Here is a piece of critical conversation during the Kent Debate that exposes the cause of Kent's maddening double-talk on the topic of human free will:

KENT: You can't explain any of this without resorting to absolute versus relative.
ZENDER: If you understood absolute versus relative, we wouldn't be here.

In one portion of Scripture, God said that He would harden Pharaoh's heart. In a nearby portion, Scripture says that "Pharaoh hardened his heart." How are both of these things possible at the same time? Easy.