Terryl Givens, an author and esteemed voice on agency within Mormonism, returns to delve into the profound concepts of free will and agency from his new book. He challenges the notion of predetermined choices versus true agency, discussing how community influences our personal decisions. The conversation navigates the delicate balance between obedience to divine authority and individual freedom, while also contemplating the dangers of idolatry in faith. Givens shares insights on creating a loving relationship with God that honors both personal conviction and communal ties.
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Free Will vs. Determinism
Libertarian free will is the most optimistic view of human agency, saying we could have acted differently.
Hard determinism argues everything is predetermined by cause and effect, opposing free will.
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Early Christianity and Compatibilism
Early Christianity emphasized free will, appealing to those marginalized in Roman society.
Augustine's compatibilism distorted free will by arguing we are free to sin but not do good.
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Changing Our Will
We can change our desires by aspiring to something better, actively shaping our will.
This process of changing our will is similar to repentance, positing a future, better self.
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In 'Free Will,' Sam Harris argues that the concept of free will is inherently flawed and incoherent. He contends that our thoughts, intentions, and actions are determined by prior causes outside our conscious control, whether these causes are deterministic or the result of chance. Harris uses examples such as the Cheshire murders to illustrate how even heinous crimes can be seen as the product of uncontrollable experiences and neurological mechanisms, rather than free will. The book challenges readers to reconsider their views on morality, law, and personal responsibility in light of this understanding[2][4][5].
The Righteous Mind
Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
Jonathan Haidt
In this book, Jonathan Haidt draws on twenty-five years of research on moral psychology to explain why people's moral judgments are driven by intuition rather than reason. He introduces the Moral Foundations Theory, which posits that human morality is based on six foundations: care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation, and liberty/oppression. Haidt argues that liberals tend to focus on the care/harm and fairness/cheating foundations, while conservatives draw on all six. The book also explores how morality binds and blinds people, leading to social cohesion but also to conflicts. Haidt aims to promote understanding and civility by highlighting the commonalities and differences in moral intuitions across political spectra.
What is Obedience?
What is Obedience?
Timothy Radcliffe
The Book on Agency
The Book on Agency
Jonathan Rauch
This week, we are thrilled to welcome back Terryl Givens—one of our all-time favorite guests and collaborators and someone we always have a running list of topics for. This time, we’re finally diving deep into the topic of agency and free will: it’s something that has come up in many of our past conversations but never had its own dedicated discussion.
Terryl’s new book, Agency, is part of the Maxwell Institute’s Doctrine & Covenants theological series, and it explores some of the most profound and challenging questions about what it truly means to have agency. For centuries, theologians and philosophers have debated whether free will truly exists or if what we call agency is merely an illusion— our choices predetermined by the unfolding of the universe, or so shaped by our biology and past that we don't have real choice. Terryl’s work in this book finds that Mormonism has some compelling and unique insights on that central question, and explores some others: what role does community and authority play in expanding—or limiting—our agency? And how do we navigate the tension between obedience and authentic personal choice?
In this conversation, we explore the dangers of turning scripture or prophets into idols, how our perception of God can sometimes become so skewed that it’s actually a “false God,” and why Terryl doesn’t believe that we’ll ever be judged based on our beliefs alone. We also get into some fascinating intersections between agency, neuropsychology, philosophy, and even Darwinian evolution.
This discussion left us with so much to think about, and we hope it does the same for you. So with that, let’s dive in!
Faith Matters 
