Timeline for How does free will fit with the doctrine of predestination?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 10, 2019 at 7:01 | comment | added | Caleb | @MilesFett I get what you are saying but your presupposition about what "sinless" means is off. There isn't a problem with original sin because Adam's creation state was never intended to be perfection. He wasn't created as God being unable to sin, in fact he was created with the ability sin and the culpability for it. Remember God setup redemption through Christ before he set Adam loose in Eden. The fall was no shocker to God, and that first step into sin did not go against Adam's nature at all, it was in fact inevitable that he would. | |
| Oct 9, 2019 at 17:01 | comment | added | Miles Fett | You said: men are free to make choices but only capable of making choices according to their nature this creates a problem with the doctrine of original sin. Adam and Eve were created perfect, with a sinless nature and yet they chose sin. So, is man only limited by his nature after the fall? | |
| Jul 10, 2017 at 16:26 | comment | added | DKing | @RBarryYoung We may have strong evidence to cause us to believe after the fact, but none of us know before the fact. If I have a bag of seeds and plant them, some of them will grow into full plants, others will not. When they are grown, I can know that seed succeeded. Before I planted them, I had no idea which would grow. So, I must plant them all. God already knows which will grow, but because I don't, I must work to give them every chance. The Bible teaches evidence of salvation after salvation, but nothing of how to tell before they are saved. | |
| Jun 18, 2017 at 15:30 | comment | added | Matt | This answer is not clear at all. First you claim to be an authority on Calvinist doctrine but then you summarize with "Calvinists may believe that God predestines people to be saved". May or do? Which one is it? And according to your answer Calvinists clearly believe man does not have free will. You implied several times that only those, chosen, may be granted the gift of salvation, something that is contradicted by biblical principles. God clearly offers salvation to anyone who chooses to accept that gift out of free will and volition. | |
| Sep 14, 2016 at 15:39 | comment | added | Matt Davis | @Beestocks, I would say yes. Romans 9 deals with this exact issue. | |
| Feb 25, 2015 at 16:44 | comment | added | Beestocks | Thanks for explaining this clearly, I now see how Calvinists do believe in free will. It seems to me that most Christians would not disagree that God extends different levels of mercy to different people (Matt 11:23), but Calvinists take it further to mean that to some, mercy is not extended at all. Is my simplistic view correct? | |
| Nov 11, 2013 at 20:13 | comment | added | RBarryYoung | +1 for a great answer to something that I as an Arminianist have a lot of difficulty understanding objectively. In your statement ".. but they believe that man's limited scope means that we don't know who those people are.", how widespread/official/orthodox is this? I ask because many Calvinists that I have talked to seemed to be pretty certain both of their own election and of the status of many others. Is this merely enthusiasm or misunderstanding on their part (or my part) or is it a doctrinal difference among Calvinists? | |
| Oct 22, 2011 at 13:35 | comment | added | Richard | Wow, this answers it very clearly. Thanks so much! | |
| Oct 22, 2011 at 13:34 | vote | accept | Richard | ||
| Oct 22, 2011 at 10:12 | history | answered | Caleb | CC BY-SA 3.0 |