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This is a really confusing article and a little biased —Precedingunsigned comment added by 130.88.251.45 (talk) 01:36, 12 September 2010 (UTC)
I THINK THE 'NOT' IN THE FIRST SENTENCE IS WRONG, I MAY BE WRONG. SOMEONE CHECK. 16:44, 20 May 2011 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Leftarmchinaman2(talk • contribs)
I hope I am doing this correctly, this is my first time. This paragraph says "Questions of "how much" will become hopelessly entangled in paradox, Calvinists teach, regardless of the view of predestination adopted." The grammar here leads me to believe something is missing.Sfmwol 09:42, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
I think this line needs more explanation:
It should elaborate on exactly what God does base his decision on, if that's known. Is it original sin? Or genuinely arbitrary as far as any human can tell? As it stands, Calvinists are left wide open to the charge that, if they're right, then God is extremely unjust for damning people to Hell whether or not they're guilty of anything at all. It would also appear to eliminate any reason for a person to do good rather than evil, if their choices in this life have no bearing whatever on future outcomes. I know there's more to the Calvinist position than this; someone better versed in it ought to flesh this out. --Wesley it is not unfare for us to go to hell but unfare (in a good way) for us to be able to go to heaven.-ross
Predestination is a biblical term. All Christians should therefore believe in it (not only Calvinists), the only question is, how one should understand it. For an explanation of biblical predestination, follow this link:http://christians.eu/predestination/ - Alice predestination is used in the Bible talking about the number of days we will live not salvation.-ross
Hmmm... this is my first visit to this page. It does need some work, doesn't it? I'll see if I can talk my some of my Calvinist theologian friends to do something with it. --STG
I'm no Calvinist, but I think the line above is pretty accurate. They're not left wide open to the charge that "God is extremely unjust for damning people to Hell whether or not they're guilty of anything at all", because they say that everyone deserves to be damned to Hell and everyone is guilty -- its just that God, rather than damn them all, arbitrarily chose a few to save instead, even though they did absolutely nothing to deserve it and where in no way in themselves any better than those who he damned. -- SJK
Ok... then God is just, but loves some people but not all people, or some people more than others, since he only chose to save some, or is limited in his mercy, or is only able to save some people. It still depicts God as someone I'm not sure I really want to love and worship, both because he doesn't seem to be all good, and because it doesn't matter at this stage whether I choose to love him or not. Predestination does horrible damage to Christianity in this way. But perhaps there's a better way to formulate it, since I know the arguments I just made are not in the least bit original. --Wesley, we can not limit God to anything because we are only human. we can not understand God completely. we still have free will but Gods foreknowledge limits that.-ross
I once heard someone say that the word 'predestined' is written on the inside of heaven's gate, not on the outside, meaning that the concept of predestination is a mystery only God fully understands, but that man's responsibility is to react to the call of God to repent and enter into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. I suppose that's how many protestants and evangelicals see it, too. -- TK i agree.-ross
Wesley: I know it doesn't sound nice, but I'm pretty sure "God loves some people more than others" is a pretty accurate rendition of the Calvinist position. (Are there any Calvinist theologians out there to confirm this?) -- SJK im not calvonist but as christians we do not know. if he does we are his creations and he has every right to.-ross
In my opinion, the article's focus on Calvinism is misleading. The Calvinist version is not the only doctrine of predestination. In fact, the article itself describes various views of predestination that are not Calvinist, in seeming contradiction of the opening paragraphs. For that matter, the Calvinist doctrine is poorly expressed, if the representation is not entirely false. Even if it adds considerably to the length and complexity of the article, the subject ought to be treated more broadly, with more complete accounting of the development of the doctrine. Especially, the opening paragraph cannot pass the test of a neutral point of view..-- mkmcconn. i agree.-ross
These versions, while in some cases important, are not predestinarian because the conceptions variously deny the unchangeability of God's nature or, the personality of God or, the volitional aspect of God's personality or, that the cosmos is the product of God's action or, that it is possible for God either to produce or to predict the future condition of any individual with certainty. (— Mark (Mkmcconn)**)
it is possible (he is God and is only limited by his own self).-ross
As a newcomer, I'm stumbling all over myself trying to remove my own bias from my revisions. I'm afraid that this causes some of the things I've added to be unclear. Because I was trying to respect the perspective on Calvinism that was presented in the original article, the article contains elements that are not true to the spirit of Calvinism (speaking as a Calvinist), and I would like to see them fixed.
For example, the Synod of Dordt rejects as slanderous, the characterization of the Reformed doctrine which is presented in this article on Predestination. In the summary of their decision, it readsin English:
Should an article of doctrine that an important, defining, international conference of Calvinist churches has urged all Calvinists to "denounce with their whole heart", be allowed to represent the Calvinist position, just because the majority of people continue to attribute that doctrine to Calvinism? In addition, the Wikipedia article on Calvinism assigns the positive doctrine of double predestination uniquely to the Hyper-Calvinists, or supralapsarians. One assignment or the other should be corrected. I favor a correction of the article on predestination.
I'm trying to get my mind around what is meant by "a neutral point of view". -- mkmcconn
I think that this entry should point out the theological and philosophical problems that come along with this belief. Many Christians, and a few Muslims, disagree with any concept of predestination. Unitarian-Universalists, Humanists, and Jews also disagree with this concept; their belief systems are in fact antithetical to it...
I have totally overhauled the section on Judaism and predestination, adding everything I know, and additional information based on my reading of various sources, such as the Encyclopaedia Judaica. Additional information from those in the know would be welcome. RK
Mkmcconn, I think you've made some good additions. Should something be said about total depravity as it relates to predestination? Wesley 17:27 Sep 19, 2002 (UTC)
From the opening paragraph, I think this sentence would be clearer if the words based on foreknowledge were added to it:
Would that still be a fair and accurate statement of the position being described? Wesley
"Expressed sympathetically, the Calvinist doctrine is that..." I feel that wiki should not try to express things sympathetically, but to express things the supporters of a viewpoint would express it themselves.
(but perhaps, being a calvinist fundamentalist by heart, and being active very short on wiki, I am to sensitive :) )TeunSpaans
Hold everything. Upon re-reading, I now understand why I haven't understood some of the things you were saying. We have been using the same word to refer to two different things! You are the word predestination where I am more familiar with the termomniscience! I have read a bit here and there about how various Christian groups believe in something else called predestination; but this use of the word had to do more with Calvin's views, which are actually a somewhat separate idea. I think that the problem with the article, as it currently stands, is that it doesn't yet make clear in the beginning that this same word has many different uses. The same problem used to exist in the entries on prayer, propehcy and revelation, where people used the same word to descrive radically different ideas. Wikipedia now has clear descriptions of these different meanings. Perhaps we could compare the structure of those articles, and apply it to the predestination article. I am thinking that the article should start out by saying something like: RK
i agree with what you are saying i think that "predestination" is based on Gods foreknowledge wich still leaves free will.
Any thoughts? RK
Calvin made clear that men have no free will. That is the basis of Calvinist doctrin. In the Institutes Calvin wrote, "In conformity, therefore, to the clear doctrine of Scripture, we assert that by an eternal and immutable counsel God has once for all determined both whom He would admit to salvation, and whom He would condemn to destruction. We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the elect, is founded on His Gratuitous mercy, totally irrespective of human merit; but that to those whom He devotes to condemnation, the gate of life is closed by a just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment." Man is elected by God based on God's whim, and free will is a sham. End of story. We need to rewrite the article on Canvinism and on Predestination to reach this teaching, even if we personally find it to be repugnant and immoral. RK
where in the Bible does it say we have no free will im not a calvanist but i wonder how calvanist can be so sure that we have no free will when the Bible never states that if we have no free will God might as well have created a bunch of robots to glorify him.-ross
Calvinists even today clearly teach that man's actions have no bearing at all on whether or not we can be saved. All of choices are meaningless, and we have no ability whatsoever to affect our afterlife outcome. This is made crystal clear in this quote:
I understand that some Calvinists will bend over backwards to prove that this also allows for man to have free will. But that is clearly an irrational position, made out of emotional desperation. Some people have an innate desire to accept certain beliefs as true, even when they are morally repelled by them on an intellectual level. Thus thus affirm that both mutually contradictory beliefs are true, even if that is impossible. This is equivalent to claiming that 1 = 2. You can say that you believe it to be true, but deep down inside you know that there is a contradiction, and that this cannot possible be true. RK
Catholic Encyclopaedia entry on Predestination
The re-write expands the article to 14 pages. If you look it over and agree that we are now talking about the same thing, then we can start removing and condensing material with the goal of making it more readable. Sound okay? Mkmcconn
---
Very impressive article. Yes, it could use tightening and expansion in places. However, it is very nice to see a spectrum of views explained here in some depth. A couple of thoughts:
Here is an interesting paper. While it is probably outside the scope of this article, I found interesting some of the parallels between the view of God who constantly makes everything work vs. computer that constantly makes everything work. One is very theistic, one rather atheistic, and yet they are similar in other ways.Q
I think the problem with traditional theology is the fact that it's based on an absolute view point. That is to say, that in an odd way, you can say one is predestined and still have free-will. What if from our perspective we have free-will yet we are predestined from God's point of view. Kind of like a parent who places guards on stairs to prevent babies from falling down the stairs. Of course, the parent would have to make sure the baby doesn't know that fact that stairs even exist ('cause the baby might want to go on the stairs if he/she knew about its existance). Given such a condition, the baby has free will according itself ('cause from the baby's point of view, he/she doesn't know, so can't choose). From the parent's point of view, he/she has predestined the baby not to fall down the stairs. So maybe what God does is place certain "guards" so you are in sense prevented from (or required to) taking certain actions. It doesn't violate the free-will part because you are free to do whatever from your perspective...
Another analogy is regarding motion (change in displacement). Without a reference there is no such think as motion. So the question is, is A in motion, if A sees B and is moving relative to B, and C sees A and is not in motion relative to A, but C does not see B. Thus, A is in motion according to B, but not in motion according to C. Thus you can have a paradox that says A is in motion and not in motion, but the paradox can be explained through relativity...
i agree a 100% we need to make sure we do not get cought up in the non essentials.
First timer here...If I read 2Peter 2}9 correctly it says "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perixh, but that all should come to repentance." To me this means that God does not want or will for anyone to go to Hell in fact he made a way for all of us to be saved and have eternal life with him in HEAVEN not HELL. He said, whosoever, in Romans 10:9 not only the ones that I have before hand chosen. I don't mean to offend anyone but we have a God that is full of Mercy and Grace. Will You let him be your God?......Pat in NC —Preceding unsigned comment added by66.110.228.244 (talk) 04:00, 28 September 2008 (UTC)
Someone is boasting that they are removing the neutral point of view of this article?! GeneCallahan (talk) 12:05, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
I just noticed that User:KHM03 did some considerable deletions on two pages, which he described as "removed NPOV".
Our interests only overlap marginally, so I can't say anything about the general validity of his edits. Could someone interested in Christian religious topics please take a look at his edits (and possibly his earlier edits as well)? — Sebastian 02:20, 2005 Mar 22 (UTC)
I made two changes to the conditional predestination section, adjusting the spelling of Arminius' first name to Jacobus (thus allowing the link to work properly) and removing the paragraph that began "this doctrine is flawed, however, because" on the grounds that it does not reflect a neutral point of view. This is my first Wikipedia edit so I did not go farther, but there are a number of areas in which this article could be improved and perhaps I may return to it at some later date. I also wonder if the name of Jacob/Jacobus/James Arminius should be standardized in the article because it could be confusing to readers who do not recognize that all these names refer to the same person. Demmeis 14:50, 15 September 2005 (UTC)
This section is hard for me to follow. I'm not sure what it's referring to, or who holds the view. I'd be glad to look for a place to re-insert it, if I could get a clearer idea of what it means. Mkmcconn(Talk) 23:22, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
while it is a POV it is a bias one as only held by a very nominal amount of people, infact in my 22 years on this earth i don;t think ive come across someone who actuly belives the latter in practice...
hope this is of some helpPhilsgirl 15:50, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
134.243.210.54 (talk) 23:11, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
Lutherans DO NOT believe in predestination!
I think the author of the article needs a bit more education on the variations within the Christian Church. Frist off your first sentence "Lutherans believe that the elect are predestined to salvation" and then a few sentences later you write "Instead, Lutherans teach eternal damnation is a result of the unbeliever's sins, rejection of the forgiveness of sins, and unbelief." These two sentence contradict each other, and are both incorrect statements about the Lutheran beliefs.
Salvation through Grace is probably the most important aspect of Lutheranism. But this does not mean that we are predestined to Salvation, only that Salvation avialable to all and that our good and bad deeds in life are not weighed against each other. We as people of faith and free will may choose to accept our salvation or ignore it. I think your interpertations of "On the Bondage of the Will" is incorrect please re-read it. The bondage is that upon the acceptance of salvation we are to live our lives in the manner that God wants us to and that by this we will show the world who and what we are. I could write for hours on this subject but i wont bore you. But please read over Luther's work again and if you want a more contermporary writer please read the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 134.243.210.54 (talk) 23:11, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
I made some reformatting additions in order to clarify some of the various Christian positions. I'll add more later, but, of course, anyone else is welcome (and encouraged) to contribute. KHM03 1 July 2005 21:43 (UTC)
Meh. This article needs a lot of work I suspect... I took out a few of the glaring "how did this get into the article?" things that just had to be mistakes. However, a more pressing concern: from what translation of the Bible did our current quotes come from? I'm not sure a little special section is the best place for it, and it's a bit awkward as it stands... but they really need a translation note on it. I did a quick check, and it's neither the KJV, the Revised Standard Version, the New Revised Standard Version, nor the New International Version. More interestingly, none of those very common versions use the word "predestined," at least for the Corinthians passage I was using as a test. It makes me suspect that someone is trying to make predestination appear more closely entwined to the Bible than it really is... if someone can find the version and it's a commonly used version, fine, but an encyclopedia should really use "standard" translations (with caveats if necessary), not unusual niche translations. SnowFire 19:31, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
I reverted a botched edit to the top of the page; we now have a good introduction that explains the religious and philosophical notions. Someone else fixed the botched edit in a different way; this makes for a less dry and more engaging intro, but should probably be merged in the Christian section. Argav ۞ 20:39, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
Predestination is the doctrine that God, in his omniscience, omnipotence, and status outside of time, knows exactly the course of events of human history and actively Wills them. The doctrine states that God has chosen a number of people to be saved (the 'Elect') and damned (the 'Reprobate') before they are created. There are some passages in epistles of the New Testament which support this doctrine (Ephesians 1:3-11, 2 Timothy 1:9, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Romans 8:28-30 ), but they only affirm that God has chosen to justify and save some before he created them, saying nothing on those who he has not elected. Predestination essentially lays its authority in the evangelical belief that the words of the epistles are absolute; as such they cause many problems in reconciling other fundamentally held beliefs. Many Christians reject predestination because they simply cannot reconcile the idea of a just and loving God with the God who is said to create people with the aim of damning them for eternity. For them it contradicts their notion of the righteousness of God. Another reason for many Christians rejecting this doctrine is its implications on free will: if we cannot possibly do anything to attain salvation, we cannot be said to be free agents; and if this is so, then there is little reason for behaving morally and the commands of God are useless.
"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."
Why do the textual critics and secular humanists get the last word on everything? I assuredly believe that God was esteemed as omnipotent and omniscient by the patriarchs Abraham, Moses and Jacob.
Predestination (Calvinism) might stand on its own at some point, but at present, it's basically a few quotations from confessions and a bunch of original research. If that article were redacted appropriately from its present form, it would have little content left and should just be incorporated here. If it is improved significantly, it might stay.--Flex (talk|contribs) 15:54, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
I'm fine with that. I just don't like the relationship between these two articles as it stands or the content of that article.--Flex (talk|contribs) 14:25, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
I removed the merge tag since it had gotten a bit stale. Work still needs to be done on syncing this article and Predestination (Calvinism). --Flex (talk/contribs) 15:16, 28 September 2007 (UTC)
I've re-jigged this article to have a section on history - some of the material from Predestination (Calvinism) can go into the section on the Reformers. But bear in mind that this section will be broader than Calvinism - i.e. it will include Luther as well. StAnselm (talk) 03:25, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
In a similar vein to the above discussion, I have come across Calvinist terminology. It surveys a couple of Calvinist topics that I believe would be better delt with in their own articles. There are no real links to that article[1], and it probably duplicates what is written here. Ideas? Blarneytherinosaur talk 01:40, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
We start with TWO concepts and a plural verb: "Predestination and foreordination are religious concepts..."
Are predestination and foreordination intended to be synonyms? If so, the sentence should read something like, "Predestionation, also called foreordiantion, is a religious concept..."
Then follows: "Its religious nature distinguishes it from other ideas concerning determinism and free will, and related concepts."
What do "its" and "it" refer to? I guess the writer must mean that predestination and foreordination are synonyms for a single concept (known primarily as predestination). If so, the first sentence needs to be rewritten (as I have already suggested).
Then: "In particular, predestination concerns God's decision to create and to govern Creation, and the extent to which God determines ahead of time what the destiny of groups and individuals will be."
If, after all, predestination and foreordination are intended to be two concepts, then we're left hanging here, because foreordination is not defined or distinguished from predestination.
Could someone please clean this up? Thank you. 71.101.32.143 17:35, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
About to atempt fix up... Predestination is a relegious concept and foreordination would be it's secular synonym... this page seames to deal with said topic and about life ingeneral were as foreordination refers to a position held. Will remove Fore'o and atempt grammer check... may need changing after i have... feel free or coment on something i missed :)
was
Predestination and foreordination are religious concepts, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. Its religious nature distinguishes it from other ideas concerning determinism and free will, and related concepts. In particular, predestination concerns God's decision to create and to govern Creation, and the extent to which God determines ahead of time what the destiny of groups and individuals will be.
now
Predestination is a religious concept, which involves the relationship between the beginning of things and its destiny. Predestination in its religious nature, distinguishes it from other ideas concerning determinism, free will, and related concepts. In particular, predestination concerns God's decision to determine ahead of time what the destiny of groups and/or individuals will be and also includes all of Creation.
hope this helps
Philsgirl 16:20, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
I had the same argument with the oxford dictionary.... though others do decribe it as a synonm... also if you read the rest foreordination refers to office were as Predestination refers too all things including foreordination... I'm curently studying at a Church of Christ theo colage, and the 2 seem to have very difernt meanings... Philsgirl 05:12, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
Fair enough fixing now also added an external link to forordaition Philsgirl 16:35, 28 April 2007 (UTC)
The section on Predestination in Islam needs more work. The Quran often says that humans do have free will and that they have the choice of believing or not believing in the Quran. Also on Judgment Day people are judged according to their deeds and God says that no soul will bear the burden of another. The idea of predestination and free will is more complex than what is mentioned in that section. You need to do more research, especially since the majority of Muslims do believe that they do have free will. The best way to do this would be to look in the Quran yourself and read the verses on free will and predestination. —Precedingunsigned comment added by 24.188.103.16 (talk)
>>>>>>>>>> Comment: I followed your suggestion and looked at the Quran, and found this: (32:13): “If We had so willed, We could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the Word from Me will come true: I will fill Hell with Jinns and men all together.” This is clearly predestination. Allah decides the fate of men and they have no say in the matter. There are many more verses that express this idea. >>>>>>>>> —Preceding unsigned comment added by122.148.174.52 (talk) 03:33, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
I certainly agree with the comment above about predestination in Islam. It is a common Islamic teaching (and I believe it is written in the Quran) that the difference between Angels and Man is that Man has free will while Angels must worship God unconditionally. As such, Man can chose whether or not to follow God. If the author of this article reads the story of Adam, he/she will learn that the Devil refused to bow to Adam because he (the Devil) believed that since Man was given free will, he will not listen to God.
I have also heard of an Islamic philosophy that says that God creates all the options Man faces, but it is ultimately up to Man to chose which option to take. Meaning that if you have a dollar bill, by God's grace you can either give that dollar to a beggar, spend it on clothes, or save it in your bank account. All those options were created by God, but ultimately it is up to you to chose how to spend your dollar bill.
Please do more research about Islamic teachings on predestination. I agree that the issue is more complex than this article made it seem. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Glitterglue99 (talk • contribs) 02:38, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Editorials/2003%20Editorials/May-August%202003/Five%20Islamic%20issues,%20predestination%20and%20choice,%20position%20towards%20other%20religions,%20angels,%20and%20the%20End%20of%20Days,%20by%20Hassan%20El-Najjar%20and%20Chris%20Hatcher.htm This discussion includes some good Quranic verses on predestination. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Glitterglue99 (talk •contribs) 02:42, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
I was looking for more information on what different protestant churches believe: eg. Methodists believe X, Presbetyrians believe Y. Could this be included in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by76.10.155.240 (talk) 14:44, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
Contributors here may be interested in contributing to the discussion of Augustine and predestination atTalk:Unconditional_election#Church_Fathers_on_the_doctrine. --Flex(talk/contribs) 19:50, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
In the early church fathers section I have reverted to the overall section as edited up to yesterday in the unconditional election article. The removal of the expansion of Augustine's thoughts paragraph needed as this contradicted the previous paragraph and was confusing: since he cannot deny free will in the one and approve it in the next paragraph (but not really doing so as it is 'ineffective' in practise). I have also replaced the last paragraph to the one in the afore article prior to migration. This is because the neutrality of the longer version is in question: if there was a doctrine of conditional predestination prior to Augustine then the Scripture was understood without a 'predestinating grace': an unhelful phrase at this stage in history since the universal view was that man's decision preceded the divine aid to fulfil the decision (in belief and righteousness).[see also the talk in unconditional election and Flex] Jarom22 (talk) 07:13, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
Whoa- Early church fathers... Who might those be? What is an early church father? Is it Paul, or Peter, James (Christ's) brother, John or the other apostles; or others? Since the Bible is the governing document in Christianity there should be Scripture references used. Certainly Paul in Romans 8:28 and 29 didn't uphold the freedom of human choice, nor in his other teachings and writings. I am not familiar with your author cited but will check on him. Whatever the source it needs to identify who he is talking about as early church fathers and what source he is using and support for his assertions. These are some fundamentals of the faith. As constructed, it sounds as though predestination is a late bnlooming phenomenon (Asvrc100 (talk) 23:00, 24 June 2008 (UTC))
Arbitrary sounds cavalier. There are as many negatives as positives in the word arbitrary. Since no one knows God's mind or ways ("My ways are not your ways and your ways are not My ways"),we don't know what brings about God's moving and perhaps it is best to leave it at that. (Asvrc100 (talk) 22:32, 24 June 2008 (UTC))
can black people go to heaven ( —Precedingunsigned comment added by 69.47.22.87 (talk) 23:29, 28 January 2010 (UTC)
Isn't there a reverse belief among occultists that they were chosen ahead of time by occult powers ? I saw that this belief existed when I was researching about conspiracy theories and stories about secret societies. ADM (talk) 02:04, 12 April 2009 (UTC)
134.243.199.51 (talk) 22:50, 15 January 2012 (UTC)
This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |