Calvinism's Determinism Vs. The Bible

God is in control of everything.
God knows the future decisions of free creatures.
God foreordained everything that comes to pass by determining before creation what He would do, and what He would allow free creatures to do.

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[Brenda-qoko]

Acts 4:27-28 "for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, TO DO WHATEVER YOUR HAND AND YOUR PLAN PREDESTINED TO TAKE PLACE."God didn't just predestine the event of Jesus's crucifixion.God also predestined/ordained what those particular people who were involved in the crucifixion did in the exact way and the exact time God wanted it to happen.God didn't just allow them to do it.He predestined their very actions.However, they were still held accountable for their actions.Why?Because all those people acted out of the desires of their evil hearts.The did exactly what they wanted to do at the time.

Genesis 50:19-20 "But Joseph said to them (his brothers), 'Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?As for you, you MEANT evil against me, but God MEANT it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.'"To mean to do something is active - not passive like allow.Joseph did not say God knew you were going to sell me into slavery (which at first they wanted to kill him - God restrained them from doing so because that isn't what God wanted them to do) so he decided to let you do it but made lemonade out of lemons.And do you think God held the brothers accountable for actions - yes.Why?Because the brothers did what they wanted to do out of their evil hearts.They did exactly what they desired to do at the time.

Reformed Christians have an answer for why God knew at the time of creation everything that would come to pass.It's because it's all part of his plans and purposes that he ordained to happen in time when he created.And nothing can happen outside of what God has ordained.However, even people who take the position "He had perfect foreknowledge but it's a mystery why" it's still a deterministic position.Can something happen/can a person do something different in time from what God foreknew would happen/a person would do?If you say no then God's foreknowledge fixes everything that will come to pass in time.If something happened other than what God foreknew then it would invalidate God's knowledge.This is why it's been said that the only consistent Arminian is an open theist - God doesn't know what free creatures will do and has to react/respond accordingly.

The only autonomously free will is God's.His plans and purposes are what is and always will come to pass.Saying God is completely sovereign and in control, ordains everything that comes to pass but man is autonomously free are contradictions because if man is truly autonomous then God can't know what people will do until they make the choice.

Isaiah 46:9-10 "remember the former things of old; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying 'MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, AND I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY PURPOSE.'"

Daniel 4:35 "ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH ARE COUNTED AS NOTHING, and he does ACCORDING TO HIS WILL among the host of heaven AND AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH; and NONE CAN STAY HIS HAND or say to him, 'What have you done?'

Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in the minds of men, BUT IT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD THAT WILL STAND."

[justincapable]

It isn't a daunting topic. If the Christian God had supreme knowledge of events prior to the existence of our universe, then free will doesn't exist. If humans posess free will, then the Christian God cannot be omniscient. To suggest both properties exist is a prime example of cognitive dissonance.

Think about your favorite movie. A movie you have seen dozens of times. You know the movie from beginning to end, and you can quote the lines of different characters. When you watch the movie on different occasions, does the movie have a different ending each time or does it have the same ending?

From the character's perspective, they may have a perception of choice in what they will say or do, but as a viewer, you know the timeline of the story. The movie plays out the same way every time you watch it.