Northern Caribbean University

School of Religion and Theology

PREDESTINATION

A Paper

Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Course

RELT491: Systematic Theology II

By

Anthony Knight (20183432)

April 20

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………... 2

What is Predestination? …………………………………………………………….…...3-4

Historical Theological View on Predestination….............................................................4-6

Contemporary Relevance…………………………………………………………….…...8

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………...9-10

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………11-12

INTRODUCTION

Millard J. Erickson states that predestination has a long and checkered history in

Christian theology. From the days of Augustine and Pelagius in the early fifth century until

today, predestination has consistently been understood as God’s decree concerning the salvation

of individuals. Hence, predestination is defined as God’s choice of individuals for eternal life or

eternal death. The doctrine of predestination is one that brings several questions to the minds of

Christians. These questions sometimes affect our whole attitude to life and salvation, and

towards our trust and joy in God. Many questions have been asked regarding predestination; is it
biblical? Who does God predestine? If God predestined a person does that mean that person can

never be lost and is that person free to choose Him? However, in order for us to have a better

understanding of the topic , my goal in this paper is to identify clearly what is the meaning of

predestination, after which I will then move on to the historical theological view on

predestination by theologians such as Augustine of Hippo and John Calvin. Then we will look at

the biblical theological view on predestination which will explain the meaning of Romans 8:29,

which will bring us to the contemporary application for modern Christianity.

WHAT IS PREDESTINATION?

Over the years there have been various definitions of predestination. Some of the popular

definitions of predestination within the theological circle are somewhat different from each other.

According to David Neelands, predestination has been defined as God’s

predetermination that all who He foresees accepting Him freely and willingly He will justify by

faith in Jesus. It is also God’s purpose and decree, before the foundations of the worlds were laid.

This secret judgment refers to deliverance from curse and damnation, which suggests that the

decree is made with a foresight of the fall, even though it clearly precedes the actual creation.

Kirk MacGregor simply states that predestination can be defined as God’s foreordination

of a person’s destiny, vocation, or task. The Cambridge Advanced Learners’ dictionary defines

predestination as “the belief that people have no control over events because these things are

controlled by God or by fate.” This thus refers to something that one does not have any control

over. The Chambers 21st Century Dictionary also sees predestination as “the doctrine that
whatever is to happen has been unalterably fixed by God from the beginning of time, especially

with regard to which souls are to be saved and which damned.” This puts destiny to a fixed

situation that cannot be altered. John Calvin explains Predestination to mean an eternal decree or

ruling of God out of which God determines what should befall every human person. In other

words Asante means it is God who has determined what should happen to everyone.

With all of these definitions I can clearly state that God has perfect foreknowledge of all

events past, present, and future. Foreseeing the defection of Lucifer and of our first parents, He

devised the plan of salvation, which provided that Christ should become a substitute for guilty
humanity (John 3:16; 1 Peter 1:19, 20) and that His grace should be offered freely to all (Titus

2:11; 2 Tim. 1:9). It is God’s will that all should accept the pardon offered and the gift of eternal

life.

HISTORICAL THEOLOGICAL VIEW ON PREDESTINATION

The doctrine of predestination has found its root and origin in the church by theologians

such as Augustine of Hippo and John Calvin, which has been constantly debated, discussed, and

has even been quite a controversy. Many Christians don’t understand it, some miss understand it

and others have shunned it in all its forms of teaching.

Pelagius in the early church and John Wesley in the 18th century provided two examples

of those who shun the teaching. This division has continued throughout the centuries. The

doctrine of predestination has a wide and a narrow use or view. In the wider view, it refers to the

fact that God has foreordained everything that should come to pass (Eph. 1:11, 22; cf. Ps. 2).

From all eternity God has determined everything that should come to pass and fulfill throughout

history. The narrow use of the term is that God has selected a group of people to inherit salvation

while ordained the rest to go their own way, which is in living in sin and to be ultimately

punished and destroyed. These are referred to as the doctrine of election and reprobation.
Nevertheless, some may accept the idea of God choosing individuals for eternal life, however,

they completely reject the idea of a decree of reprobation (Rom. 9:16-19).

On the other hand, the doctrine of predestination is seen as biblical to the Catholic Church

and has been thought of for over one thousand and five hundred years.it is believed that God

infallibly directs certain people (whom scripture calls the “elect”). In the third canon of the Third

Council of Valencia (855), predestination of death for the wicked is mentioned. The elect is

predestined to life and the wicked to death. “God foreknew the malice of the wicked, and

because it was their own and He was not the cause of it, He did not predestine it. The
punishment, of course, following their demerit, this He foreknew and predestined.” This means

that God's penalty and damnation was determined upon the wicked for their sins long before our

world was created, by which He is not the cause.

Though predestination is mostly identified with Calvin, a nineteenth-century historian by

the name Charles Schmidt, concluded that besides Calvin, Vermigli who is a 16th-century

protestant reformer established the doctrine of predestination more than any other protestant

reformer did. Throughout the Reformation period, many theologians uplift the doctrine of

predestination. There are theologians such as Gabriel Biel, who holds a doctrine of absolute

predestination, John Calvin, argues that God select and reject others for salvation, Jacob

Arminius, who studied under Calvin, argues that divine election is conditioned on the person’s

response of faith, Luis de Molina who accepts the doctrine of divine permission, Francis de

Sales, thought predestination by divine love, and Theodore Beza, unknowing to us God choose

His elects and in consequence rejects the damned.

BIBLICAL THEOLOGICAL VIEW ON PREDESTINATION

The biblical term from which we derive the noun predestination is proōrizō which means

to preordain. Used in connection with proginōskō (to foreknow) and prosthesis (plan, decision)
in Romans 8:28-30 and 1 Corinthians 2:7, God’s predestination is described as “an activity of his

with men directed towards their fellowship with him.” It is God’s decision “to bring about a

certain event or state of affairs at a future time,” without reference to destiny. The significance to

understanding predestination as an activity is that it envisages a beginning point which runs a

course until its goal is achieved.

The Bible teaches that God first foresaw how people would decide; then He predestined

to salvation those whom He knew would accept Christ. God did not impose arbitrary decrees

upon humanity. He did not decide that some would be saved and others lost, irrespective of their
personal choice. And He did not make it impossible for some to reject His grace and just as

impossible for others to accept His grace.

Paul taught that those who were predestined to salvation were those whom God

foreknew. "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his

son" Romans 8:29. The statement obviously means that divine foreknowledge of the individual

came before divine predestination. Because in the ages before creation of our world God foresaw

that certain ones would submit to Christ's loving authority, He predetermined that He would save

them from sin, give them the new birth experience, and invest them with the glory of Christ's

character (verse 30). These are the "elect" (verse 33) or the chosen ones.

In Romans, chapter 11, Paul discussed God's foreknowledge of the decisions of His

people. When Paul wrote that "God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew" (Rom 11:2),

he did not mean that the whole Israelite nation was still God's chosen people. This is very clear

from the context. The ones God "foreknew" were like the seven thousand in the time of Elijah

who had not bowed the knee to Baal (verse 4).

CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION

As Christians today, we must understand that God’s predestination is not speaking of once saved
always save. Also, Romans 8: 29 would have us understand that divine foreknowledge of an

individual comes before divine predestination. From before our world was created God foresaw

that certain people will surrender to Christ, He predetermined that He would save them from sin,

let them experience the new birth, and invest them with the glory of the character of Christ

(Rom. 8:30). These are the elect/ the ones chosen (Rom. 8: 33). Hence, the great commission

plays a great part in God’s call. And today His call is still active, thus, if we hear his voice, we

should not harden our hearts.

It is to be understood that God makes various choices, for there are some that serve to
perform specific duties, such as election to the office of king or the office of apostle; there are

other elections to eternal life. These are sometimes distinguished from one another, for it often

happens that someone elected to a kingdom is not automatically elected to eternal life. This also

happens regarding the office of an apostle, as in the case of Judas. Sometimes they are joined

together, so that when it is spoken of temporal election, we may understand that the same applies

to eternal election. Thus, Paul says that he was “called to be an apostle and set apart from his

mother’s womb,” that is, to be an apostle and to preach the gospel. Yet together with this, we

may understand that he was predestined to eternal salvation. Christ also said: “You did not

choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your

fruit should remain.” Together with that, he commanded them to be of good comfort, for their

names were written in heaven.

CONCLUSION

After analyzing the different viewpoints of the doctrine of predestination, not all views

are the same and some even contradict scripture. The viewpoint that predestination is God

selecting some for salvation and rejecting others leaving them to perish from before our world

was created does not stand up to scripture. The Bible tells us, “God so loved the world” that He

planned for “the world” to be saved through His son Jesus Christ (John 3:16, 17). It also teaches

that God has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezek. 18:31, 32, KJV). Therefore, God
does not wish for individuals to perish without hope, nor select individuals for life, while turning

His backs on others that they will receive death. Likewise, the view that God predestined all that

will happen; therefore, all that happens must happen also contradicts scripture. For God does not

will all that He foresees. Paul mentions that God desires that all humanity be saved and come to

the knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:40, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath

appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11, KJV). The line of teaching that teaches that predestination is

God selecting individuals for salvation and those whom He selects cannot be lost nor can they

reject Him is also not Biblical. For Jesus died for everyone and not just a certain set of people. If
this was the case then many that He called and even anointed who turned from righteousness and

lost their salvation could never be lost: Nadab, Abihu, Saul, Judas, etc. Thus, it is to be

understood that God makes various decisions and choices, and some are towards specific duties,

such as elections to the office of king, priest, prophet, disciple, apostle; there are other elections

to eternal life. Some are different from the others, for it occurs often that someone that is elected

to a kingdom is not automatically elected to eternal life. We see this in the office of a priest;

Nadab and Abihu, and in the office of an apostle; Judas. However, sometimes they are joined

together, where temporal election also applies to eternal election. Thus, Paul mentions that he

was called to be an apostle and was set apart from his mother’s womb as an apostle to preach the

gospel (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1: 15). Thus, he was predestined to eternal salvation. Jesus said, “You did

not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your

fruit should remain” (John 15:16). Thus, He told them to be of good comfort, for their names

were written in heaven. Finally, despite God’s foreknowledge of the destruction of the wicked (2

Thess. 1: 7-10; Rev. 21: 27), He moves upon their heart to call them over to salvation. He in fact

foresaw and rejoiced some wicked people would listen to his voice and accept him and finally be

saved. So, all is foreseen of God, but freedom is granted.

The Bible teaches a doctrine of predestination which is based on God’s foreknowledge of

individual future choices. Basically, predestination is God’s decision to put in place a plan to

save His yet to be created world. The nature of God’s knowledge of the future does not have to
be understood in strict analogical terms to human knowledge (open view) or along classical

Greek philosophical lines. God’s ability to know events that have not yet occurred in a way that

does not condition outcomes is perhaps the key unresolved problem in predestination. But isn’t

this capacity that distinguishes Him as God?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1990.

Neelands. David. Chapter Seventeen: Predestination and the Thirty-Nine Articles A Companion

to Peter Martyr Vermigli volume 16, 355–374, 01 Jan 2009, https://doi.org/

10.1163/ej.9789004175549.i-542.99.

MacGregor Kirk. Reference Article Predestination, Research Gate,

2016/1/1/,https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318755205_Reference_Article_-

_Predestination

Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary. Third Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2008.

Robinson, George W. Davidson. Editors. Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. Edinburgh:

Chambers. 1996.

Calvin, John. Institutes of Christian Religion. John. T. McNeil, Editor. Louisville, KY: The

Westminster John Knox Press 1960

Elwell, Walter. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology Michigan: Baker Book House. 1984.

Salza. John. The Mystery of Predestination: According to Scripture, the Church, & St. Thomas

Aquinas North Carolina: TAN Books, 2010

Vermigli, Predestination and Justification, 25.

Matthew Levering, Predestination: Biblical and Theological Paths Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 2011.

Krienke. Jacobs. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 1 Grand

Rapids, MI.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.

William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and

Other Early Christian Literature, University of Chicago Press 1957.

Name: Daniel Crawford

Assignment: Journal Entry

Date: November 29, 2023

What did I learn this week?

For one to gain true success in mission they have to display faithfulness to God.

Results in missions come from God, not from the human instrument.

No one will ever succeed in advancing the Gospel in Christian missions without an unshakable

commitment to the Lord’s persistent calling on their life.

converting souls thus producing a christlike lifestyle.

Our souls are priceless treasures of infinite worth; each one was created by God. Every soul has

the potential to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Souls are also extremely

rare; each is unique. We must also remember that Jesus died upon the cross, paying the

price with His blood and agony to show how much He desired our souls.

Therefore, we must be extremely careful with our souls. To exchange them for the things of this
world would be a foolish transaction.

What needs improvement?

Nothing at this point.

Questions/Comments/Recommendations

This method of learning is very effective.