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Presuming you are a Christian:

“If you agree continue.” appears after each thought below. If you disagree at any point please copy and paste the text for which you disagreed in the comments section at the bottom of this post. Thanks ahead of time! PS If you are not Christian there is no need to comment. This is a topic for Christians and will not make sense in any other view.

In this post, I will not go over the history of predestination as found in the scripture. If you are here you have likely heard and or thought about this subject. If not there is plenty to read and various points of view so click this link if you are interested.

Many Christians, including myself, have been on both sides of this question. Below is the way I try to explain it. We start by answering some basic questions for ourselves before getting wrapped up in the discussion.

  • Do you believe God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present? If you agree continue.
  • Do you believe God is the Alpha and the Omega, beginning, and end of all things? If you agree continue.
  • If you disagree with either of the statements above the paragraphs below will not make sense to you. What follows below is predicated on the answers being “yes I agree” to the above questions.

Man views things in a timeline but God is at all places at once, knows all things at once, and has control over all things at the same time. Therefore, the past, present, or future from our human perspective is not past, present, or future for God. If you agree continue.

However, since God speaks to us as created things we hear Him in relation to time. If you agree continue.

Sometimes analogies work best to explain complex ideas. Analogies are not precise in their description but only hint at how to compare things.

Imagine God as the scriptwriter, producer, and director for a movie. The movie script is written from beginning to end. The end is known only by the author until it is acted out, produced, and goes into public circulation.

Note: This part was added on 31 Jan 22 in order to clarify the analogy above. Brother Mac suggests that actors can ad-lib in scenes of a movie. Also, note that I had warned ahead of time that analogies are not precise. Simply change the analogy to a book rather than a movie. The author knows the whole thing before it is published and enters circulation.

That is how I view predestination as it is described in the Bible. Did this help?