Evils that Divide the Church, Predestination and Will

Evils that Divide the Church
Predestination and Will

Introduction

It must be Spring Fever, Cabin Fever, escape from hibernation, or something like that.  The Punxsutawney Phil (or Bill) of sacred theology has, once again, unleashed his wrath upon us.  It seems like, every year at about this time, half the preachers on earth are compelled to dust off their moldy sermons on the subject of predestination and will: most of them wrong; most of them unnecessarily stirring up centuries-old disagreement and strife in the Church, over things that should have been, and really were resolved ages ago.

Frankly, I’m sick of hearing about the inanity of the fellow who falls down the stairs, only to exclaim, “Thank God, that’s over.”  As though God, somehow or other pushed him down the stairs; God, according to this perverted side of the story, is the responsible cause of his fall; the individual is not responsible for failing to clean up the mess over which he tripped and fell.

What a senseless kerfuffle!  This is so unnecessary; the Church ought not be divided, rent, and ripped asunder over evil divisions such as these.

Sovereignty of God

God is the Sole Sovereign over all such matters, and to make Him anything less is silly.  Though I firmly believe in the free moral will of man, I refuse to yield the point that I therefore have ceased to believe that God is anything less than totally and completely Sovereign over the entire universe: the heavens and the earth, things seen as well as unseen.  There is nothing over which He is not Sovereign.

Predestination

Certainly predestination is a fact of Scripture: for we clearly read in Romans 8:29-30…

“For whom the [Father] foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that [His Son] is to be[1] the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  Now whomever He predestined, He also called; whom He called, He also justified: and whom He justified, He also glorified.”

And in Ephesians 1:5, and 11…

“Having predestined us for the adoption as children through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to His [the Father’s] will’s delight,”

“In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him Who works all things according to the counsel of His will:”

We are unable to dispute what these verses say: they are rather clear in their meaning and intention.

What we do dispute is that predestine means exactly the same thing as predetermine.  Predestination tends to look at the final outcome of all things; while predetermination, may be used to emphasize the causes, rather than the effects.

We agree that God predestines the final outcome.  We deny that God predetermines all causes: rather, God creates agents of cause to function independently in accordance with their own design parameters.  How can this be?  Predestination clearly flows from God’s works of creation and providence; especially from what it means to be a creature.

Foreordination

An excellent statement of the issue is found in Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Chapter III, Paragraph I…

“God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”

How readily and easily we read, “God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass…,” ending the sentence there, without bothering to read or understand the profound phrases which follow: namely, “… yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”  I’m ashamed to admit that I once believed and taught, “God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass [Full Stop].”  I was wrong, very wrong.  The sentence requires careful explanation and study.

Whatsoever Comes to Pass

The words, “whatsoever comes to pass,” refer to the final outcome, not to all of the causes, only some of them: this is the difference between miracle, which God does cause immediately; and providence, which functions in accordance with God’s design.  In other words, God who has foreordained the final outcome, has also foreordained all the actions, instruments, means, modes, methods, procedures, and processes by which the final outcomes will come to pass.  This most certainly does not mean that God Himself makes all the decisions.  It does mean that God’s predestination guarantees the free moral will of man: so that angels, even animals, and men make many of their decisions independently from God and from each other: that’s what the Image of God in man means.

Origin of Sin

For example: “God [is not] the author of sin.”  This means that there are created moral agents in the universe, other than God, who are the immediate and independent cause of sin: God cannot sin; yet, these other moral agents can sin independently and with reckless abandon.  Moreover, it necessarily follows that such created moral agents have will; which, since it is formed in the Image of God, is necessarily free will.  We will need to guard this word “free” carefully: for it cannot and does not mean that creatures are independently free to act as they wish: independent freedom of will does not mean independent freedom of actions: deeds, thoughts, or words: for the will has no power to act.  Adam, Eve, Angels, and humans are the authors of sin.

Second Causes

In another example, we see that, “The liberty or contingency of second causes [is not] taken away, but rather established.”  Second causes can be tricky: for it includes things such as randomness, deeds, thoughts, words, accidents, premeditated and spontaneous behavior, voluntary and involuntary reactions, as well as a myriad of other things.  Second causes have to do with the fact that God created many, if not all, of the elements of the universe, to function according to their own designed behavior, without His immediate control.

For a simple example: as far as we mere humans know, all the matter of the universe functions in accord with four fundamental interactions: electromagnetic, gravitational, strong, and weak.  As we grow in understanding the Higgs mechanism(s), we may be forced to abandon all of this standard theory: yet, so far, Higgs has only complicated our understanding.[2]

There can be no doubt that the matter of the universe behaves in accordance with the Divine plan: the problem with either standard theory or Higgs theory is that human understanding of God’s material universe is less than complete or perfect: we have to grasp after it, like people groping to find their way in the dark.  Physics is just hard tedious work for the most part.

Randomness

A great deal of the behavior of many elements of the universe is simply random.  I can hear the screams of some theologians coming from miles away: in outrage, they insist the God does not gamble with the universe.  Of course, God does not gamble with the universe; yet, God has foreordained that many things should behave naturally in a random manner, observable by humans.  God does not gamble, the creation of random behavior is a divine certainty; it is we mere humans who must gamble: for there is scarcely any decision made among men and women that is not filled with chance, risk, uncertainty.

Solomon states it rather bluntly and nakedly in Ecclesiastes 9:11…

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; bread is not the benefit of the wise, nor are riches the benefit of understanding, nor is good favor produced by skill: for time and chance happen to all of them.”

Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5:45…

“That you may be children of your Father Who is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on both the evil and on the good, and sends rain on both the just and on the unjust.”

Normally, sun and rain operate on the chance probabilities of nature.  It is an exceedingly rare event for God to miraculously interfere with the natural, providential operation of either sun or rain: however, it does happen, we have specific instances reported in the Bible: yet, these are exceedingly rare.  God built the universe with randomness in it.

Coins

While only God can make a perfectly unbiased coin, which will land on one side or the other in truly random behavior, man comes close to approximating this random behavior of perfect unbiased coins.  Gravity takes over, so that the coin flops over on one side or the other.  How else would you want randomness and gravity to function in a well-ordered, God-designed universe?

However, man-made coins are not perfectly unbiased.  The difference between God and me is that I cannot tell either, that, or how, the coin is biased.  I do not know how specks of dust, droplets of moisture, or wind currents influence the downward fall of the tumbling coin.  God knows all these things in infinite detail.  Moreover, God knows all about the manufacture of the coin, as well as the complete history of every particle of dust, droplet of moisture, metallography and metallurgy of the coin since He first created them.

God knows everything that is.  God also knows everything that could have been, yet was not.  What God does not know is things that cannot be known: nobody knows such things.[3]  We suspect, if God were to create an unbiased, atmosphere, coin, and flip, that even God could not predict the outcome, whether heads or tails: for true randomness means that it is impossible to predict the outcome.  Still, we’re now so deeply buried in mystery that it’s impossible to be dogmatic.  What we do know is, while man cannot predict the outcome of coins, God can: because his knowledge is infinitely greater than ours.  This does not mean that God causes heads or tails, only that He designed the system to work in such a seemingly random way.

The point we’re striving after here is, just because God knows everything that there is to know, in limitless and vivid detail; that such omniscience simply does not warrant the conclusion that God caused it all, predetermined it all, else He could not know it all.  We reject determinism in all its forms.

Herds

We can, by the study of statistics, predict which way the herd is going.  Such a statistic is obvious to the herder by simple observation: which is why herding works.  What we cannot predict is which way any individual in the herd is going: which is why herding is necessary.  Mankind is just not that smart.  On the other hand, God can predict the motion of individual herd members, without causing or influencing any of them: for He knows the compete history of every individual, as well as the specific environment of each individual.  God knows if a calf is bitten by a fly or snake, and caused to bolt from the herd: yet, this is true because of God’s infinite knowledge, not because He Himself caused it.  While we cannot prove that flies and snakes have wills or volitions, we’re pretty sure that they act independently of outside influences.[4]  A fundamental law of statistics is that man can predict herd behavior; it is impossible for man to predict individual behavior.[5]

Will

Mankind is endowed, also, with free will: because mankind is created in the Image of God.  As God has free will, so also man has free will.  Luther confuses the topic by claiming or implying that the will also has power, which is not the case.[6]  Muscles have power, just not very much.  God has power in infinite abundance.  One person does not have the power to force another person to love them.  God has the power, yet refuses to force any person to love Him.  Mankind is a morally independent creation: hence, capable of sin, subject to guilt, and worthy of punishment.  God is not to blame for the independent actions of mankind.

Man is created in the Image of God, with free moral will.  If this were not the case, then the most heinous of crimes, even mass murders and terrorism, must go unpunished: for the criminal could always claim that he was powerless: God forced him to commit mass murder, terrorism, or other heinous crimes.[7]

Other Influences

It should be clear by now that even though we all have independent, free moral will: so that, each of us is accountable and responsible for our own actions; it should be equally clear that our power to act is not independent.  Things like rationality (mind), and emotions; not to mention, whatever the neighbors will think, all influence the things we do.  Actions, in the final result are influenced by a nearly infinite array of other factors.  As hard as I may stamp my little feet, I seldom get my own way: other powers constrain and restrain me from acting: my own powers are very limited.[8]

Cruelty

Not only is falling down the stairs, most likely our own fault: a mixture of random chance, carelessness, slovenliness, willfulness, and just plain human stupidity; but when we blame it all on God, it turns into something far different.
Take, for example, the ill-informed counselor, who insists that God took your baby: he, meaning by this, that God killed your baby, or at least coming dangerously close to such a suggestion.  The death of little, seemingly innocent, children, no matter how complex the situation, is always the fault of man in bringing death upon all of humanity, as well as the rest of the world.
God did not kill your baby; it is cruel, and insensitive to say or even imply such a thing.  God did not cause the collapse of the Twin Towers, the bombing of Hiroshima, or any number of any other great tragedies: God rarely uses miracles to punish His errant children.

Meaning

If predestination means none of these things in the ordinary providence of God, what does it mean.  Joseph says something truly amazing, “You meant it for evil; but God meant it for good.”[9]  Did your child die?  Four of our children did.  The chances are that God sheltered each of these children in death.  Has suffering come upon you?  Human beings caused it; but God has a forgiveness, healing, and rescue plan.  In the end result, your suffering can build Christ-like character into your life: a greater measure of humility, deeper prayer life, increased appreciation for the pain of others, and the coping skills to help another, who is following you on your same difficult path.[10]  Adam sinned a grievous sin; yet, God gave His Son to undo the damage, all because He loved the world.[11]  God did not stop Adam from sinning; yet, God had a plan: that is predestination.  As rough as this life can be, the heavenly kingdom is promised on the other side for all who follow Him.  God did not push you down the stairs.  He did not kill your baby.

Contention

In spite of these evident truths, the Ms and the Ps will probably be at it again, insisting that the one believes in predestination, while denying free will; the other, equally insistent, that free will is true, making predestination a lie.  There is only one problem with this beastly brouhaha, it just ain’t so.  Both parties need to get past their ingrained bitterness, embrace one another in brotherly or sisterly love, and come to the exciting realization that they worship the same loving God.  We, in our human “Christian” malice, have turned this kerfuffle into an all-out donnybrook: let’s stop it before it becomes an eternal feud, shooting match or even war.

Let’s say it together, one last time.  The fact that God predestines, makes human free moral will an absolute necessity.  Pre-destiny does not mean that God pre-determines any and every detail of life.  Pre-destiny means that in our worst hour, God has a safety net, God has a plan.

“For I know the thoughts that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts for peace, and not for evil, to give you a bright and hopeful future.” — Jeremiah 29:11

This is a pretty amazing promise considering that the Kingdom of Judea had just been destroyed forever.  Jesus is the plan.  He is our predestination.  Someday, we will be like Him.[12]

[13]

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[1] Infinitive, not subjunctive or optative: this is a statement of fact.

[2] The Higgs field, as we understand it, consists of four components, not one.  The Goldstone bosons having mass are: W⁺, W^-, and Z.  There are also gauge bosons, as well as the Higgs boson itself.  It gets more complicated from there; or it gets more simple: depending on how you look at it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson

[3] This is a minute philosophical point designed to deflect silly contradictory tautologies: such as, can God conceive of something that is inconceivable?  The answer is, No!  This is not unlike the silly contradictory tautology; can God make a rock so big that He can’t move it?  The answer is still, No!  These sorts of questions are not worth our time of day: they are impertinent.  This category, of things God cannot and does not know, may very well turn out to be the Empty Set; yet, these are things we will need to have explained to us, it is beyond our ordinary comprehension.  Even if it does turn out to be the Empty Set, it still does not provide warrant for any form of determinism: either scientific or theological.  Spinoza is wrong; so are the hyper- or uber-pre-determinists.

[4] Scientists have long claimed that the behavior of lesser animals is purely instinctual.  I don’t know how far we can reasonably press this.  A scientist, studying mosquitoes, after spraying a wall with mosquito poison, found that a few individuals would land and die; after that, mosquitoes will hover over the surface without landing on it.  Somehow, some mosquitoes learn from the experience of other mosquitoes that the wall means death: clearly, some sort of intelligence is functioning here… above and beyond mere raw instinct???

[5] This follows from things like the Law of Large Numbers, the Central Limit Theorem, and the like.

[6] This is Luther’s central point in Bondage of the Will, that man cannot, of his own will, take the least first step from the condemnation of sin, toward eternal life.  This is of course true: the will cannot take any steps in any direction, ever: the will is devoid of power.  On the other hand, when we investigate the power of humans, we find that mankind is too weak, far too weak to effect self-salvation.  However, most people are not too weak to cry out to God, to come into His holy temple, to receive His gifts: “I will take the cup of Salvation” — Psalm 116:13.  Christ, our powerful Great Physician delivers the cup of salvation, and presses it to the lips of those too weak to come or take.  There is no heart that He cannot reach.  This simply does not establish the error that men and women have no free moral will.  Salvation is a Sacrament, an act or work of God, not an act of mere human beings.  This being said, the Sacrament of Baptism brings with it the gift of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit provides all the necessary power for true Christian works of faith.

[7] Sadly, such empty legal defenses are gaining ground.  Such criminals, devious people claim, are genetically disposed to such-and-such a crime and cannot stop themselves from doing it: therefore, they falsely declare that the doers and purveyors of evil are innocent, when, in fact, they are guilty.  Many observers fail to see that such genetics are frequently, scientifically impossible.  No!  Such criminals, act from their free moral will: therefore, they are fully guilty.  This does not mean that we are free to treat such heinous criminals with contempt: the worst of men and women is not outside of God’s forgiving and redeeming love.  Such false determinism is little more than Spinoza's god and Spinoza's error.

[8] 1 Corinthians 1:26

[9] Genesis 50:20

[10] 2 Corinthians 1:4

[11] John 3:16

[12] 1 John 3:2

[13] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.