Predestination

Predestination (from Latin 'praedestinare,' "fore-ordain") is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning and destiny of the world, angels and human beings is discussed. In particular, predestination concerns God's decision to create and to govern Creation, and the extent to which God's decisions determine ahead of time what the destiny of groups and individuals will be. Conflicts over this topic have rent religious communities, in particular Christianity, between those affirming human freedom and those affirming God's sovereign rule. A view balancing divine governance with human freedom is sought in order to reconcile a divided Christianity and strengthen humanity's sense of responsibility in relation to God's work in the world.

Significance of the topic

Views on predestination do not impact human behavior on a mundane level. People make the decisions they have to make regardless of their belief as to their freedom to do so. From that point of view the matter of predestination would seem to have little practical relevance. Nonetheless, it impacts life in two ways. On the personal level, it provides comfort to those who believe that all affairs are firmly in the hands of a loving and just God. On the social level, views on predestination have enormous sway on society; for example, the view that the present status is the way it is meant to be, or that history is inevitably moving in one way or another, toward one's nation's triumph (imperialism, fascism, nazism), toward a classless society (communism), toward "the end of history" (democratic capitalism), or toward a religious regime of Christian, Muslim or other provenance, have a huge impact on individual lives and the course of history.

Predestination contrasted with other kinds of determinism

Its religious nature distinguishes it from discussions of determinism, free will and related concepts with strictly philosophical, historical or economic interpretations.

In Chinese Buddhism, predestination is a translation of yuanfen, which does not necessarily imply the existence or involvement of a deity. Predestination in this sense takes on a very literal meaning: pre- (before) and destiny, in a straightforward way indicating that some events seem bound to happen.

Predestination may sometimes be used to refer to other, materialistic, spiritualist, non-theistic or polytheistic ideas of determinism, destiny, fate, doom, or karma. Such beliefs or philosophical systems may hold that any outcome is finally determined by the complex interaction of multiple, possibly immanent, possibly impersonal, possibly equal forces: rather than the issue of the Creator's conscious choice.

Finally, antithetical to determinism of any kind, are theories of the cosmos which assert that any outcome is ultimately unpredictable, the working out of luck, chance, or chaos.

All conceptions of an ordered or rational cosmos have determinist implications, as a logical consequence of the idea of predictability; but predestination usually refers to a specifically religious type of determinism, especially as found in the various monotheistic systems of Christianity, wherever omniscience is attributed to God, but it also appears in Islam.

Distinguished from preordination

Predestination, in the sense of preordination or foreordination, is concerned not only with the afterlife, but also with the roles that are assigned to things and people in life as well. In Christian theology, usually all issues of preordination correspond directly with the issues of divine providence, with emphasis on God's particular determination of events: especially those events which arise from the choices made by men and angels. Predestination includes all of the issues of preordination, and in addition is concerned with the ultimate outcome, the final destiny of men and of angels. These or related issues may be discussed in monotheistic religions besides Christianity.

In Christianity, ideas of preordination are strong or weak in parallel with ideas of predestination. This is not the case in some other religions, which make a strong difference between earthly and eternal destinies. However, in Christianity, although the two are formally distinguished, the principles are the same which explain the relationship of God's determining will and man's free choices, whether speaking of the earthly fortunes and roles to which God has preordained men, or the final status to which they are predestined.

Predestination and omniscience

Discussion of predestination usually involves consideration of whether God is omniscient, or eternal or atemporal (out of the flow of time in our universe). In terms of these ideas, God may see the past, present and future, so that God effectively knows the future. If God in some sense knows ahead of time what will happen, then events in the universe are effectively predetermined from God's point of view. This is not predestination in itself. Predestination implies that God has something to do with determining ahead of time, what the destiny of creatures will be.

Judaism may accept the possibility that God is atemporal; some forms of Jewish theology teach this virtually as a principle of faith, while other forms of Judaism do not. Jews may use the term omniscience, or preordination as a corollary of omniscience, but normally reject the idea of predestination outright.

Islam traditionally has strong views of predestination similar to some found in Christianity. In Islam, Allah both knows and ordains whatever comes to pass.

Predestination in Christianity

The "doctrine of predestination" usually refers to Christian teaching concerning the final destiny of men and of angels. As such, discussion of predestination concerns the extent to which salvation and damnation are the result of God's decisions before time as opposed to decided by men and angels for themselves. The more immediate application of the doctrine of predestination concerns the extent to which people and nations are confined by God to particular roles, compared to how much they are makers of their own destiny. Predestination is mentioned in the Bible (Ephesians 1:4-6 (ESV) for example), and therefore all Christian theologies discuss it in some way.

In terms of these ultimates, with creation as the ultimate beginning, and salvation as the ultimate end, a belief system has a doctrine of predestination if it teaches:

1. God's decision, assignment or declaration concerning the lot of people is conceived as occurring in some sense prior to the outcome, and
2. the decision is fully predictive of the outcome, and not merely probable.

There are numerous ways to describe the spectrum of beliefs concerning predestination in Christian thinking. Teaching on predestination may vary in terms of three considerations.

1. Is God's predestinating decision based on a knowledge of His own will, or does it arise from a knowledge of whatever will happen?
2. How particular is God's prior decision: is it concerned with particular persons and events, or is it limited to broad categories of people and things?
3. How free is God in effecting His part in the eventual outcome?

Predestination in Paul and Augustine

There is a resounding consistency in the early church fathers, regarding the freedom of human choices. This polemic was crucial in the Christian confrontation with Cynicism and some of the chief forms of Gnosticism, such as Manichaeism, which taught that man is by nature flawed and therefore not responsible for evil in himself or in the world. At the same time, belief in a sovereign and predestinating God was held based upon sayings of Jesus such as that the sitting on His right or left is reserved "for them for whom it hath been prepared of my Father." (Matthew 20:23) Paul follows this line of thought with statements that we are called "not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace." (2 Timothy 1:9) and the 8th and 9th chapters of Romans. That this was an uneasy tension eventually became obvious with the confrontation between Augustine of Hippo and Pelagius culminating in condemnation of Pelagianism (as interpreted by Augustine) in 417. The British monk denied predestination in order to affirm that salvation is achieved by an act of free will. The Council of Orange in 529 formally accepted Augustine's teaching.

Leading to this controversy, Augustine's own early writings clearly affirmed that God's predestinating grace was granted on the basis of his foreknowledge of the human desire to pursue salvation. After 396, however, his understanding began to turn increasingly toward the necessity of God granting this grace in order for the desire for salvation to be awakened. Thus his thoughts took a more determinist direction, especially as Augustine wrestled with the implications of the writings of the Apostle Paul.

His solution was not to deny that man has freedom to choose, but to assert that on account of Original Sin, human free choice is enslaved to sin (liberum arbitrium captivatum). The individual does not lack knowledge of what God's will is nor that it is good, but is deprived of the desire to do God's will, and subsequently freely chooses sin. The grace of God sets the person free to choose God's will (liberum arbitrium liberatum). God's grace acts first on the human heart, to awaken the desire to do His will, and cooperates with the individual in a process of granting prayers for the greater desire and ability to choose His will and to do it.

The reason that this grace is given to some and withheld from others Augustine views, with Paul, as inaccessible to the human mind but nevertheless made in perfect justice. Thus God's predestination of some to salvation is evidence of His unconditional love, and of others to damnation is evidence of His justice.

In a real sense, all ideas of predestination are further developments of this same struggle to reconcile the idea of free will with the idea of predestinating grace; both of which are affirmed in Scripture and throughout Christian tradition. Especially in Western Christianity, the history of this development is traced through Augustine.

Calvin and Arminius

Some associate the doctrine of predestination with one name, that of John Calvin. Calvinism asserts that God's grace that leads to salvation is irresistible, and given to some but not to others on the basis of God's predestinating choice. Calvin reasoned further that since God is almighty, by predestinating some to salvation ("election"), He is in the same act predestinating the others to hell ("reprobation").

Conditional Predestination, or more commonly referred to as conditional election, is a theological stance that came from the writings and teachings of Jacobus Arminius. Arminius studied under the staunch reformed scholar Theodore Beza, whose views of election, Jacob eventually argued, could not reconcile freedom with moral responsibility.

Arminius attempted to reconcile freedom with God's omniscience. He saw human freedom in terms of the Libertarian philosophy: man's choice is not decided by God's choice, thus God's choice is "conditional", depending on what man chooses. Arminianism agreed that human beings cannot follow God's will except by God's grace, but go on to assert that God's prevenient grace is given to everyone and so all have the freedom to choose to good and be saved. Therefore, God predestinates on the basis of foreknowledge of how some will respond to his universal love ("conditional"); hence it is possible for persons to resist God's grace. The Synod of Dort (1618-19) and the Westminster Assembly (1647), two defining moments in the development of Protestant thought, rejected Arminianism. Nonetheless, Arminian thinking maintained itself in the Church of England and world Anglicanism and the Methodist movements, and today is the dominant Protestant view.

Sublapsarianism

Also called infralapsarianism, holds that predestination logically coincides with the preordination of the human fall. That is, salvation in Christ is possible only as an act of saving sinners, and its glory makes worthwhile the fall and existence of sin. Calvinists now had to defend God's not being the author of sin. Augustine solved this problem by stating that evil enters God's plan when it leads to a good greater than would otherwise be possible. Calvin called it too difficult and sacred a matter for human beings to know. Infralapsarians, and here Martin Luther is a major example, often emphasize a difference between God's decree (which is inviolable and inscrutable) and his revealed will (against which man is disobedient).

The version of predestination espoused by John Calvin, after whom Calvinism is named, is sometime's referred to as "double predestination" because in it God predestines some people for salvation (i.e. Unconditional election) and some for condemnation (i.e. Reprobation). On the spectrum of beliefs concerning predestination, Calvinism is the strongest form among Christians. It teaches that God's predestinating decision is based on the knowledge of His own will rather than foreknowledge, concerning every particular person and event; and, God continually acts with entire freedom, in order to bring about his will in completeness, in an unfathomable way, not accessible to scrutiny, so that the freedom of the creature is not violated.

Supralapsarianism

Supralapsarianism is the doctrine that God's decree of predestination for salvation and reprobation logically precedes His preordination of the human fall into sin. That is, God decided to save and to damn; He then determined that the human fall into sin would accomplish His purpose. Calvin is often counted among the supralapsarians, especially by those who hold this view.

Bible reference

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Ephesians 1:3-5

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30

but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
1 Corinthians 2:7

"For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
Acts 4:27-28

Jewish views

Generally speaking Judaism has no strong doctrine of predestination. The idea that God is omnipotent and omniscient didn't formally exist in Judaism during the Biblical era, but rather was a later development due to the influence of neo-Platonic and neo-Aristotelian philosophy. Many modern Jewish thinkers in the 20th century have resolved the dialectical tension by holding that God is simply not omnipotent, in the commonly used sense of that word. These thinkers are primarily not Orthodox Jews. Orthodox Jewish rabbis generally affirm that God must be viewed as omnipotent, but they have varying definitions of what the word omnipotent means. Thus one finds that some modern Orthodox theologians have views that are essentially the same as non-Orthodox theologians, but they use different terminology.

One noted Jewish philosopher, Hasdai Crescas, resolved this dialectical tension by taking the position that free-will doesn't exist. Hence all of a person's actions are pre-determined by the moment of their birth, and thus their judgment in the eyes of God (so to speak) is effectively pre-ordained. However in this scheme this is not a result of God's predetermining one's fate, but rather from the view that the universe is deterministic. Crescas's views were on this topic were rejected by Judaism at large. In later centuries this idea independently developed among some in the Chabad (Lubavitch) sect of Hasidic Judaism. Many individuals within Chabad take this view seriously, and hence effectively deny the existence of free will.

However, many Chabad (Lubavitch) Jews attempt to hold both views. They affirm as infallible their rebbe's teachings that God knows and controls the fate of all, yet at the same time affirm the classical Jewish belief in free-will (i.e. no such thing as determinism). The inherent contradiction between the two results in their belief that such contradictions are only "apparent", due to man's inherent lack of ability to understand greater truths. To most people outside of these Hasidic groups, this position is held to be a logical contradiciton, and is only sustained due to cognitive dissonance.

All other Jews (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and secular) affirm that since free-will exists, then by definition one's fate is not preordained. It is held as a tenet of faith that whether God is omniscient or not, nothing interferes with mankind's free will. Some Jewish theologians, both during the medieval era and today, have attempted to formulate a philosophy in which free will is preserved, while also affirming that God has knowledge of what decisions people will make in the future. Whether or not these two ideas are mutually compatible, or whether there is a contradiction between the two, is still a matter of great study and interest in philosophy today.

Islamic views

In Islam, "predestination" is the usual English language rendering of a belief that Muslims call al-qada wa al-qadar in Arabic. The phrase means "the divine decree and the predestination"; al-qadar derives from a root that means to measure out.

The phrase reflects a Muslim doctrine that God has measured out and foreordained the span of every person's life, and their lot of good or ill fortune. When referring to the future, Muslims frequently qualify any predictions of what will come to pass with the phrase inshallah, Arabic for "if God wills." The phrase recognizes that human knowledge of the future is limited, and that all that may or may not come to pass is under the control of God. A related phrase, mashallah, indicates acceptance of what God has ordained in terms of good or ill fortune that may befall a believer.

Unificationist View

The Reverend Sun Myung Moon points out that controversy over predestination has caused great confusion in the religious lives of many people. This was due to ignorance of the relationship between God and human beings.

Reverend Moon points out that the Bible is ambiguous on the issue. Many passages are often interpreted to mean that everything in an individual’s life, as well the rise and fall of nations, comes to pass exactly as predestined by God. For example, Paul wrote:

• Those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified. Romans 8:30

• “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So it depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy. Romans 9:15-16

• Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? Romans 9:21

It is also written that, even while they were still in their mother’s womb, God loved Jacob and hated Esau and announced their destiny, saying, “the elder will serve the younger.” (Romans 9:11-13) Thus, there are ample biblical grounds to justify the doctrine of God’s absolute and complete predestination.

Yet he points to biblical evidence sufficient to refute the doctrine of absolute predestination. For example, God warned the first human ancestors not to eat of the fruit in order to prevent their Fall. We can deduce from this that the human Fall was not the outcome of God’s predestination, but rather the result of human disobedience to God’s commandment. Again we read, “the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart.” (Genesis 6:6) If the human Fall were predestined by God, there would be no reason for Him to grieve over fallen human beings, who were acting in accordance with His predestination. Reverend Moon affirms universal salvation and rejects the assertion that some are predestined to hell, citing the John 3:16 passage that whoever believes in Christ shall not perish, but have eternal life. The common sense doctrine that the outcome of human undertakings is determined not by God’s predestination, but instead by human effort, is supported further by the well-known biblical verse, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Reverend Moon strives to reconcile these statements by adopting the position that God's Will is predestined in one sense and conditional in another. It is predestined in that His goal to accomplish the purpose of creation will never change. God predetermines His Will for individual human acts as well, but God will adjust His will in relation to particular acts based upon the results of human actions.

Reverend Moon rejects both the infra- and supra-lapsarian positions. God must predestine His Will and bring about its realization in the ways of goodness, and not in the ways of evil. Hence, His purpose of creation is good and His Will to accomplish it is good. If evil acts such as Christ's crucifixion were the result of God’s predestination, then God could not be the Author of goodness. If God Himself had predestined such evil outcomes, He would not have expressed regret over them as He did, for example, over the depravity of fallen human beings or over King Saul when he lapsed into faithlessness. (1 Samuel 15:11)

We see here the impact of Reverend Moon's perception of God's suffering. Biblical passages expressing God's grief, God's regret or God prophesies contingent upon human action highlight the freedom that humans often use in ways adverse to God's predestined outcome. Thus in Reverend Moon's view, God's will is one among many competing wills, for human beings and angels have freedom in which God will not intervene. God predestines His own will and predestines the outcome if His agent partners comply with His will. But He chooses not to predestine, i.e. control, the decisions of His partners and hence the outcome is uncertain. Within His will, He will predestine specific tasks and outcomes for individuals, but if the person who has been chosen to accomplish His Will goes another way, God must continue and may choose another person to shoulder the mission. Biblical examples given are that Jesus succeeded Adam, Seth succeeded Abel, Joshua succeeded Moses and Matthias succeeded Judas.

God also predestines that His will can be realized only when human beings complete their portion of responsibility. Thus the Divine Principle is consistent with the Jewish rejection of predestined outcomes, that is exemplified in the scriptural dictums that if people follow God's words they will be blessed and if they reject them they will be cursed.

Thus God predestines the process of the accomplishment conditionally, contingent upon human actions that must be completed in addition to God's actions. The human portion of responsibility is extremely small when compared to God’s portion of responsibility. Yet for both parties, total investment is required.

The human response to God is the primary determinant of human history, as per critical examples. God predestined that His Will be fulfilled through Adam and Eve only when they refrained from eating the fruit and completed their responsibility. In the dispensation of restoration through Noah, God predestined that His Will be fulfilled only after Noah exerted himself with the utmost devotion in building the Ark. In Jesus, God predestined that His Will be fulfilled only after fallen people completed their responsibility by believing in Jesus as the Messiah and rendering him devoted service. (John 3:16 is cited.)

God has foreordained all people to reach perfection when they complete their responsibility. Reverend Moon further asserts that God's plan for an individual is conditioned by that person's nation and race, ancestral line, inborn character, childhood training, and time and place they are living. Taking into account this context, it is God’s right to choose a person for a particular mission, and this choosing depends not upon human will or human effort.

External Links

• Determinism in Theology: PREDESTINATION
• Occurrences of predestination in the Bible text (ESV)
• Theopedia: Predestination (conservative Calvinist perspective)

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