Free Will Quiz

The paradox of human free will and God's infinite knowledge and power has troubled Jewish thinkers at every point in Jewish history. How much do you know about this debate?

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Question 1. Which of these problems concerned medieval philosophers?
 How to reconcile free will and divine providence
 How to reconcile free will and divine foreknowledge
 How to ensure that human beings experience the feeling of freedom
 A & B only
 All of the above

 

Question 2. Many kabbalists believe that God's providence does not extend to which of the following?
 Animals
 Tzaddikim
 Hasidic Jews
 People who do not study Kabbalah

 

Question 3. True or false: In antiquity, the different sects in Israel (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes) all agreed about fate and determinism.
 True
 False

 

Question 4. How does Maimonides deal with the problem of free choice?
 By embracing the idea that man has free will, but that God has foreknowledge with what each person will choose
 By rejecting the concept outright
 By saying that God rejects free will, but God wants human beings to believe that it exists
 All of these
 None of these

 

Question 5. What does the term hashgahah mean?
 Predetermination
 Divine providence
 Free Will
 Godliness

 

Question 6. What does the Apocryphal writer Ben Sira believe about predetermination?
 That God has predetermined human character from birth
 That humanity is divided into two antithetical groups, the godly and the sinners
 That human beings are free to choose their individual life paths and must not blame God for their transgressions
 All of these
 None of these

 

Question 7. Who said that "everything is foreseen [by God], yet man has the capacity to choose freely"?
 Josephus
 Rabbi Akiba
 Shimon bar Yohai
 Hanina ben Hama

 

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