Predestination
Predestination, in the dictionary, is said to be "the doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation." Scripture has 2 very good passages for defining what predestination is: Jeremiah 1:5 which says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God is talking about Jeremiah in this passage and how God chose him before time; he was predestined for his job. Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called them he also justified: and whom he justified them he also glorified." This passage speaks about God's ultimate omniscience concerning our predestination and how we would react to the message of God's Word.
The Reformed churches believe in a different kind of predestination called "double predestination," which says that God not only determines the salvation of the elect, but also the damnation of the reprobate. For example, it seems interesting that Rev. Herman Hoeksema (Reform Church) would chose II Timothy 2:19 to base his belief in this double predestination. This passage only says that God knows who are his and that those who are his shall depart from iniquity, it doesn't say anything about the rest of the world being chosen to be damned. From this passage he speaks of a purposeful divide among our race that causes a constant matter of suff...
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... would be saved and who would reject him, he knew the answer to that before time even began. So God predestined believers to be more like Christ. The most compelling evidence that there is no double predestination is John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." For if God loved the whole world that means he loved everyone, not everyone but you, but everyone. God continues to try to help us accept the word, even though his foresight tells him that it is a lost cause, because of his great love and grace that he shows for us.
So in answer to the question are some predestined to be damned there can only be one right answer, no. God did not predestine anyone to be damned but it was of their own free will that they rejected Jesus as their savior and are subsequently damned.
“He has finally learned to love big brother” was how George Orwell in his novel 1984 described Winston, conversion to the party are represented by big brother at the end of the novel. It is easy to believe that at this instance, after torturous reeducation that Winston has endured, he has lost free will and no longer be able to freely choose to love big brother but was forced to, against hiss will. Therefore Winston was never free to love big brother, and in fact not free at all after his “reeducation.” But if we are to accept a definition of free will that stipulates that we are able to produce and act on our own volitions we must accept that Winston has retained and has chosen to love big brother out of his own free will.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17
This is proven by the storyline of Oedipus’ childhood, King Laius’ death, and Oedipus’ arrival to Thebes where he marries Jocasta. Perhaps, every human being has a sense of “free will,” but will the decisions each individual makes lead him or her to a destination already
Free will defines the role we play in our own lives. Whether we have it or not maybe the key in linking our world to forces and dimensions beyond what we can see. But, if we do really have free will, it may leave us a solitary species. A scary thought in the realm of the 46 billion lightyear universe in which we are left to make choices on our tiny speck of dirt planet.
Free-will, the ability one has to act without the constraint of necessity or fate. It the power a person has to act at one’s discretion. Do we really have the freedom to experience what we want, when we choose? Some would say yes while some others will say no, philosophers have argued about this topic and there hasn’t been any particular conclusion yet. It is the ability a person or animal has to choose his or her course of actions. Although most philosophers suppose that the concept of free-will is very closely connected to the concept of moral responsibility.
On the issue of predestination Wesley held that “God has decreed that those who believe will be saved; those who do not believe will not be saved” (p. 174, Abraham). Wesley went ever farther in the “God makes the decree, but the decree does not exclude genuine human agency and freedom; indeed, it builds the exercise of such freedom into the very content of the decree” (p. 174, Abraham). He held that if one would come to God that they should have no doubts about their salvation. God has a drive for our salvation but it is an active choice that we must make, even those God knows what the decision will be from the very beginning.
... also lacks Biblical support. The Bible says in Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” John 5:24 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” They are many more scripture that clearly explains that salvation is only through Jesus. The believer is asked to believe and have faith in Jesus Christ.
The problem of free will and determinism is a mystery about what human beings are able to do. The best way to describe it is to think of the alternatives taken into consideration when someone is deciding what to do, as being parts of various “alternative features” (Van-Inwagen). Robert Kane argues for a new version of libertarianism with an indeterminist element. He believes that deeper freedom is not an illusion. Derk Pereboom takes an agnostic approach about causal determinism and sees himself as a hard incompatibilist. I will argue against Kane and for Pereboom, because I believe that Kane struggles to present an argument that is compatible with the latest scientific views of the world.
Bhagavad Gita, a follower of Hinduism, wrote that "You have control over doing your respective duty only, but no control or claim over the results. The fruits of work should not be your motive, and you should never be inactive." Now, every religion has different beliefs. Some types of Christianity believe in predestination, but other forms of Christianity contradict this belief because they believe that god created them to be able to act with free will. Like Bhagavad Gita, some people might say that even though you are able to make a decision ...
The definition of Predestination is, “the belief that everything that will happen has already been decided by God or fate and cannot be changed.” Ephesians 1:11-12; “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory”. In Christ the journey of predestination is capable of being fulfilled, without Christ a path of destruction inevitable. In discussing predestination we must realize that Christ is the center and the focus for our purpose. However, God has given humanity the free will to choose good or evil, God sets before us two choices life or death, God’s way or the wrong way. James 1:14-15, But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15 then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. When discussing predestination we must observe It from a spiritual view, it is not something we can reason with, because the price of sin is so
Predestination: the doctrine of the Bible, says that God has a purpose and He is working all things out according to His own will and purpose. Predestination teaches that God neither does nor permits anything except what serves. His purpose, this means that GOD IS the SELF-GOVERNING of the world, the one who does all things as he wills. (Houdmann.2013)
The scientific approach seeks the immediate cause of an event to what led to what. Scientist assume this as determinism, the idea that everything happens has a cause or determent that one could observe or measure. This view is an assumption, not an established fact but the success of scientific research attests to its value. Does it apply to human behavior? After all we are part of the physical world and our brains are made of chemicals. According to the determinist assumptions, everything we do has causes. This view seems to conflict with the impression all of us have that “I” am the one who makes the decisions about my actions like what to eat or what to buy; I am in doubt right up to the last second. The decision could have gone either way which I wasn’t controlled by anything and no one could have predicted what I would do. The belief that behaviors is caused by a person's independent decision is known as free will.
The unique ability that each and every individual possesses that enable him/her to control their actions is known as free will. Free will is directly connected to two other vital philosophical issues: freedom of action and moral accountability, which is the main reason why the debate is so vital. Simply stated, a person who has free will refers to an individual’s ability to choose his or her route of action. However, animals also appear to suit this measure, further adding to the debate because free will is typically thought to only be possessed by human beings (Broad 1990).
Most Christians bank of the vagueness of free will, then end the conversation there. However, there are other groups like the Calvinists who believe, quite logically and illogically at the same time, that God does choose everyone's destinies for them, and whether or not people go to heaven or hell is chosen by God. Now, this is logical, as if God was the "causer" behind the universe, then it stands to reason that the things that happen in the universe that he causes are, well, caused by him. The issue is that God in this circumstance is an irrational psychopath who just arbitrarily decides where to sprinkle evil and who to needlessly burn for eternity. It's like some psychopaths who wanted to call themselves Christian but understood the logical problems with the "problem of evil" issue just decided to embrace it and worship an arbitrary murderer. As for the Islamic view, there are two main perspectives covered in this section. First, there are the Mu'tazilites who basically view causation as being partly God's and partly man's doing. Basically, God's will creates the conditions in which our wills operate, and fate is sort of a joint effort between God and man. As for the other group, the Ash'arites, they view destinies as being crafted by God and offered to people, and people can choose different destinies by either following God or rejecting
We sin every day whether it is intentionally or not. As a Christian, I was raised that the first sin was committed by Eve after eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:2-3 NIV). God had said to Adam and Eve not to eat from that tree but they had disobeyed. This original sin would affect the future of mankind. Now because of this sin, there is a wrong and there is a right. Due to actions of Adam and Eve, we would need a Savior. (Genesis 3:15) (Chittick Dr. Donald 2006) All over the bible there are laws that we would have to abide to be able to be right with God. Some of the laws that God had put in place were the Ten Commandment (Exodus 20:1-17 NIV). If you obey them, you were morally right and if you disobeyed them you were immoral. The bible talks about the relationship that a husband and a wife should have (Ephesians 5:22-33 NIV) (Hebrews 13:4 NIV). The Bible says how I should treat people regardless if I know them or not; like them or not. (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). (1 Peter 3:8-12 NIV) (Cole 2013) (Bilingual Bible New Edition n.d.) talks about how to live “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind”. These are behaviors that God wants us to show because many of these behaviors you can’t exclude and live righteously. These behaviors would allow me to be close to God. However, I need Jesus to be able to able to be Saved. My acts alone will not get me to