Predestination vs. Free Will

My regular monday-night small group sunk their teeth into an apparently controversial and interesting topic tonight. It was, as the title implies, about predestination.

Predestination is a concept that claims God has a predetermined plan and/or destination for your life. This definition is, of course, open for critique and different interpretation.

From my point of view, it is a seemingly futile topic to spend much time debating simply because it subjective and, quite honestly, unable to be understood by the human mind.

It is a wide spectrum.

On one side of the spectrum we have radical Calvinist (no relation to me, mind you - John Calvin) ideals: Everyone is predestined so therefore the Christians have no reason to witness and the non-believers have no reason to try and become saved.

On the other side we find the ideals of radical Arminian (not Armenian): There is no predestination, but instead free will. You have the ability to do whatever you want.

The reason why the topic is so controversial is really because there is so much room for interpretation. You may be leaning towards one side or the other or may believe in a blend of the two.

The second reason why it is hard to grasp is because we, as human beings, have limited capacity for understanding of anything that is outside time and space. Anything that does not have to deal with time is an unfathomable concept for us. So we can obviously not understand how a God that lives outside of time can interact with and affect that which lives inside time.

Thus, the controversy of the doctrine of Predestination.

Whadya think?

Dad's Last Day of Radiation

Today was Dad's last day of radiation. We've come a long way since Groundhog's Day. It's been more than two months. As many of you know, my Dad, Gary, has been taking radiation treatment for a while now. And today was his last day.

He's doing alright now. He's still not quite himself, and won't be for about a week. But then, if everything goes well, he will be himself again. He'll recover.

Well it's in fate's hands now. I'll keep him in my prayers.