In Christian circles, this debate has been going on for centuries. Both sides of the discussion bring plenty of Scripture references that prove, in their minds, that man does or does not have free-will. But neither side has ever brought in an argument from science….until now. Apparently a team of scientists was able to show that the brain has already made up its mind before the will even begins to think about the decision it has to make. From the article:

“The outcome of a decision is shaped very strongly by brain activity much earlier than the point in time when you feel to be making a decision.”

This was kind of a neat experiment. They put a few subjects in an MRI scanner and told them to randomly, whenever they felt like it, press a button in either their left or right hand. They scanned the areas of the brain that dealt with decision making and were able to form patterns and “predict” which button they were going to press with 60% accuracy up to 10 seconds before they actually pressed the button. So, I suppose anything better than 50% was good enough for them to say that the brain is working and affecting your will long before you feel like your will has kicked in and you make a decision and hence we don’t have free-will.

Fuel for Calvinists? Shame for Arminians? Not likely.