Is the deterministic universe described by physics incompatible with free will or god existance?

The question (cue brooding music):
Is the deterministic universe described by physics incompatible with free will and/or the existance of a god? Discuss.

You should discuss you own ideas, as well a those of Descartes.
Here's what I've come up with so far. What do you think?

The Quantum Deity
The existence of free will has been debated heavily by scholars and the fate of God's existence has always rested on one side of the debate. The idea of determinism has rejuvenated this debate and given it a new course that could possibly quench free will forever. Determinism, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is "the doctrine that all events and actions are determined by external forces acting on the will." In other words, all states of affairs, both physical and mental, are determined by their causes and can be described purely by scientific law. Although determinism ordains that all physical processes and actions can be predicted using past and present knowledge, the theory is compatible with the existence of God because of two reasons; Firstly, determinism does not apply to both large scale and quantum scale processes and therefore does not exclude the existence of small scale free will. Secondly, an observer's mere existence makes it impossible to actually predict the future.

And by brooding I meant gloomy.

Greetings!

Yes, I caught your gloomy mood, lol. I'll play some sprightly Bach while I answer you ... ;-))

"the theory is compatible with the existence of God because of two reasons;" - It would sound a bit more elegant to say "for two reasons" instead of "because of." Also, use a colon [:] instead of a semicolon here and do not capitalize the first letter of the word following the colon.

"Firstly, determinism does not apply to both large scale and quantum scale processes and therefore does not exclude the existence of small scale free will." - Is the non-applicability of determinism to quantum scale processes an accepted view, or is this your own interpretation? It would be best to make this clear. Do you need to define "quantum scale" for people like me who might not be sure what you meant, or is this such a well-known term in the field that you feel it is unnecessary? Just something to think about.

"Secondly, an observer's mere existence makes it impossible to actually predict the future." - Solely on the basis of what you have written thus far, this assertion does not follow logically to me. However, if you are about to go on and explain why an observer's mere existence makes it impossible to predict the future, then it's fine.

The language and subject matter of the assignment are rather weighty, but I think you're off to a great start!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com

Thanks for the response Sarah.
Unfortunately I couldn't incorporate your comments into my essay in time. Thanks for the response though, it'll improve my writing anyways.

You're welcome! Sorry I couldn't get to you sooner; we try to respond within 24 hours. I'd be happy to take a look at your next assignment when it's ready!

Sarah, EssayForum.com