Predestination

Clock and Big Bang

Predestination In Catholicism

Predestination In Catholicism Predestination in Catholicism is the Catholic Church‘s teachings on predestination and Catholic saints‘ views on it. The church believes that predestination is not based on anything external to God – for example, the grace of baptism is not merited but given freely to those who receive baptism – since predestination was formulated before the foundation of the...

If God made the game, its rules, and the players, then how can any player be free?

Argument From Free Will

Argument From Free Will The argument from free will, also called the paradox of free will or theological fatalism, contends that omniscience and free will are incompatible and that any conception of God that incorporates both properties is therefore inherently contradictory. These arguments are deeply concerned with the implications of predestination. Omniscience and free will...

This etching by Frans Hogenberg illustrates the Second Coming of Christ and references the Olivet Discourse. Angels can be seen gathering the elect.

Predestination In Calvinism

Predestination In Calvinism Predestination is a doctrine in Calvinism dealing with the question of the control that God exercises over the world. In the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith, God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” The second use of the word “predestination” applies this to the salvation, and refers...

Stefan Lochner, Last Judgement, c. 1435. Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne

Predestination

What Is Predestination? Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the “paradox of free will“, whereby God‘s omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. In this usage, predestination can be...