Notes and References
Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith
, 2nd rev. ed., p. 184-191 has a nice list of verses.John M. Frame, No Other God: A Response to Open Theism
John M. Frame, The Doctrine of God (A Theology of Lordship)
pp. 483ff. More good proof-texts."Omniscience," excerpted from Biblical Predestination
by Gordon H. ClarkThe importance of this Thesis will be seen when we deal with Romans 13, but we'll see the importance many times before we get there. See:
PredestinationOnline.com
Romans13.com
Predestination and American Liberty
Capitalism: Astonishing Providence
Calvin's America
Objections:
The primary objection to predestination is that it negates human free will.
There is no logical syllogism that can prove this; it's simply an emotional objection.
"Free will" is a term used by non-Calvinist laymen to speak of the human capacity to plan, reason, sing, forecast, make choices and decisions, engage in creative work analogous to God's creative work, and to exercise dominion over the earth. All of these human capacities are the result of man being created in the Image of God, not a result of God being unable to intervene in history, or unable to determine the outcome of history in advance, or unable to predestine all of these actions.
"Free will" is also a term used by philosophers to deny the sovereignty of God and affirm the autonomy of man. It leads to atheism.
Laymen are confused by the philosophers, and believe that the philosophers have proven that if God predestines, man is a "robot." There is no logical connection between "predestination" and "robot" -- the loss of the Image of God. If God predestined me to type every single letter than I am now typing, and you to read those words, I am still created in the Image of God. I am not a rock, robot, or rottweiler. God's predestination does not in any sense require that we are no longer created in the Image of God -- with the capacity to think, plan, program software, type sentences, and read them. It simply means that God predestined human beings to exist as His Image-Bearers, and to act accordingly.
"God predestined each one of us to be created in His Image."
There is nothing self-contradictory or non-rational about that sentence.
If we substitute "free will" for "created in the Image of God, we have:
"God predestined each one of us to have 'free-will.'"
And if we understand "free-will" to be "created in the Image of God, not like the plants and animals," the sentence is logical and Biblical.
Man can program computers and robots; they are less than man.
God can "program" human beings created in His Image; they are less than God but more than man's creations. Man can create robots, but man cannot create beings in the image of God. God can, and can do so while retaining full sovereignty over them, without destroying the Image of God in them.
Being created as rational creatures in the Image of God with dominion (which some speak of as "free will") has nothing to do with man being "free" (autonomous) from God, and God being powerless to exercise His Lordship over the creation, including man.
8 comments:
Predestination is certainly a biblical concept, but it takes on different meanings with the different Christian traditions. Catholics hold to a form of predestination which can be described as omniscience. God is outside of time and knows every decision that will ever be made by any human in history, but God does not decide for us. That would negate His own image within us, and it would make a mockery of His justice. If we cannot in some sense choose Hell, then God sending us there for eternity would be cruel.
We have free will, but God already knows how we will use it, and how our descendants will use it, and He's known this since the moment He set the universe in motion. Similarly, we must choose God's path, even if this choice is facilitated by God's unmerited grace. God continually reaches out his hand to us, regardless of our iniquities, and we must reach back to find salvation in Him.
If God knows how a person will "use his free will" (that is, how he will act), then either God predestined that action (because that's what God wanted that person to do) or some other greater force (Satan? "the universe"?) pushed God into creating that person even though God knew that that person would not do what God wanted that person to do.
If God determine all final destinations by His will alone then His justice is a sham and we are just marionettes in a grand play. He created us in His image that we might have the ability to choose to love Him. God wants all to be saved. How is it that not all are saved if this is His divine will, unless that He gave us the gift of free will?
"The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance." - 2 Peter 3:9
Is it God’s Will that Not a Single Human Being Perish? (2 Peter 3:9)
These are all just verses that confirm my point. God is wrathful to those who are wicked, not because He made them that way, but because they chose to be that way, in contradiction to His will that all should be saved. They utilized their free will, a free gift from God. You cannot deny the operation of free will in the world. If there is no free will, then why did Jesus spend so much time and effort building his Church and teaching His Gospel? Why the Great Commission to spread the Word and the Church all over the world? The whole New Testament is chock full of things we should and should not do. Why would Christ even bother informing us if we do not have free will to choose Him?
I deny "free will." I believe we are created in the Image of God, which is what makes our choices reasonable, and why every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that the Judge of all is fair. But "free will" means the ability to do something that catches God off-guard. God knew what we would do before we were created, before the foundation of the world, and He created us that way.
If your version of free will, just means that we cannot do anything to catch God off-guard then I don't think there is any disagreement between us on this issue. One potential point of issue that I can still see is whether you think God created evil people to be evil. I, aligned with the Catholic Church, believe that God is all good and only creates things that are good. Evil entered the world through disobedience from His creations, both angelic and anthropic.
God created Judas Iscariot to be evil (Mark 14:21), and Pilate to be not as evil, but still evil (John 19:11). https://PredestinationOnline.com/stage.htm
"God creates evil" (Isaiah 45:7). http://Romans13.com/sendevil.htm
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