: Free will in theology

text: The initiative comes from God, but it demands a free response from man: "God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. the fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man's free acting through his collaboration". "Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life."


title: Free will in theology

text: Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky has stated that the teaching of John Cassian, who in the East is considered a witness to Tradition, but who "was unable to make himself correctly understood", "was interpreted, on the rational plane, as a semi-pelagianism, and was condemned in the West".


title: Free will in theology

text: Where the Roman Catholic Church defends the concept of faith and free will these are questioned in the East by the conclusions of the Second Council of Orange. This council is not accepted by the Eastern churches and the Roman Catholic Church's use of describing their position and St Cassian as Semi-Pelagian is also rejected.


title: Free will in theology

text: Although the Roman Catholic Church explicitly teaches that "original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants", some Eastern Orthodox nevertheless claim that Roman Catholicism professes the teaching, which they attribute to Saint Augustine, that everyone bears not only the consequence, but also the guilt of Adam's sin.


title: Free will in theology

text: Various Roman Catholic theologians identify Cassian as a teacher of the semipelagian heresy which was condemned by the Council of Orange. While the Orthodox do not apply the term semipelagian to their theology, they criticize the Roman Catholics for rejecting Cassian whom they accept as fully orthodox, and for holding that human consent to God's justifying action is itself an effect of grace, a position shared by Eastern Orthodox theologian Georges Florovsky, who says that the Eastern Orthodox Church "always understood that God initiates, accompanies, and completes everything in the process of salvation", rejecting instead the Calvinist idea of irresistible grace.


title: Free will in theology

text: Recently, some Roman Catholic theologians have argued that Cassian's writings should not be considered semipelagian. And scholars of other denominations too have concluded that Cassian's thought "is not Semi-Pelagian", and that he instead taught that "salvation is, from beginning to end, the effect of God's grace" and held that "God's grace, not human free will, is responsible for 'everything which pertains to salvation' - even faith."


title: Free will in theology

text: The Orthodox Church holds to the teaching of synergy (συνεργός, meaning working together), which says that man has the freedom to, and must if he wants to be saved, choose to accept and work with the grace of God. Once baptised the experience of his salvation and relationship with God is called theosis. Mankind has free will to accept or reject the grace of God. Rejection of the gifts of God is called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (gifts of grace, faith, life). The first who defined this teaching was John Cassian, 4th-century Church Father, and a pupil of John Chrysostom, and all Eastern Fathers accept it. He taught that "Divine grace is necessary to enable a sinner to return unto God and live, yet man must first, of himself, desire and attempt to choose and obey God", and that "Divine grace is indispensable for salvation, but it does not necessarily need to precede a free human choice, because, despite the weakness of human volition, the will can take the initiative toward God.".


title: Free will in theology

text: Some Orthodox use an example of a drowning man to illustrate the teaching of synergy: God from the ship throws a rope to a drowning man, the man may take the rope if he wants to be saved, but he may decide not to take the rope and perish by his own will. Explaining both that salvation is a gift from God and man cannot save himself. That man must co-work (syn-ergo) with God in the process of salvation.


title: Free will in theology

text: Lutherans adhere to divine monergism, the teaching that salvation is by God's act alone, and therefore reject the idea that humans in their fallen state have a free will concerning spiritual matters. Lutherans believe that although humans have free will concerning civil righteousness, they cannot work spiritual righteousness without the Holy Spirit, since righteousness in the heart cannot be wrought in the absence of the Holy Spirit. In other words, humanity is free to choose and act in every regard except for the choice of salvation.


title: Free will in theology

text: Lutherans also teach that sinners, while capable of doing works that are outwardly "good," are not capable of doing works that satisfy God's justice. Every human thought and deed is infected with sin and sinful motives. For Luther himself, in his "Bondage of the Will", people are by nature endowed with free-will/free choice in regard to "goods and possessions" with which a person "has the right of using, acting, and omitting according to his Free-will." However, in "God-ward" things pertaining to "salvation or damnation" people are in bondage "either to the will of God, or to the will of Satan."


title: Free will in theology

text: As found in Paul Althaus' study of Luther's theology, sin's infection of every human thought and deed began with Adam's fall into sin, the Original Sin. Adam's fall was a "terrible example" of what "free will" will do unless God constantly motivates it to virtuous behavior. Humanity inherits Adam's sin. Thus, in our "natural condition," we have an inborn desire to sin because that is the person we are by birth. As Luther noted, "Adam sinned willingly and freely and from him a will to sin has been born into us so that we cannot sin innocently but only voluntarily."


title: Free will in theology

text: The controversial term "liberum arbitrium" was translated "free-will" by Henry Cole and "free will" remains in general use. However, the Rupp/Watson study of Luther and Erasmus chose "free choice" as the translation and provided a rationale. Luther used "free choice" (or "free-will") to denote the fact that humans act "spontaneously" and with "a desirous willingness." He also allowed "Free-will" as that "power" by which humans "can be caught by the Spirit" of God. However, he deplored the use of the term "Free-will" because it is too "grand, copious, and full." Therefore, Luther held that the inborn faculty of "willingness" should be "called by some other term."


title: Free will in theology

text: Although our wills are a function of and are in bondage to our inherited sinful desires, Luther insisted that we sin "voluntarily." Voluntarily means that we sin of our own free will. We will to do what we desire. As long as we desire sin, our wills are only free for sin. This is Luther's "bondage of the will" to sin. The sinner's "will is bound, but it is and remains "his" will. He repeatedly and voluntarily acts according to it." So it is, to be set free from sin and for righteousness requires a "rebirth through faith." A rebirth of faith gives "true freedom from sin," which is, wrote Luther, "a liberty [freedom] to do good."


title: Free will in theology

text: To use a biblical word important to Luther, to be set free "from" sin and "for" righteousness requires a metanoia. Luther used Jesus' image of the good and bad trees to depict the necessity of changing the person to change what a person wills and does. In Jesus' image, "a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:18). Like the bad tree that can only produce bad fruit, before a rebirth through faith, people are in bondage to the sinful desires of their hearts. They can only will to do sin, albeit "spontaneously and with a desirous willingness." Given his view of the human condition, Luther concluded that, without a rebirth, the "free choice" that all humans possess is "not free at all" because it cannot of itself free itself from its inherent bondage to sin.


title: Free will in theology

text: Thus, Luther distinguished between different kinds of freedom: (a) by nature, a freedom to act as we will and (b) by rebirth through faith, a freedom to act righteously.


title: Free will in theology

text: Orthodox Lutheran theology holds that God made the world, including humanity, perfect, holy and sinless. However, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, trusting in their own strength, knowledge, and wisdom. Consequently, people are saddled with original sin, born sinful and unable to avoid committing sinful acts. For Lutherans, original sin is the "chief sin, a root and fountainhead of all actual sins."


title: Free will in theology

text: According to Lutherans, God preserves his creation, in doing so cooperates with everything that happens, and guides the universe. While God cooperates with both good and evil deeds, with evil deeds he does so only inasmuch as they are deeds, but not with the evil in them. God concurs with an act's effect, but he does not cooperate in the corruption of an act or the evil of its effect. Lutherans believe everything exists for the sake of the Christian Church, and that God guides everything for its welfare and growth.


title: Free will in theology

text: Lutherans believe that the elect are predestined to salvation. Lutherans believe Christians should be assured that they are among the predestined. Lutherans believe that all who trust in Jesus alone can be certain of their salvation, for it is in Christ's work and his promises in which their certainty lies. According to Lutheranism, the central final hope of the Christian is "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" as confessed in the Apostles' Creed rather than predestination. Conversion or regeneration in the strict sense of the term is the work of divine grace and power by which man, born of the flesh, and void of all power to think, to will, or to do any good thing, and dead in sin is, through the gospel and holy baptism, taken from a state of sin and spiritual death under God's wrath into a state of spiritual life of faith and grace, rendered able to will and to do what is spiritually good and, especially, led to accept the benefits of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.


title: Free will in theology

text: Lutherans disagree with those that make predestination the source of salvation rather than Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection. Lutherans reject the Calvinist doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Like both Calvinist camps, Lutherans view the work of salvation as monergistic in that "the natural [that is, corrupted and divinely unrenewed] powers of man cannot do anything or help towards salvation" (Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, art. ii, par. 71 ), and Lutherans go further along the same lines as the Free Grace advocates to say that the recipient of saving grace need not cooperate with it. Hence, Lutherans believe that a true Christian (that is, a genuine recipient of saving grace) can lose his or her salvation, "[b]ut the cause is not as though God were unwilling to grant grace for perseverance to those in whom He has begun the good work... [but that these persons] wilfully turn away..." (Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, art. xi, par. 42 ). Unlike Calvinists, Lutherans do not believe in a predestination to damnation. Instead, Lutherans teach eternal damnation is a result of the unbeliever's sins, rejection of the forgiveness of sins, and unbelief.


title: Free will in theology

text: The Anabaptist movement was characterized by the fundamental belief in the free will of man. Many earlier movements such as Waldensians and others likewise held this viewpoint. Denominations today representing this view include Old Order Mennonites, Amish, Conservative Mennonites and Ukrainian Baptists.


title: Free will in theology

text: John Calvin ascribed "free will" to all people in the sense that they act "voluntarily, and not by compulsion." He elaborated his position by allowing "that man has choice and that it is self-determined" and that his actions stem from "his own voluntary choosing."


title: Free will in theology

text: The free will that Calvin ascribed to all people is what Mortimer Adler calls the "natural freedom" of the will. This freedom to will what one desires is inherent in all people.


title: Free will in theology

text: Calvin held this kind of inherent/natural free will in disesteem because unless people acquire the freedom to live as they ought by being transformed, they will desire and voluntarily choose to sin. "Man is said to have free will," wrote Calvin, "because he acts voluntarily, and not by compulsion. This is perfectly true: but why should so small a matter have been dignified with so proud a title?" The glitch in this inherent/natural freedom of the will is that although all people have the "faculty of willing," by nature they are unavoidably (and yet voluntarily without compulsion) under "the bondage of sin."


title: Free will in theology

text: The kind of free will that Calvin esteems is what Adler calls "acquired freedom" of the will, the freedom/ability "to live as [one] ought." To possess acquired free will requires a change by which a person acquires a desire to live a life marked by virtuous qualities. As Calvin describes the change required for acquired freedom, the will "must be wholly transformed and renovated."


title: Free will in theology

text: Calvin depicts this transformation as "a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 18:31)." It sets one free from "bondage to sin" and enables "piety towards God, and love towards men, general holiness and purity of life."


title: Free will in theology

text: Calvinist Protestants embrace the idea of predestination, namely, that God chose who would be saved and who would be not saved prior to the creation. They quote Ephesians 1:4 "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight" and also 2:8 "For it is by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." One of the strongest defenders of this theological point of view was the American Puritan preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards.


title: Free will in theology

text: Edwards believed that indeterminism was incompatible with individual dependence on God and hence with his sovereignty. He reasoned that if individuals' responses to God's grace are contra-causally free, then their salvation depends partly on them and therefore God's sovereignty is not "absolute and universal." Edwards' book "Freedom of the Will" defends theological determinism. In this book, Edwards attempts to show that libertarianism is incoherent. For example, he argues that by 'self-determination' the libertarian must mean either that one's actions including one's acts of willing are preceded by an act of free will or that one's acts of will lack sufficient causes. The first leads to an infinite regress while the second implies that acts of will happen accidentally and hence can't make someone "better or worse, any more than a tree is better than other trees because it oftener happens to be lit upon by a swan or nightingale; or a rock more vicious than other rocks, because rattlesnakes have happened oftener to crawl over it."


title: Free will in theology

text: It should not be thought that this view completely denies freedom of choice, however. It claims that man is free to act on his strongest moral impulse and volition, which is externally determined, but is not free to act contrary to them, or to alter them. Proponents, such as John L. Girardeau, have indicated their belief that moral neutrality is impossible; that even if it were possible, and one were equally inclined to contrary options, one could make no choice at all; that if one is inclined, however slightly, toward one option, then that person will necessarily choose that one over any others.


title: Free will in theology

text: Some non-Calvinist Christians attempt a reconciliation of the dual concepts of predestination and free will by pointing to the situation of God as Christ. In taking the form of a man, a necessary element of this process was that Jesus Christ lived the existence of a mortal. When Jesus was born he was not born with the omniscient power of God the Creator, but with the mind of a human child - yet he was still God in essence. The precedent this creates is that God is able to will the abandonment of His knowledge, or ignore knowledge, while remaining fully God. Thus it is not inconceivable that although omniscience demands that God knows what the future holds for individuals, it is within his power to deny this knowledge in order to preserve individual free will. Other theologians argue that the Calvinist-Edwardsean view suggests that if all human volitions are predetermined by God, then all actions dictated by fallen will of man necessarily satisfy His sovereign decree. Hence, it is impossible to act outside of God's perfect will, a conclusion some non-Calvinists claim poses a serious problem for ethics and moral theology.


title: Free will in theology

text: An early proposal toward such a reconciliation states that God is, in fact, not aware of future events, but rather, being eternal, He is outside time, and sees the past, present, and future as one whole creation. Consequently, it is not as though God would know "in advance" that Jeffrey Dahmer would become guilty of homicide years prior to the event as an example, but that He was aware of it from all eternity, viewing all time as a single present. This was the view offered by Boethius in Book V of "The Consolation of Philosophy".


title: Free will in theology

text: Calvinist theologian Loraine Boettner argued that the doctrine of divine foreknowledge does not escape the alleged problems of divine foreordination. He wrote that "what God foreknows must, in the very nature of the case, be as fixed and certain as what is foreordained; and if one is inconsistent with the free agency of man, the other is also. Foreordination renders the events certain, while foreknowledge presupposes that they are certain." Some Christian theologians, feeling the bite of this argument, have opted to limit the doctrine of foreknowledge if not do away with it altogether, thus forming a new school of thought, similar to Socinianism and process theology, called open theism.


title: Free will in theology

text: Christians who were influenced by the teachings of Jacobus Arminius (such as Methodists) believe that while God is all-knowing and always knows what choices each person will make, he still gives them the ability to choose or not choose everything, regardless of whether there are any internal or external factors contributing to that choice.


title: Free will in theology

text: Like John Calvin, Arminius affirmed total depravity, but Arminius believed that only prevenient grace allowed people to choose salvation:


title: Free will in theology

text: Concerning grace and free will, this is what I teach according to the Scriptures and orthodox consent: Free will is unable to begin or to perfect any true and spiritual good, without grace... This grace ["prœvenit"] goes before, accompanies, and follows; it excites, assists, operates that we will, and co operates lest we will in vain.


title: Free will in theology

text: Prevenient grace is divine grace which precedes human decision. It exists prior to and without reference to anything humans may have done. As humans are corrupted by the effects of sin, prevenient grace allows persons to engage their God-given free will to choose the salvation offered by God in Jesus Christ or to reject that salvific offer. Methodist theology thus teaches:


title: Free will in theology

text: Thomas Jay Oord offers perhaps the most cogent free will theology presupposing prevenient grace. What he calls "essential kenosis" says God acts preveniently to give freedom/agency to all creatures. This gift comes from God's eternal essence, and is therefore necessary. God remains free in choosing how to love, but the fact that God loves and therefore gives freedom/agency to others is a necessary part of what it means to be divine.


title: Free will in theology

text: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"


title: Free will in theology

text: Here we see Jesus lamenting that He is unable to save Jerusalem as they are not willing. We see that whilst Jesus wants to save Jerusalem He respects their choice to continue on in sin despite His will that they be saved.


title: Free will in theology

text: Latter Day Saints believe that God has given all humans the gift of moral agency. Moral agency includes free will and agency. Proper exercise of unfettered choice leads to the ultimate goal of returning to God's presence. Having the choice to do right or wrong was important, because God wants a society of a certain type—those that comply with eternal laws. Before this Earth was created, this dispute over agency rose to the level that there was a "war in heaven." Lucifer (who favored no agency) and his followers were cast out of heaven for rebelling against God's will. Many Mormon leaders have also taught that the battle in Heaven over agency is now being carried out on earth, where dictators, influenced by Satan, fight against freedom (or free agency) in governments contrary to the will of God.


title: Free will in theology

text: Mormons also believe in a limited form of foreordination — not in deterministic, unalterable decrees, but rather in callings from God for individuals to perform specific missions in mortality. Those who are foreordained can reject the foreordination, either outright or by transgressing the laws of God and becoming unworthy to fulfill the call.


title: Free will in theology

text: The New Church, or Swedenborgianism, teaches that every person has complete freedom to choose heaven or hell. Emanuel Swedenborg, upon whose writings the New Church is founded, argued that if God is love itself, people must have free will. If God is love itself, then He desires no harm to come to anyone: and so it is impossible that he would predestine anyone to hell. On the other hand, if God is love itself, then He must love things outside of Himself; and if people do not have the freedom to choose evil, they are simply extensions of God, and He cannot love them as something outside of Himself. In addition, Swedenborg argues that if a person does not have free will to choose goodness and faith, then all of the commandments in the Bible to love God and the neighbor are worthless, since no one can choose to do them - and it is impossible that a God who is love itself and wisdom itself would give impossible commandments.


title: Free will in theology

text: As Hinduism is primarily a conglomerate of different religious traditions, there is no one accepted view on the concept of free will. Within the predominant schools of Hindu philosophy there are two main opinions. The Advaita (monistic) schools generally believe in a fate-based approach, and the Dvaita (dualistic) schools are proponents for the theory of free will. The different schools' understandings are based upon their conceptions of the nature of the supreme Being (see Brahman, Paramatma and Ishvara) and how the individual Self (atma or jiva) dictates, or is dictated by karma within the illusory existence of maya.


title: Free will in theology

text: In both Dvaita and Advaita schools, and also in the many other traditions within Hinduism, there is a strong belief in destiny and that both the past and future are known, or viewable, by certain saints or mystics as well as by the supreme being (Ishvara) in traditions where Ishvara is worshipped as an "all-knowing being". In the Bhagavad Gita, the Avatar, Krishna says to Arjuna:


title: Free will in theology

text: However, this belief in destiny is not necessarily believed to rule out the existence of free will, as in some cases both free will and destiny are believed to exist simultaneously.


title: Free will in theology

text: The six orthodox (astika) schools of thought in Hindu philosophy give differing opinions: In the Samkhya, for instance, matter is without any freedom, and Self lacks any ability to control the unfolding of matter. The only real freedom ("kaivalya") consists in realizing the ultimate separateness of matter and self. For the Yoga school, only Ishvara is truly free, and its freedom is also distinct from all feelings, thoughts, actions, or wills, and is thus not at all a freedom of will. The metaphysics of the Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools strongly suggest a belief in determinism, but do not seem to make explicit claims about determinism or free will.


title: Free will in theology

text: A quotation from Swami Vivekananda, a Vedantist, offers a good example of the worry about free will in the Hindu tradition.


title: Free will in theology

text: Therefore, we see at once that there cannot be any such thing as free-will; the very words are a contradiction, because will is what we know, and everything that we know is within our universe, and everything within our universe is moulded by conditions of time, space and causality. ... To acquire freedom we have to get beyond the limitations of this universe; it cannot be found here.


title: Free will in theology

text: However, Vivekananda's above quote can't be taken as a literal refutation of all free will, as Vivekanda's teacher, Ramakrishna Paramahansa used to teach that man is like a goat tied to a stake - the karmic debts and human nature bind him and the amount of free will he has is analogous to the amount of freedom the rope allows; as one progresses spiritually, the rope becomes longer.


title: Free will in theology

text: On the other hand, Mimamsa, Vedanta, and the more theistic versions of Hinduism such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism have often emphasized the importance of free will. For example, in the Bhagavad Gita the living beings (jivas) are described as being of a "higher nature" who have the freedom to exploit the inferior material nature (prakrti):


title: Free will in theology

text: Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.


title: Free will in theology

text: The doctrine of Karma in Hinduism requires both that we pay for our actions in the past, and that our actions in the present be free enough to allow us to deserve the future reward or punishment that we will receive for our present actions. The Advaitin philosopher Chandrashekhara Bharati Swaminah puts it this way:


title: Free will in theology

text: Fate is past karma, free-will is present karma. Both are really one, that is, karma, though they may differ in the matter of time. There can be no conflict when they are really one.


title: Free will in theology

text: Fate, as I told you, is the resultant of the past exercise of your free-will. By exercising your free-will in the past, you brought on the resultant fate. By exercising your free-will in the present, I want you to wipe out your past record if it hurts you, or to add to it if you find it enjoyable. In any case, whether for acquiring more happiness or for reducing misery, you have to exercise your free-will in the present.


title: Free will in theology

text: Disputes about free will in Islam began with the Mu'tazili vs Hanbali disputes, with the Mu'tazili arguing that humans had "qadar", the capacity to do right or wrong, and thus deserved the reward or punishment they received, whereas Hanbali insisted on God's "jabr", or total power and initiative in managing all events. Schools that developed around earlier thinkers such as Abu Hanifa and al-Ash'ari searched for ways to explain how both human "qadar" and divine "jabr" could be asserted at the same time. Ash'ari develops a "dual agency" or "acquisition" account of free will in which every human action has two distinct agents. God creates the possibility of a human action with his divine "jabr", but then the human follows through and "acquires" the act, making it theirs and taking responsibility for it using their human "qadar".


title: Free will in theology

text: The belief in free will (Hebrew: "bechirah chofshit" בחירה חפשית, "bechirah" בחירה) is axiomatic in Jewish thought, and is closely linked with the concept of reward and punishment, based on the Torah itself: "I [God] have set before you life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life" (Deuteronomy 30:19).


title: Free will in theology

text: Free will is therefore discussed at length in Jewish philosophy, firstly as regards God's purpose in creation, and secondly as regards the closely related, resultant, paradox. The topic is also often discussed in connection with Negative theology, Divine simplicity and Divine Providence, as well as Jewish principles of faith in general.


title: Free will in theology

text: According to the Mishnah, "This world is like a vestibule before the World to Come". According to an 18th century rabbinic work, "Man was created for the sole purpose of rejoicing in God, and deriving pleasure from the splendor of His Presence… The place where this joy may truly be derived is the World to Come, which was expressly created to provide for it; but the path to the object of our desires is this world..." Free will is thus required by God's justice, "otherwise, Man would not be given or denied good for actions over which he had no control".


title: Free will in theology

text: It is further understood that in order for Man to have true free choice, he must not only have inner free will, but also an environment in which a choice between obedience and disobedience exists. God thus created the world such that both good and evil can operate freely, this is the meaning of the rabbinic maxim, "All is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven".


title: Free will in theology

text: In rabbinic literature, there is much discussion as to the apparent contradiction between God's omniscience and free will. The representative view is that "Everything is foreseen; yet free will is given" ("Pirkei Avot" 3:15). Based on this understanding, the problem is formally described as a paradox, beyond our understanding.


title: Free will in theology

text: The paradox is explained, but not resolved, by observing that God exists outside of time, and therefore, his knowledge of the future is exactly the same as his knowledge of the past and present. Just as his knowledge of the past does not interfere with man's free will, neither does his knowledge of the future. This distinction, between foreknowledge and predestination, is in fact discussed by Abraham ibn Daud.


title: Free will in theology

text: One analogy here is that of time travel. The time traveller, having returned from the future, knows in advance what x will do, but while he knows what x will do, that knowledge does not cause x to do so: x had free will, even while the time traveller had foreknowledge. One objection raised against this analogy – and ibn Daud's distinction – is that if x truly has free will, he may choose to act otherwise when the event in question comes to pass, and therefore the time traveller (or God) merely has knowledge of a "possible" event: even having seen the event, there is no way to know with certainty what x will do; see the view of Gersonides below. Further, the presence of the time traveller, may have had some chaotic effect on x's circumstances and choice, absent when the event comes to pass in the present.)


title: Free will in theology

text: In line with this, the teaching from "Pirkei Avot" quoted above, can be read as: "Everything is "observed" (while - and no matter where - it happens), "and" (since the actor is unaware of being observed) free will is given".


title: Free will in theology

text: Although the above discussion of the paradox represents the majority rabbinic view, there are several major thinkers who resolve the issue by explicitly "excluding" human action from divine foreknowledge.


title: Free will in theology

text: Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner holds perhaps the most controversial view: apparently denying that man has free will, and that instead all is determined by God.


title: Free will in theology

text: The existence of free will, and the paradox above (as addressed by either approach), is closely linked to the concept of "Tzimtzum". "Tzimtzum" entails the idea that God "constricted" his infinite essence, to allow for the existence of a "conceptual space" in which a finite, independent world could exist. This "constriction" made free will possible, and hence the potential to earn the World to Come.


title: Free will in theology

text: Further, according to the first approach, it is understood that the Free-will Omniscience paradox provides a temporal parallel to the paradox inherent within "Tzimtzum". In granting free will, God has somehow "constricted" his foreknowledge, to allow for Man's independent action; He thus has foreknowledge and yet free will exists. In the case of "Tzimtzum", God has "constricted" his essence to allow for Man's independent existence; He is thus immanent and yet transcendent.


title: Giro d'Italia

text: The Giro d'Italia (; ; also known as the Giro) is an annual multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport", and the race is still run by a subsidiary of that paper's owner. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except during the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world. The Giro is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with some additional teams invited as 'wild cards'.


title: Giro d'Italia

text: The Giro is one of cycling's prestigious three-week-long Grand Tours, and after the "Tour de France" is the second most important stage race in the world (the Triple Crown of Cycling denotes the achievement of winning the Giro, the Tour and the UCI Road World Championships in the same season). The Giro is usually held during May, sometimes continuing into early June. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same, with at least two time trials, and a passage through the mountains of the Alps, including the Dolomites. Like the other Grand Tours, the modern editions of the Giro d'Italia normally consist of 21 stages over a 23- or 24-day period that includes two or three rest days.


title: Giro d'Italia

text: The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the general classification and wears the pink jersey. While the general classification gathers the most attention, stage wins are prestigious of themselves, and there are other contests held within the Giro: the points classification, the mountains classification for the climbers, young rider classification for the riders under the age of 25, and the team classification.


title: Giro d'Italia

text: The idea of the holding a bicycle race that navigated around Italy was inspired by the Tour de France and the success that "L'Auto" had gained from it. It was first suggested when "La Gazzetta dello Sport" editor Tullo Morgagni sent a telegram to the paper's owner, Emilio Costamagna, and cycling editor, Armando Cougnet, stating the need for an Italian tour. At the time "La Gazzetta"'s rival, "Corriere della Sera" was planning on holding a bicycle race of its own, after the success they had gained from holding an automobile race. Morgagni then decided to try and hold their race before "Corriere della Sera" could hold theirs, but "La Gazzetta" lacked the money. However, after the success "La Gazzetta" had with creating the Giro di Lombardia and Milan–San Remo, the owner Costamagna decided to go through with the idea. Their bike race was announced on 7 August 1908 in the first page of that day's edition of "La Gazzetta dello Sport". The race was to be held in May 1909.