by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, D129 posted November 17, 2021
On September 2, 2020, I posted a blog entitled “Predestination vs. Free Will,” which addressed the apparent contradiction between predestination and free will. I discussed two of the reasons why many Christians reject the idea that God has preordained who will repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.[1] Someone, whose opinion I value highly, suggested that (a) the point I was trying to make there is insufficiently clear and (b) I should provide a further explanation of how I resolve the apparent conflict between the two ideas. Thus, I am returning to the subject here.
The apparent contradiction between predestination and free will has been an unfortunate source of conflict among Christians for years. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), one of the most famous theologians in the history of Christianity, articulated a way to live with the tension between the two ideas, and Luis de Molina (1535-1600 AD), a Spanish Jesuit priest and scholastic, codified Augustine’s idea into a theological doctrine that is referred to under a few names, such as Molinism and Middle Knowledge. Since then, the idea of occupying a middle ground between predestination and free will has satisfied many Christians, some of them quiet prominent, but it does not satisfy me. Moreover, I see a way to resolve the apparent conflict between predestination and free will that does not compromise either idea.
The resolution of the issue relies on differentiating between the locations of (a) the Creator, who exists in a metaphysical realm, and (b) the creature, who exists in a physical realm.
Consider the difference in viewpoints between (a) the author of a drama and (b) a character in one of his dramas. The author, who lives in the real world, has determined what the character will think, say, and do in his script, but the character, who lives in an imaginary world, thinks that he freely chooses what to think, say, or do. That the actor, who also lives in the real world, knows that the character whom he is portraying is completely determined by the drama’s script does not affect the foregoing distinction. Indeed, his job can be described in terms of it. He must do his best to persuade the members of the audience to ignore the fact that what they are watching is imaginary and react emotionally and mentally to what they are watching as if it is real. Indeed, an actor is usually judged by the degree to which he succeeds in getting them to do just that.
Here we get to the crux of most paradoxes, of which the apparent contradiction between predestination and free will can be regard as one. For example, in one of Zeno’s paradoxes, Achilles and a tortoise engage in a race, but the swift Achilles cannot catch the slow tortoise. Why? Well, Zeno creates the paradox by setting the race in an imaginary world of three spatial dimensions, from which the temporal dimension is missing. Thus, the running of Achilles must be described in purely spatial terms. He runs half way to the tortoise. Then he runs half way to the tortoise again. Then he keeps doing the same ad infinitum, but of course he never catches the tortoise. Many readers are perplexed because they conflate (a) Zeno’s imaginary world and (b) the real world in which they live, which are totally different.
The same thing happens in the predestination vs. free-will controversy. The Bible indicates that reality consists of two very different realms: (a) a metaphysical realm where God dwells and (b) a physical realm where humans live. The latter was created and is managed by God in accordance with his design and script. Now, the Bible indicates that God has predetermined everything which happens in his creation, but we believe that we are freely choosing what to think, say or do, and we will even be held responsible for our thoughts, words, and deeds by a perfectly just God when we stand before him on the Day of Judgment. People are only perplexed by this arrangement when they conflate the metaphysical and physical realms, which are totally different.
I recognize that some people may not be satisfied with the above argument, but I am. The distinction between the two realms is accurate. God lives in a supernatural realm, we live in a natural realm, and the two realms are totally different. Also, God created and is managing Universe from outside Universe. He is not subject to the constraints of the physical, space-time continuum, whereas we humans are. Nonetheless, within these constraints, we are free to think, say, and do what we choose, and we will be held accountable for the decisions that we make.
© 2021 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] There are a number of verses that refer to the Book of Life in which God the Father wrote the names of the redeemed before the foundations of the world were laid – i.e. before Creation Week. For example, see Revelation 13:8.