My Thoughts on Absolute Fate and God

I actually actively disapprove of the doctrine of full comprehensive fate, the idea that God has specifically planned out everything from the beginning of time, to exact detail, so that nothing happens that He did not make happen.

Most people object to the concept of absolute fate because of the idea of hell. If God predestines everything that occurs, and hell exists as a destination for human beings when they die, God must then have predestined millions (or perhaps, depending on how strict your doctrine is on behavior or what your beliefs must be, billions of people, in fact, perhaps even the overwhelming majority of mankind) before they were even born and without ever giving them a real choice, to suffer for a while here on earth and then die and immediately suffer for eternity in hell.

Horrible as the very idea of that is, even if someone somehow says he only believes God knows of that future but doesn’t ensure it, or that no one truly goes to hell, I still despise the very idea of absolute fate. To say that God planned everything specifically, not just planning for outcomes like a building inspector, but literally knew what things would happen and set things in motion to make them happen... that in it of itself is a horrible statement I don’t understand how Christians can say without feeling shame for saying it. In essence that means every sin or evil ever committed in the history of the universe was not only tolerated by God, but directly His fault. I can only imagine the awkwardness of trying to explain this doctrine to grieving parents who just lost a little one. Jesus did not then die to save us from our sins, but only as a part of an overall plan in which our role is merely as puppets.

Life is not a movie and God is not a director. I firmly believe the choices we make in this life are ours to own. God does not make decisions for us, and indeed does NOT always know what our decisions will be.

God Himself has changed His mind in the past based on human behavior. If He has not changed His mind, as many say He has not, then the Bible is simply a series of nice stories, for He does this time and time again in the old testament, from Genesis on. (Genesis 18:17- 19:29, Exodus 4:10-16, Exodus 4:24-26, Exodus 32:1-14, Numbers 14:11-23, Judges 2:20-23, just for starters) He even routinely makes His promises conditional and His prophets discuss what ifs as though alternate decisions could indeed have been made by people, other than those decisions made (1 Samuel 13:5-14). The Bible and reality scream that the doctrine of absolute fate cannot be true. God did not cause all the evil in the universe and I do not, nor would I ever, worship a god of evil.

To those wishing to debate with me, before you try, answer me this, why bother? If God predestined me to be this way, then there is nothing you can do to make me not this way. You’re arguments, no matter how well crafted, will be meaningless, as I will only “change my mind” if God predestined that I would do so before you or I were even born. Thus what is the point of discussion with a being who has no independent thought, from a being that has no independent thought?

Before someone asks what value life has if God did not predestine every second, therefore giving it all a purpose, answer me this. Of what value is your love for God if He programmed you to have it before you were born? Of what value is God’s love for you if you can only interact with Him as He dictates, with less independent thought than a computer AI? I submit to you that if all of life on this earth was planned out before it even occurred, then it has no value at all. What is the value of something that happens only because it was forced to happen?

Purpose and fate are different. A mother’s purpose is to protect and raise her child. However she may abandon that child on a whim to burn alive inside a car on a hot day, because she was running late to work. The purpose of the mother was the care she did not provide, the slow death of the child was his fate, which she set in motion with no care of what he wanted. Thus is the difference between fate and purpose.

Before you say I am short on faith for not believing God to predestine us, and for daring to imply that God is a limited being, for indeed He would have to be if I am right, think about this. I place faith in God despite knowing He cannot satisfy all my desires for the universe on a whim. I have faith that whatever He is doing, it is for the best, and He is doing the best that can be done. I have faith that He will always be righteous and have the best in mind. I believe that He even created the universe in 6 days, despite being told the world created itself in 6 trillion years. How is that not faith? To say I have little faith, is the same as to say to someone who does not believe in Santa Clause that they have little faith. If our views differ, it does not mean one of us lacks faith.

Before anyone says that I am rejecting God’s authority... oh boy, think about that for even a few seconds. If God predestined me to rebel, His will and purpose is that I rebel... how then can it really be rebellion anyway? Isn’t rebellion NOT doing what someone wants? And aren’t you only defining my actions by your beliefs rather than in an objective manner? I could say that those who believe in fate must not believe in responsibility, and must believe that way so they can escape any semblance of guilt for their actions. But I know they probably don’t believe that way and such a statement only reflects my feelings on the subject not theirs. I say God does not predestine our actions, because I see that as more an accusation than a worshipful thing to say, and because I see that the Bible clearly states otherwise. My thoughts on this matter are no rebellion against anything save for modern theology.