Yekke: “The answer to my question is, I think, that however literally you take this concept of continual creation, it is my koach shooting the arrow. It isn’t a different arrow, it is not a different victim, and it is my momentum propelling the arrow forth. If that isn’t paradoxical, however, i don’t know what is!”
Which I think is the same thing that I said when I wrote:
“But actually, I don’t understand your question altogether. Even without my answer, and even if you want to say that you are being punished for the effect of your actions and not the bechira involved, what difference would it make if it’s the same arrow or not? Either way, it was your original action that led to its being there, so who cares if it’s the same arrow?”
I don’t see why it’s a paradox, though. I think it goes back to the same idea that when we do anything, we are not really the ones who are causing the result – it is always Hashem who determines what will happen. Even if we didn’t know about the concept that Hashem is continually recreating the world, we would still say that it is not my “koach” in shooting the arrow, but Hashem who did it. Granted, the Beis Din shel Matteh would not be able to say that, but that is not what I am referring to.
However, knowing this concept (that Hashem is continually recreating the world) helps us to see this concept more clearly.