Theological doctrines have always raised debates within their boundaries. The majority of believers often assimilate applied doctrines in various religions. However, there are alternative doctrines that are within a similar context. Predestination is a form of religious d Predestination teaches that God had one plan for eternity: bringing perfection through the world order of events.
On the other hand, the doctrine of free will is the power to decide what will be done in a certain situation. When God created humanity, He gave it free will so it could make its own choices according to its free will. Often it is considered that one’s free will is another result of choice regarding things. This paper will discuss an overview of various passages of scriptures relevant to predestination and free will, an overview and critique of the opposing views from other sources, the interpretation of the doctrines, and how it impacts the walk with Christ.
Predestination in Scripture
Old Testament
In the book of Isaiah, predestination is well defined. God’s sovereignty suggests that he is the cause of all things. According to Isaiah 46:10-11, God also says that his counsel will stand, implying that everything that happens is part of his divine plan.[1] Summoning a bird of prey and a man from a far country to fulfill his purpose shows his control over events and ability to use insignificant things to accomplish his plan. God is also predetermined to do his will, and nothing can stop him from coming to pass. This shows that what God has willed will come to pass nevertheless. It is, therefore, evident that every plan accomplished was declared from the beginning.
According to Psalms, God knew human beings before birth. God predetermines whether to save a believer, as He controls everything. Psalms 139: 16 says, “his eyes saw his substance before even being perfect.” [2]This shows that God has already predetermined the psalmist’s life before birth. However, God had a plan for each individual before even birth. It is also evident that God has foreknowledge of lives. God determines an individual’s life before birth.
In Proverbs, God creates human beings according to his purpose. This suggests that everything we do is, to a large extent, by God. For instance, Proverbs 16:4 says that God has created the wicked for the day of evil.[3] This shows that God has predetermined the destiny and purpose of everything, and even the wicked ultimately serve his greater purpose. God creating the wicked for the evil shows his sovereignty over everything, including destinies, and is the purpose of his plan. God determines human beings’ purpose.
New Testament
Romans 8 is the most well-known passage about predestination. Apostle Paul concluded that those in Christ Jesus have no fear of condemnation. For instance, In Romans 8:28-30, Paul says that for all who love God and are called according to His purpose, things will work together for good.[4] This shows that God uses the circumstances to work out the believers’ salvation plan. Thus, the presence of predestination in Romans.
The book of Ephesians refers to believers as predestined before the foundation of the word. It describes the spiritual blessings in Christ that God gives His believers. For example, in Ephesians 1: 4-5, Paul says that Lord’sLord’s choice was according to the purpose of his will to praise His glorious grace with which God has blessed people in the beloved.[5] Paul does not see the idea of God predestining people for salvation as a problem but considers it glorious. Before the foundation of the world, God had predestined His believers.
The book of 1st Peter is in consent with predestination. It suggests that election is according to the foreknowledge of God. For instance,1st Peter 1: 1-2 says, “according to the foreknowledge of God the father, in the sanctification of the spirit, for the obedience of Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood: may grace and peace be multiplied to you.”[6] Election involves the holy spirit’s revelation of the truth, God’s redemptive plan, and man’s obedience. Thus, the presence of predestination in 1st Peter.
Free Will in Scripture
Old Testament
The individual responsibility and authority to choose are well shown in Joshua. God does not force anyone to serve him but rather allows one to make a choice and exercise free will in choosing to follow him. Moreover, in Joshua 24:15, Joshua says that he and his house will serve the Lord. Humans have the authority to exercise their free will.[7] This suggests that humans should choose freely what they want to do. Thus, the evidence of free will in Joshua.
Deuteronomy 30 discusses more on free will. Decisions made freely have consequences. In Deuteronomy, humans can choose between life and death and between blessings and curses. This implies that free will is evident in the ability of humans to make choices and the responsibility that comes with those choices. Therefore, the presence of free will in the book of Deuteronomy.
The book of Ezekiel shows that God judges humans according to his ways. The call to acceptance suggests that humans can change bad behaviors and follow the God of an individual’s free will. Ezekiel 18: 30 says, “you Israelites I will judge you according to your own ways.”[8] This shows that the choices that humans make lead to ways of judgment. God saying that he does not take pleasure in the death of anyone suggests that God does not desire to judge people but rather desires humans to choose and turn away from sin. God will judge every human way.
New Testament
Free will is well present in the book of John. The Bible is empathetic about its teachings that human possesses free will. According to Christ, whether or not a person is willing to obey God affects the ability to learn the truth. For instance, John 7:17 says, “if anyone’s will be to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my authority.”[9] This shows that the human will to do the divine will is the condition of knowing it. However, a certain kind of willingness must precede, knowing that Christ is worthy of being received. Thus, the evidence of free will in John.
The book of Acts discusses free will extensively. God has invited everyone to call upon Him for the salvation of one’s free will. It is evident in Acts 2:21 that it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the LordLord shall be saved.[10] In brief, it assures people of salvation that anyone who calls the name of the Lord shall be saved. Thus, free will in Acts
Free will is greatly illustrated in the book of James. People who draw near to the Lord will be turned from all wicked ways and live for righteousness. For instance, James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.”[11] This shows that Satan’s greatest desire is to cause division among believers and damage the believer’s relationship with God. However, it is up to one’s will to follow Christ. Hence the demonstration of free will in James.
Literature on Predestination
Mohammad
Mohammad relates predestination as the last day. According to Daniel 4: 35, God acted to His own will, which no one can refuse [12]. In Isaiah 14:26-27, Mohammad says that everything that happens in the world is the plan of God.[13] . Moreover, health and peace are enjoyed through believing in God’s commandments and trusting in Him since God is able and wise to do what is best. By doing so, we acknowledge God with thankfulness in our ways. Furthermore, it says that human beings do not have the power to work for salvation but only through God’s grace. The essence of predestination is who believes the human will and others who believe the human will.
Rai
Rai argues that men were not predestined and that God would have granted enough help to rise from sin and be saved. Original sin is established as an effect of the reprobation of all men.[14] Rai adds that men would inevitably sin due to original sin since they naturally tend to sin.[15] In addition, every saved person is elected before the provision of his merits, but God knows whom he will save due to God’s prescience to the grace. However, God supplied everybody with sufficient help to accomplish good through grace and be saved. He considers predestined men chosen due to God’s prescience of good deeds.
Thomas Graff
Graff argues that the blesses of heaven are all unique fulfillments of God’s predestination. Since they love God fully while admitting an abiding ignorance of his predestining will concerning the elect.[16] Further questions God’s justice of not equally distributing grace by electing one and rejecting the other[17]. God is somehow to comprehend from a non-contingent point of view since, by doing so is attempting to step outside of one created existence. Thus, fundamentally misplace humanity’s relationship to divinity as God causes everything. Therefore, predestination is not a theological difficulty but a conceptual absurdity.
Peter Addai- Mensah
Peter argues that predestination does not live room free will and good works. However, it is the exercise of divine sovereignty in accomplishing God’s purpose with those being predestined as the elected for salvation.[18] Since God intends to save, God offers grace given the original sin that has corrupted and tainted the original state of humans. Furthermore, all are not created on equal terms as some are preordained to eternal life while others to eternal damnation, contradicting God’s preordination for his glory.[19] He sees that God brings some specific people into eternal communion with himself.
Garret Peters
Garret sees predestination as foreknowledge and the preparation of God’s kindness delivered to whomever it belongs. In addition, considering that God knows that he does not do specifically by predestination, God prepares the elect for the grace of salvation.[20] However, God gratuitously prepares the wills of the elect such that one will know what is good.[21] hence salvation must, therefore, necessarily be accomplished. God predestines the elect to be infallibly brought to the salvation of which is gratuitous and previous to foresee merits leaving those not elect in the mass of ruin. Because of God’s will, some things are better than others.
Literature on Free Will
Derk Pereboom
A prominent philosopher, Derk Pereboom, articulates living without free will. Pereboom argues that determinism is false and that factors beyond control produce all the actions performed; hence, they are not morally responsible.[22] For instance, he says action is free, in a sense, required for moral responsibility only if a deterministic process does not produce it.[23] Some people believe that prior events and the laws of nature completely cause every physical activity. Thus, the idea of Derk to live without free will.
Robert Kane
Robert Kane believes that freedom is based on certain rare and exceptional events conceived as things. According to Kane, there is no guarantee that an event will occur; if it does not, the individual does not have free will.[24] He agrees that freedom of action is necessary for an agent but is not enough to possess free will.[25] Nevertheless, people believe that a free will is an object of freedom. Exceptional events, therefore, bring freedom.
George Karamanolis
George Karamanolis, a philosopher, argues that if one believes everything is predetermined, the value of such categories as good and evil is devalued. He says that God created all humans with the same nature and with the free will to choose either good or ill for themselves.[26] In addition, humans possess a single nature that God created in his likeness, which involves freedom as an essential element.[27] However, many believe that prior events and the laws of nature completely cause free will.
Steven Cowan
Steven Cowan claims that free will can offer a satisfactory explanation for the sinlessness of the redeemed in heaven. This is because free will is a necessary condition of certain moral goods that justify the existence of the moral evil that will occur if it exists.[28] For instance, Cowan agrees that freedom of action is necessary for an agent but is not enough to possess free will.[29] Contrary, some philosophers believe that free will undermines defense against the problem of evil. Thus, free will is an explanation for the sinlessness of Cowan.
Antony Kauders
Antony Kuders believes it is not about self-legislation from the moment one is born but about self-legislation when one feels it necessary. He adds that human beings are condemned to choose an action, and choosing not to act makes not acting a kind of action.[30] For instance, Kauders argues that it is not about all single events in a lifetime but about the possibility of an open future with forking paths.[31] Contrary, some do not believe in free will.
Personal Belief on Predestination and Free Will
Predestination and free will are two different theological concepts. However, most people believe in doing whatever they want without being influenced by anything. This view does not seem realistic as the only thing that counts is the mercy of God, not what human beings want or try to do. Ephesians says that God chooses us from the beginning under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by His will.[32]Predestination is based on the belief that God is omnipotent and nothing can happen without Him willing about it.[33] We have the freedom to choose football or basketball, but our eternal life is in the hands of God.
CONCLUSION
The views on predestination and free will as sound doctrine varies among religious and philosophical traditions. In some denominations, predestination is their main belief. According to Calvinism, predestination can be seen as a way to reconcile God’s sovereignty with human free will, as it is believed that God’s sovereign plans include humans’ free choices. On the other hand, other denominations reject predestination and uphold free will since they believe that humans have free will to choose their destiny and that God’s plan allows this free will. In non-Christian religions, predestination is not as prevalent, and free will often see as a fundamental aspect of human existence. In philosophy, there are also differing views on the compatibility of predestination and free will, as others argue that both concepts are mutually exclusive. In contrast, others suggest that they can coexist. In conclusion, views on predestination and free will as sound doctrine depend on one’s religious or philosophical beliefs and interpretation of religious texts and teachings.
Bibliography
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[1] Isaiah 46:10-11
[2] Psalms 139:16
[3] Proverbs 16: 4
[4] Romans 8:4-5
[5] Ephesians 1:4-5
[6] 1st Peter 1:1-2
[7] Joshua 24:15
[8] Ezekiel 18:30
[9] John 7:17
[10] Acts 2:21
[11] James 4:8
[12] Daniel 4:35
[13] Isaiah 14:26-27
[14] Rai, Eleonora. “Ex Meritis Praevisis: Predestination, Grace, and Free Will in intra-Jesuit
Controversies (1587-1613).” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 7, no. 1 (2020): 111
–150. https://doi.org/10.1515/jemc-2020-2021
[15] Ibid
[16] Graff, Thomas. “Predestination in Dante’s Commedia in Light of Augustine.” Literature and
Theology 35, no. 2 (2021): 178–197. https://doi.org/10.1093/litthe/fraa033
[17] Ibid
[18] Addai-Mensah, Peter. “A Discussion on Augustine’s Notion of Predestination and its Later Interpretation in Salvation History.” Journal of Philosophy, Culture, and Religion 3, no. 1 (2020): 21–27. https://doi.org/10.47604/jpcr.1109
[19] ibid
[20] Peters, Garrett. “St. Thomas Aquinas on Predestination: A Philosophical Examination.” 2021.
[21] Ibid
[22] Pereboom, Derk. Free will. Cambridge University Press, 2022.
[23] Ibid.,
[24] Kane, Robert. “The complex tapestry of free will: striving will, indeterminism, and volitional streams.” Synthese 196 (2019): 145–160.
[25] Ibid.,3
[26] Karamanolis, George. “Early Christian Philosophers on Free Will.” In Fate, Providence, and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, pp. 211–230. Brill, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004436381_014
[27] Ibid
[28] Cowan, Steven B. “Let’s Play GOLF! Alternatively, the Free Will Defense Is Dead.” TheoLogica: An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology 5, no. 2 (2021): 178–193. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6023-5421
[29] Ibid
[30]Kauders, Anthony D. “Agency, Free Will, Self-Constitution: New Concepts for Historians of German-Jewish History between 1914 and 1938?.” The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book 66 (2021): 40–57.
[31] Ibid
[32] Jung, Elżbieta, and Monika Michałowska, eds. Richard Kilvington talks to Thomas Bradwardine about future contingents, free will, and predestination: a critical edition of Question 4 from Quaestiones super libros Sententiarum. Brill, 2022.
[33] King Jr, John B. “A Trinitarian Metaphysics of Predestination and Human Freedom.” Theology and Science 18, no. 3 (2020): 383–390. https://doi.org/10.1080/14746700.2020.1786217
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