Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: coatta@cs.ubc.ca (Terry Coatta) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Predestination Message-ID: Date: 27 Nov 89 02:47:40 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 49 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu OFM writes: >Generally those who do not believe in predestination acknowledge that >God is able to predict who will respond to his attempts at persuasion. >He knows that if this and that happens to a person, and if the Holy >Spirit speaks to him in just this way, how he will respond. I don't >necessarily mean to imply any specific kind of determinism in human >affairs. But I think that one way or another, Christians normally >assume that God knows what is going to happen. I am curious as to the degree to which this assumption is ``normal'' amongst Christians. I do not believe in predestination. The only manner in which I have been able to reconcile my belief in free will with God's omniscience is to assume that God willfully suppresses this omniscience. I think that the primary question with respect to predestination is the nature of human decisions. Those who believe in free will, it seems to me, have a desire to know that the decisions which they make are independent of the will of any other being, including God. If God did not limit his omniscience the he would know, in perfect detail, every aspect of each of his creations. Indeed, God would be the author of every decision, action, and thought of that being, because at the moment of creation he would aware of, and controlling the creation of all aspects of that being. In effect, omniscience means that when God creates a being he effectively creates the whole sequence of its life. The will is all God's. By willfully restricting his omniscience, God permits us to act independently of him. Another pertinent question is why the concept of free will is considered important. Perhaps there is the appearance of arrogance, the desire to declare independence from God. I think this is an unfortunate (and uncharitable) viewpoint. The question of free will is simply the question of the nature of ``being'' in another guise. God created us in his image. What does this mean? In what sense is the word ``image'' being used? The notion that God is somehow physically similar to me seems unlikely. Yet the existence of passage from scripture indicating that I was created in God's image suggests that God considered it important for me to know that I am, in some fundamental aspect, similar to him. God is essential being, an eternally existent will. I believe that, through the gift of creation, God has given me being -- the ability to exercise my will. My belief in free will then, is simply my belief that God has shared the nature of his being with us. Terry Coatta Dept. of Computer Science, UBC, Vancouver BC, Canada coatta@grads.cs.ubc.ca `What I lack in intelligence, I more than compensate for with stupidity'