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Unless I'm mis-reading this passage in John, it seems like Judas was predestined to be lost.
John 17:12 (KJV)
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
How do those who argue against predestination handle this verse?
It is not that Arminians argue "against" predestination - that would be silly, since the term comes from Scripture; Arminians would have to cross out a whole bunch of verses in their Bibles if that were the case. Clearly "predestination" is a reality.
The question is, what does that mean, and how does that work?
In general, Calvinists teach that predestination means that God, in His complete sovereignty (i.e. control over everything), predetermined who would be saved and who would spend eternity in Hell, based solely on His plan which He designed for His glory. It is not about us, what we do, what we decide (as if we had some autonomous "free-will"); it is about God's plan for Self-glorification.
In general, Arminians teach that predestination means that God, in His complete wisdom and foreknowledge (i.e. awareness of every future event), prepares the future based on His awareness of what men will choose.
Where do Arminians get such strange ideas? From Scripture!
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined ... 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 8:29-30
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those ... who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father -1 Peter 1:1-2
It is easy to think that the opposing view is ridiculous, but we really need to listen more carefully to what the "other side" is saying; one's "opponents" in this debate are not as ignorant as they might seem.
From a Calvinist perspective, Arminians don't believe God is sovereign, because they don't believe He is ultimately behind every choice that is made. To them the end result is that Arminians don't believe that God is God.
From an Arminian perspective, Calvinism paints men as mechanical creatures who carry out the actions God programmed them to carry out, more or less. The end result is a God who decided that the best possible plan was one where He made billions of people for the sole purpose of torturing them in Hell for eternity - all for Self-glorification. And yet somehow "God is love".
The story of Judas doesn't catch Arminians off-guard in any way; nor does it pose a challenge. Judas chose to betray the Lord, and God knew He was going to do so. Based on His foreknowledge, He arranged history accordingly, foretold it to His prophets, and then pointed to it when it happened.
All of this causes the Arminian to bow in worship to the all-knowing, all-wise Creator and Lord.
Of course, the Arminian would not concede that God wanted Judas to choose evil and inherit eternal torment, but for the Arminian, this is more of a comfort than a concern. It does not signify that God is not God; only that God is not malicious.
John Wesley, in his explanatory notes on John 17, says, "The son of perdition signifies one that deservedly perishes; as a son of death, 2 Samuel 12:5; children of hell, Matthew 23:15, and children of wrath, Ephesians 2:3, signify persons justly obnoxious to death, hell, wrath. Psalms 109:8." To say someone deserves to perish is not the same as saying they were foreordained to do so. Calling Judas a "son of perdition" simply refers to the consequences of his betrayal.
Note especially the wording of Matthew 23:15, "you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. [emphasis mine]" This indicates that to be a child of hell, or a "son of perdition", is not a foreordained state but the consequence of acting against God's will.
Leading up to this incident, we see that Judas had been one of God's chosen (John 6:70-71), and was even given "authority over unclean spirits" and sent out with the other Apostles (Mark 6:7), but that the devil had enticed Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2).
Just days before, Jesus has warned his followers that when hard times come many will fall away, but promised that "the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12-13). Judas failed the test, and had to face the consequences.
An add-on: Jesus also said that He can "unfulfill" the prophecy. Read Mt 26:52:
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
