# Determinism and Christianity (i.e., the arguments over "predestination")

The predestination debate is built more from classical Greek philosophy than anything in Scripture.

- It asks the wrong questions, and becomes a pointless contention.
- However, due to our [feelings](mind-feelings.md) about the [injustices](morality-justice.md) we've experienced, people often visit this particular issue.

## The predestination paradox summarized

There is a specific [paradox](philosophy-paradoxes.md) every Christian must eventually reconcile. It comes from believing several clear axioms:

1. God knows absolutely everything and is in control of absolutely everything.
2. Mankind makes sinful decisions against God's desires.
3. God is also good, and doesn't want evil to prosper.

This reconciles along a few domains.

- The way we understand God's scope of understanding and decision-making determines God's capacity to make decisions regarding salvation.

## Defining components

Starting with the early Catholic scholars, there has been one singular question: does man achieve salvation through God's divine influence, or does an individual make the conscious and completely self-driven choice to choose God.

- To some degree, we are compelled by moral imperative and the Holy Spirit to [believe in His sacrifice](https://theologos.site/gospel/).
- It is a deductive reality that God has to have some influence in the matter (i.e., Romans 1, among others).
- It is also a deductive reality that God can't have *complete* influence in the matter, since that would take away our agency entirely.

On one end, Bible verses show how God has set up everything into a plan, even evil people who will go to hell ([Proverbs 16:4](https://biblehub.com/proverbs/16-4.htm), [Romans 9:11](https://biblehub.com/romans/9-11.htm)).

- God has also called an elect to serve Him ([Romans 8:28-30](https://biblehub.com/romans/8.htm), [Ephesians 1:4-6](https://biblehub.com/ephesians/1.htm)).

At the same time, God sent His Son to save the *entire* world ([John 3:16](https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm)).

We must philosophically reconcile that God knows everything and that we can make independent [decisions](mind-decisions.md).

- Calvinism - God has complete knowledge of absolutely everything, and we have no free will.
- Arminianism - God has limited knowledge, and we have total free will.
- Molinism - God has complete knowledge, including of alternate realities, but people can still freely accept or reject it.

While all views are fine (since we can't really know for sure), we certainly must never lean into total Calvinism or total Arminianism.

- The early church (e.g., Origen) believed the philosophical debates were ridiculous when they abolished the concept of free will.
- On the other hand, to indicate that our wills are fully beyond God's knowledge or power is absolutely against [what we know about God](theology-god.md).

## Christians' journey through the issue

Every growing Christian will swing back and forth on their views of free will.

- People who believe humans have no free will usually have a severely undervalued sense of [humanity's worth](theology-godandman-humanity.md).
- People who believe God doesn't know ahead of time invalidate Scripture.

Two extreme denominational camps have formed around both extremes.

- Many Reformed Christians lean into complete determinism, starting with the fandom around John Calvin.
  - The assertion essentially dictates that man is such a lowly and pathetic individual that they are incapable of all moral goodness whatsoever (i.e., Kantian ethics), and the only goodness they could ever have comes straight from God Himself.
  - Their attitude betrays their error, since Paul demonstrates a type of boldness that certainly comes from something more naturally-occurring than simply being a "puppet" of God's design.
- Sometime around [the Progressive Era](https://gainedin.site/here-america/), John Wesley asserted an opposite stance: that everyone makes their choice of their own will.
  - The idea is that we are the deciders of our fate, and God can only work around it. It's by His choice (obviously), but He makes it a hard and fast rule.
  - Their attitude betrays their error as well, since their boldness often leads to false doctrine of many varieties.
  - They are also theologically in error, since God *does* work on people's hearts without their consent (e.g., hardening Pharaoh's heart against Moses).

However, there is one clear answer most mature Christians will land on in some way.

- We must accept the strange paradox that [God is three *persons*](theology-god.md).
- Pretty soon, most believers will understand God has [more than one will](god-will.md).
- At some point, believers will [understand](understanding.md) (or at least [sense](mind-feelings.md)) that each person of God has a different perspective (e.g., John 6:38-46, Matthew 24:36).
- Finally, they'll conclude that it's entirely possible for God to both know everything and *not* know everything at the same time.