Response to the Back to the Future Theory

Over the past week I've found blog after blog discussing the idea of predestination. Over and over again I find that my views are considered weak and take away too much sovereignty from God. Over and over again I've had to try to explain that I'm not limiting God at all but expanding on how awesome a God he is!...

Jim over at the Moral Science Club posted on his own blog discussing mine. I felt his words were awesome and true revelation. So I'm going to share them word for word! Let me know what you think:

Braintwister - God's Sovereignty and Our Free Will

Christian eye has a fascinating post over at his site. Here is his premise:

Romans 8:30
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Ephesians 1:5
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will...
For a long time now I've had a theory about predestination...

I felt now would be a good time to share it. Its a bit hard to grasp for some but for others you will find it quite easy to see my point of view.

[Theory #1] We always talk about how our God is omnipotent (all powerful) in that he created everything in this universe from the quasars and blackholes of the galaxies down to the dimples and freckles on our faces. When we get into trouble or when we are praying we are happy to know that God is omnipresent (all seeing) and will never leave us or forsake us. But I notice that some hate the word "predestination" because if God is omniscient (all knowing) then predestination to them means that he already knows if they are going to accept him as their savior or not and it means nothing is really worth the effort.

[Theory #2 - NOT] Then there are those who limit our God by saying that he chose to hide the future from himself so that we can have free will. I find this hard to believe considering the evidence of the Bible. How many prophecies were given just on the birth and life of Jesus? What is the book of Revelation if not a glimpse into our future? No, God knows what the future holds for us.

[Theory #3] My theory is called "My Back to the Future Theory" because I came to it after watching the above scene so many years ago. I had this thought, "Why can God not just see the future but ALL possible futures? Why can't he see not only those things I did but all the choices I didn't take?"

My thought is that God knows all the choices I could make and he chooses to let me have free will over which choice I will make. He knows all my futures. I don't believe in parallel universes so I don't believe that there is an alternate me living out one of my other choices. I do believe that God has not limited himself to the present nor limited us to a fixed path. That lines up with the Bible.

My thoughts. God sees our predestination and we don't[Paul is speaking from God's perspective].

Since God is omniscient He has all knowledge (He is the I Am).

The question that I'm struggling with most in Chris's theory is if God knows the future then He knows what will happen in perfect sequence in all its nuances. However, if He sees all possible outcomes, things that could happen as a result of our choices, wouldn't that mean He holds knowledge that is useless? Would God see something that didn't happen? Wouldn't that mean God would know something that isn't true?

Truthfully, there can be only one future that actually happens around us and God has already seen it. There is still a mystery there, as Christian eye put it,

if God is omniscient (all knowing) then predestination to them means that he already knows if they are going to accept him as their savior or not and it means nothing is really worth the effort.

I would diverge on the point that it's not really worth the effort. We simply don't know and God does. The point I stumbled over subsequently is abortion. An atheist once challenged me with the question, why would God create a child with a purpose and plan for their life if He knew they'd be aborted? Good question. Hundreds of millions of children have been killed worldwide that apparently did not have a role to play here on earth in God's ultimate plan. God did not "over-rule (sove-reign)" our free will in these abortions. Oddly enough, the only two abortion survivors I've ever read about have Christian ministries. But that's a big net for a handful of fish. Why is God silent?

One possibility is that God lives and those ideas He sent us in the form of the children who were rejected by the world through abortion returned to Him. I'm thinking of Alfred North Whitehead's famous quote, "God is a tender care that nothing be lost." Will those little lambs fulfill their purpose and plan in heaven? Just a thought, which reminds us that we believe death not to be our end.

An idea floated into my head last night during prayer time, I became aware of the fact that I have a contradictory belief; I'm going to die one day but I'm going to live. It's like Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, Abe believed that his son would die and that his son would become a nation. A young Christian has written an interesting article on that kind of faith here. I went around for awhile saying to myself, "I'm going to die! I'm going to live!" There's a mystery there because through Christ we know the final say is the latter, we live.

If God is the I Am then what are we? Wouldn't my moniker be I Am Not? But, He is. He lives and because of that, I do. He is the original but I am a wonderfully made copy who went wrong because of my own free will. If I hold onto my free will like a sailor holding on to the shipwreck, I may drown in my false self. But if the focus of my life becomes I'm with I Am, I belong to Him, then I have truly been set free to ascend to the kingdom of God where God's will finally is revealed to us. There's something I feel like repeating...

"I'm going to die! I'm going to live!"

Here's my summation for now.

I'm going to die
because of my free will.
I'm going to live
because God is sovereign.



Amen.

You pointed out that knowing possible futures would mean that God knows something that isn't true. God himself is Truth and sin is separation from God. With that reasoning we see that if sin separates us from God it separates us from truth making our lives not true. So, yes, I'd have to say the statement that God knows something that isn't true is correct.

God never wanted us to die; he never wanted our children to die. We were never meant to kill each other and to rape each other and to know what sorrow feels like. These things are outside of the Truth. He wanted us to choose him from the beginning that the purpose of our lives would be complete but each and every one of us chose to rebel.

Jim, I'm not sure if you were agreeing with me or just changing the focus but either way I like what you had to say.

I'm going to die
because of my free will.
I'm going to live
because God is sovereign.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We sin when we make choices contrary to what God has predestined for us. We live again when we give up our selves, lay down our will and pick up the will of God. He made a way out so that we could be brought back to his side and walk the path we were predestined for. Praise God! Awesome post, Jim!