Is God's will for all people predestined?

score:1

Accepted answer

Without a specific definition of "predestined", this is a very vague question.

Consider this analogy:

A herd of dairy cattle are grazing in the field.

  • The farmer knows that in three hours they will all have made their way back to the barn for their evening milking.
  • The farmer knows that next week, three specific members of that herd will be bred to produce calves for next season.
  • The farmer knows that within the next few months, two specific members of the herd will be sold off because their productivity is ending.

Suppose all of those things happen.

  • Did the cattle have any choice about going to the barn for milking?
  • Did the farmer know (or care) which order the cattle arrived at the barn?

Were the lives of those cattle "predestined"?

  • Most of the cattle did what they wanted, when they wanted to.
  • Some individuals were forced, beyond their control, to be bred or to become dog food.
  • Did the farmer's plans interfere with the free will of the cattle (e.g. which clump of grass to eat next)?

We can see that God does have a plan for everyone:

  • Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. — Ezekiel 18:23
  • [God] wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. — 1 Timothy 2:4
  • He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9

And he has plans for individuals:

  • For many are called, but few are chosen. — Matthew 22:14
  • Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the LORD has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” — 1 Samuel 10:24
  • … I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the LORD, for I have chosen you. — Haggai 2:23

But to what extent do God's plans interfere with people's free will in the small details of their personal plans or day to day activities?

Upvote:1

Here's an answer from a Molinist perspective.

TL;DR - Yes, all men are predestined, but our free will shaped God's plan, rather than God coming up with a plan then making everyone follow it.

Let's start by A: defining what we mean by God's plan, and B: presupposing that God has granted man libertarian free will. For A, I'll use the most "sovereign" definition: God's plan includes every single detail of how the universe will play out, down to the most insignificant human choice and the smallest movement of a subatomic particle.

Now, if God decided to give us free will, that actually heavily restricts the possible plans He could put into place. For example, He could not create a universe in which I freely choose to eat Brussels sprouts for breakfast tomorrow; I would have to be coerced in some way, or my free will removed.

Next, let's look at a particular example, and say hypothetically that God has planned for you to buy a [insert phone model here] as your next phone. This does not mean that God decided for you what phone you were going to buy and then placed those thoughts in your head or overrode your desires to want that phone. In some cases like this, it simply means that He created this world knowing that you were freely going to choose to buy that phone. So in small matters like this, while our actions are a part of God's plan, it's more like they were included rather than jammed in.

However, we might then look at a more significant event; our friend being saved or not. You could very easily argue that the "default" state of any human is damnation, and that without intervention, even if that intervention is simply hearing the Gospel, everyone will go to hell. So how might God intervene to save someone who would otherwise be damned, without breaking their free will?

Let's take a guy named Bob. Bob is agnostic, but has a Christian friend who invites him to church one Sunday. Now, God knows everything about Bob, including what he will freely choose to do given any given set of circumstances (this is not determinism, which posits a causal link between said circumstances and the choices one makes). Specifically, we could say God knows that if it rains on this particular Sunday, Bob will freely choose to accept his friends invitation to church, where he will hear the gospel and be saved. Conversely, if it is sunny then Bob will go watch the footy, never think twice about church and die an unsaved sinner.

Now God can choose whether Bob is saved or not, simply by making it rain or be sunny. If God makes it rain, He is not forcing Bob to go to church; there is nothing determinative about weather. It is simply what Bob would freely do, just as he would freely ignore church if it was sunny.

More post

Search Posts

Related post