Predestination: Christianity and Romans

     Paul began his argument of Romans by proving that the Gentiles are sinners before God. Although God has revealed His truth to them, they have suppressed it, resulting in the darkness of their inner man and rebellion against God to the point of worshipping animals (1:18-23). As a result God gave them over to do the desires of their heart (1:24, 26): idolatry (1:25) and homosexuality (1:26-27). Seeing that they had no desire to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do every sort of evil (1:28-31).

Romans 1-4 is the first section of Paul’s letter. This section has two major structural units. The first unit defined the human problem of sin. The second unit of the first section defined the solution to the human problem of sin. Paul’s outline of this solution is the first section’s single most compelling issue. Romans 3:22-24, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” The solution to our human problem, righteousness credited to us as a result of faith in Christ’s sacrifice, is available to all of us only because of God’s compassionate grace.

Predestination: A main concept in Calvinism that stated that everyone’s life was predestined, for better or for worse

4. Boethius relates the human experience of destiny/fate and the divine foreknowledge/providence by interpreting their meanings in real life. “Providence is the immovable and simple form of all things which come into being, while Fate is the moving connection and temporal order of all things which the divine simplicity has decided to bring into being” (Boethius, 92). Boethius says that providence is what happens in one second for God and fate is what happens in the course of a lifetime for human beings. He suggests that God knows the end of our lives right from the beginning but he doesn’t necessarily know each individual action or thought that it will take for a person to get there. Fate on the other hand is free will. Human beings

Predestination is a real thing. This may not be the same for others, but it is something I believe in. In Noll’s “The Crisis over Providence”, providence relates to what God’s intentions are and how we respond to them. Most people have heard the saying “history repeats itself”. I believe in this and I view it as God has a plan and until humans respond how He wants, it will just keep repeating. We see this with “Stonewall” Jackson because when he died, it caused people to think they misinterpreted God’s plan. I also think everything happens for a reason. Lincoln was considered nonelite, but God still chose him to lead the country. Maybe the other candidates would not have been good presidents, maybe they would have, but we will never

God knows all that will occur because He ordained all things to occur exactly as they do. Nothing can or does act outside of the will of God, and if anything, even the smallest molecule, were to act outside of the will of God, this could lead to the downfall of God’s entire plan. God’s sole purpose in ordaining all is to bring glory to himself. Calvinists believes that God can do no evil, although, in accordance to His will, He does ordain evil events to occur. He ordains people to do evil acts but does it in such a way that humans are morally responsible for their actions and will be judged for them. Across the Spectrum by Boyd and Eddy (2009) explains “Calvinists hold that God’s foreknowledge is based on how God wills the future to unfold” (2009, p.

The theologian John Calvin had to say in the least, a very interesting take on God and his views and plans for mankind. Unlike many theologian close to his time, he believed despite God making mankind in his imagine (Gen. 1:27) he predestined some of heaven and others for hell.

Even though this is good news, Paul knew that not everyone viewed this as good. Of those that choose to reject the saving message of salvation in Christ Jesus consistently, he tells them that God turns that person over to the fulfillment of the shameful inclinations of their own mind. This is shown in chapter 1, beginning at verse 18. Because of the rejection of God, the human situation only gets more and more depraved. We descend to fulfilling our carnal, base cravings, and that is get involved in everything that

The book of Romans was probably more likely written in the early spring of A.D. 57.

The main theme of Romans 2 is God’s judgment. The Roman people were living by some standard of morality, but they were comparing themselves to other people. They were judging others even though they were just as wicked. Paul clearly states that it is more about the intent and attitude behind the morality than morality itself. Paul further clarifies that God is good, gracious, and merciful, yet the Roman people would forsake God’s awesome character. The Roman people had a form of godliness. By form, they had the head knowledge of godliness but they did not have the heart knowledge, nor did they have the actions to match their knowledge. Paul warns the Roman people that there will be a day of judgment coming.

Calvin supports his first two points with several Scriptures. For example, he uses Paul’s words to the Ephesians that God chose and predestined us before “the foundation of the world” as proof that God arbitrarily selects people (Eph. 1:4-5; Calvin

Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote Summa Theologiae 1.23 Of Predestination (Eight Articles) Article 5: Whether the foreknowledge of merits is the cause of predestination? Saint Thomas also believes foreknowledge of merits is the cause of predestination but he believes there are two ways to determine predestination. He says, “Wherefore, that which flows from free-will is also of predestination. We must say, therefore, that the effect of predestination may be considered in a twofold light--in one way, in particular; and thus there is no reason why one effect of predestination should not be the reason or cause of another; a subsequent effect being the reason of a previous effect, as its final cause; and the previous effect being the reason of the subsequent as its meritorious cause, which is reduced to the disposition of the matter. Thus we might say that God pre-ordained to give glory on account of merit, and that He pre-ordained to give grace to merit glory. In another way, the effect of predestination may be considered in general. Thus, it is impossible that the whole of the effect of predestination in general should have any cause as coming from us; because whatsoever is in man disposing him towards salvation, is all included under the effect of predestination; even the preparation for grace. For neither does this happen otherwise than by divine help, according to the prophet

The book of Romans is the longest and the most systematic letter written by the apostle Paul in the New Testament. The theme of Romans is the revelation of God’s judging and saving righteousness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Judgment in the New Testament was misconstrued among the unrighteousness of the Jews until Paul’s message clarified the meaning of God’s judgment and kindness. The focus will be on this practically passage, Romans 2: 1-11. It is imperative to understand the correct identification of this passage, the analysis of literary style and characteristics of both the book of Romans and the passage, the cultural and historical background, the appropriate exegetical approach, the identification and explanation of any unique and significant phrases, and the modern relevance of the passage. This is the key to understanding the book of Romans and the passage appropriately.

The Doctrine of Predestination is one potential answer to the question of how individuals come to a saving faith in Christ. Although he did not invent the Doctrine of Predestination, John Calvin has often been considered its figurehead since the Reformation. This doctrine is defined as “the divine decree according to which certain persons are infallibly guided to eternal salvation.” On the other side of the argument is Arminianism. This view states the Christ died for all of humanity rather than just an elect percentage. The Arminianist argument states that God’s divine sovereignty is compatible with the free will of humanity. C.S. Lewis argued for and defended the Arminian view. Both sides can present biblical passages to support their arguments. The fact that the Bible is inconclusive on the matter is ultimately the source of this dispute. While either Calvin or Lewis could be correct, the truth is likely an amalgamation of the two.

This Semester has been great for me with being in Exploring the Christian Faith. It has been a good reminder and has also helped me learn more about my wonderful Lord. We discussed the idea of Predestination, but I will be exploring it even more. Let’s first start off with a definition of predestination. As a doctrine in Christian theology, the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not others. It has been particularly associated with the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo and of Calvin. Let’s break this definition down even a bit more. First, a doctrine is a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group, which makes since because we are talking about Christian Theology. St. Augustine helped form the idea of Neoplatonism. There are many different views of what actually predestination means and how literal is should be taken.