PREDESTINATION

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Genesis 1, 31

 

I believe it is generally accepted that all Christians believe that God is in control of everything, and that the fall of Adam and Eve did not come as a surprise to Him. God was not deceived by Satan, who appeared as a serpent. However, there are significant differences between Catholics and many non-Catholic Christians regarding how God was not caught off guard by Adam and Eve's actions and Satan's deception. I wish to explain how it was neither Satan nor Adam and Eve who fell from God’s grace by no free will of their own. Lucifer’s expulsion from heaven and Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden wasn’t intentionally prearranged or determined by God only so that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ could come into the world for the glory of God. Yet, countless Reformed and Evangelical Protestants believe that’s how it was. Certainly, there’s nothing good about that.

Those who follow the false teaching of double predestination often use Ephesians 1:5 as their reference, which says, "[God] predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." According to their belief, God predetermined some individuals to be destined for salvation, while others are destined for eternal damnation, since no human being is worthy of being saved by their own natural or supernatural merit under the system of grace. The verb "predestined" is derived from the Greek word "proorizó," (προορίζω), which means "to know or declare in advance" by God's foreknowledge. In this context, it means that God knew in advance that faithful Christians would be called to become adopted children of God through Jesus Christ. However, this does not necessarily mean that their free will is precluded.

Peter refers to the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" when he speaks of faithful Christians. These Christians are sanctified or justified by the working of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prompts and strengthens them to be obedient to Christ, even when they face persecution and death for their faith (1 Pet 1:2). St. Paul and St. Peter are referring to predestination to grace, not to eternal glory. God has foreseen this predestination since before he created the world and humanity.


We believe that the martyrs of the faith are destined for glory. However, only God can know with absolute certainty whether they belong to the elect who are destined to glory. Some non-Catholics confuse the meaning of predestination with predetermination. Predestination refers to God's foreknowledge of what we'll do in faith by becoming Christians. Predetermination is the erroneous belief that God determines what we'll do without any will of our own. Just because God knows what we'll do, it doesn't mean He determines what we do. If God knows that we'll do something, it's because He knows everything. We can infer that it will rain by looking at dark, threatening rain clouds covering the entire sky. However, it won't rain because we predict it.

God is not responsible for evil. We have the freedom to choose between good and evil. When we reach maturity, we can choose to be baptized and live up to our baptismal commitment. The early martyrs chose to follow Christ, even if it meant suffering and dying for Him, because of their love for Him. However, they did not do this as mindless machines, but as individuals with free will. God is patient with us and wants us to repent and receive His grace through the Holy Spirit. He desires everyone to be saved, but it is up to us to choose to follow Him (2 Pet 3:9).

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
Deuteronomy 32, 4

No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’;
for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.
James 1, 13

It was not God's plan from the beginning that all humanity must die in Adam so that all could be made alive in Christ. God did not create sinners just so that they could need Jesus to save them from God's justice. This kind of reasoning is placing the cart before the horse. While it is true that humanity's fall did not surprise God since He is omniscient, it was not preordained or decreed that Adam and Eve should fall from grace. If God had acted on a whim in this way, He would have to take full moral responsibility for their sins, and in that case, there couldn't be such a thing as sin or the need for a savior.

Catholics believe that God allowed the fall to happen, but it was not something He desired. God permitted the fall for the sake of the greater good, without directly or intentionally causing it. While God may be the physical cause of our transgressions, since He created Adam and Eve, He is not morally responsible for the sins of humanity. The serpent, who initially tempted Eve, also played a role in this drama, freely acting in the story. If Adam and Eve did not have free will, the serpent would not have tempted Eve in the first place. We are morally accountable for our sins, and therefore can be justly rewarded or punished by the Lord. God has given us the freedom to choose between right and wrong, obedience and disobedience, and life and death.

Jesus came into the world as a solution to sin, not as a cause of sin. It was not God's intention to create the world so that we could sin and He could then show His divine mercy. If humanity fell, it was only because God knew that Jesus would come into the world and provide us with a life that is immeasurably more glorious than the preternatural life in the original paradise. God has always loved us and desired our spiritual well-being even before the creation of Adam. His justice, mercy, omnipotence and sovereignty all coexist harmoniously.

 

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get
a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Repent and live!
Ezekiel 18:32

God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.
1 Corinthians 14, 33


In Eastern Catholic theology, there is a significant difference between God's desires and decrees. What God wants is called His antecedent will, and what God decides is His consequent will (as explained by St. John of Damascus, in An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 2, Chapter 29: Concerning Providence). God wants everyone to be saved (Ezek 18:23, 1 Tim 2:4, 1 Jn 2:2, etc.), but He decides that unrepentant souls must be cast into the eternal fire of Hell as punishment for their serious sins (Mt 25:41, Lk 13:3, etc.). God's original intent was to create a world in which every human being was free to choose whether or not to respond to His grace as a way to show their love for Him. True love cannot exist without human free will and liberty. Adam and Eve's fall was a result of their moral freedom, which God in His kindness and justice decreed they should have in order to truly love Him and live with Him (see John 14:23). Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent and disobeyed God because of their excessive love for themselves.

God has not predetermined the eternal destiny of souls, which means that there is no double predestination. Instead, He invites us to obey His commands and cooperate with His saving grace so that we can be reconciled to Him and have eternal life with Him. This is demonstrated in verses such as 2 Corinthians 7:1 and Ephesians 6:11-13. It is important to note that if God were the author of confusion instead of peace, He would not urge us to give up our sinful ways and receive His Spirit in our hearts.

 

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel
of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan;
even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?
Zechariah 3:1,2

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands
you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4, 7

If God intentionally created evil as opposed to the good that He desires, then God cannot be considered good. If God were not good, then there could not be anything good in His creation (as stated in Genesis 1:31). However, because we are aware of the difference between right and wrong, we have the freedom to choose to act for good or for evil, for or against God who is absolute goodness in His divine essence. Meanwhile, God, in His goodness and mercy, has ensured that resisting evil temptations is not impossible by providing us with sufficient grace, which enables us to direct our will towards what is good and pleasing to Him.

It is impossible to recognize evil without first knowing what good is, according to our conscience. Our conscience is meaningless without free will and moral responsibility. God would not have given us a conscience if He were the source of evil. Love is good because it comes from God, who is love because He is good. However, self-love in excess is not good. Selfishness is a wrong that arises from a void within our natural selves. God expects us to love ourselves in moderation and to relinquish our selfish desires that often lead to sins against Him and our neighbor. We cannot hold God responsible for our innate selfishness or excessive self-love, which is the essence of original sin. Regardless of who created us physically, humans are responsible for their immoral behavior. They have the moral freedom and cognitive ability to abandon their selfish desires and avoid sin.


Temptations arise within the order of creation, and Satan has been given a limited opportunity to exploit them. However, our temptations are more challenging to overcome due to the involvement of the devil in human affairs. In fact, God held the serpent responsible for what happened tragically in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:14). Nevertheless, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin by choosing to act on the serpent's words, which appealed to their excessive self-love. They were responsible for their actions. Instead of remaining friends with God, our first parents decided to move away from Him by trying to be like Him but without Him and against His will. Satan was successful in deceiving Eve because she didn't resist him much. What appealed to her more than her Creator was what He had created.

God, in His goodness and kindness, wants us to overcome our pride and excessive self-love, which are the root of sin. We need to humble ourselves before Him so that He can help us resist the false temptations of evil which only lead us to short-sightedness (1 Pet 5:6). It is our responsibility to allow God to persuade us to resist temptation with sufficient strength, as our inclination to please ourselves with things that are not good can enslave us.

 

A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.
Do not drive me from before your face,
nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore to me the gladness of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51, 12-14

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things
that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with
him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these
the wrath of God is coming.
Colossians 3, 1-6

St. Thomas Aquinas believed that perfection in this world is achieved when someone or something fulfills its purpose. For humans, perfection is attained by directing our intellectual capacities towards understanding God and conforming our will to His, which is our proper end. However, according to Catholic Church dogma, only God is perfect. As per the Angelic Doctor of the Church, God is perfect because He is entirely actual with no potential, whereas beings and things are perfect in proportion to their actuality. Although Adam and Eve were created perfect, they were not absolutely perfect since they had the potential to freely fall short of achieving their purpose, which was to be good and in friendship with God by aligning their will with His. If there were anything for which God could be held responsible – though not morally responsible – it would be His wise decision to create an imperfect and free world in which we can choose or reject Him. God's ultimate desire is for us to want to be with Him in Heaven above everything else.

God's absolute perfection or immutability is an inherent attribute of His divine essence, which unifies all of His other attributes. For instance, His faithfulness and justice are rooted in His non-moral attribute of immutability, which means that He can never contradict Himself by doing anything wrong. Therefore, God can never be better or worse than what He essentially is, and absolute perfection cannot be improved upon. His righteousness and justice are immutable, which means that in His essence, God cannot be less righteous and just or unrighteous and unjust than human beings. Likewise, He cannot be more righteous or just. As God said to Moses, “I am who I am" (Ex 3:14), which means that God cannot be more or less than who He is.

t follows that if God directly caused or pre-programmed Adam and Eve to sin, He would have acted unjustly and sinned against Himself, introducing mutability in God. No true Christian can profess belief in a just and loving God while believing God caused Adam and Eve to sin against their will so that we would need a savior. An immutable God couldn’t possibly act on a whim to His own discredit.

 

In guilt I was born; a sinner was I conceived.
Psalm 51, 5

As stated earlier, if God predetermined how people should behave without any free will, then there would be no reason for Him to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. God is perfect in His nature, and absolute in His essence, which includes love, righteousness, and justice. God cannot be less than perfect, as there is no room for imperfection in Him. Therefore, it would be a contradiction to think of God as one who purposely damns people without any fault of their own or rewards those who do not deserve it. Such a god could not possibly be God.

As humans, we are born with an innate inclination towards what is good and just, which stems from God, our creator. This goodness is evident in our ability to choose what is good with the help of God's grace. However, due to the fall of man, we now possess a wounded nature that often leads us to choose what is not pleasing to God, despite our knowledge of what is right and wrong. This is because we have the potential to sin against God, which deprives us of our original state of sanctity and justice. It's important to remember that pride can be the cause of our downfall.

The inherent selfishness inherited from Adam and Eve lives inside each one of us. It is a part of the natural fabric of our being, and hence, we require daily conversion and restoration to God's grace. However, we are not completely depraved; we are only imperfect in our autonomy. The shame we feel due to our sins is evidence that human beings are inherently good, having been created in the divine image. Adam did not forfeit this for his descendants (Gen 1:26). It is only a matter of us living up to our inherent goodness, which is not an insurmountable feat with the help of God's grace. This is necessary for our salvation (1 Jn 1:5-7).

 

Early Sacred Tradition

“Seeing, therefore, that we are the portion of the Holy One, let us do all those things which pertain to holiness,
avoiding all evil-speaking, all abominable and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness, seeking after change,
all abominable lusts, detestable adultery, and execrable pride. ‘For God,’ saith [the Scripture], ‘resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace to the humble.’ Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace has been given by God. Let us clothe
ourselves with concord and humility, ever exercising self control, standing far off from all whispering and evil-speaking,
being justified by our works, and not our words.”

St. Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians, 30
(A.D. 98)

 

“I do not mean to say that there are two different human natures, but all
humanity is made the same, sometimes belonging to God and sometimes to
the devil. If anyone is truly spiritual they are a person of God; but if they are
irreligious and not spiritual then they are a person of the devil, made such
not by nature, but by their own choice.”
St. Ignatius of Antioch, To the Ephesians
(c. A.D. 107)

 

“But neither do we affirm that it is by fate that men do what they do, or suffer what they suffer,
but that each man by free choice acts rightly or wrongly…The stoics, not observing this, maintained
that all things take place according to the necessity of fate. But since God, in the beginning made the
race of men and angels with free will they will justly suffer in eternal fire the punishment of whatever sins
they have committed, and this is the nature of all that is made, to be capable of vice and virtue.”

St. Justin Martyr, Apologia 2
[c. A.D. 160]

 

“The wicked man is justly punished, having become depraved of himself;
and the just man is worthy of praise for his honest deeds, since
it was in his free choice that he did not transgress the will of God.”

St. Tatian the Syrian, Address to the Greeks 7
[A.D. 170]

 

“So likewise men, if they do truly progress by faith towards better things, and receive the Spirit of God,
and bring forth the fruit thereof, shall be spiritual, as being planted in the paradise of God. But if they cast
out the Spirit, and remain in their former condition, desirous of being of the flesh rather than of the Spirit,
then it is very justly said with regard to men of this stamp, ‘That flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom
of God;’ just as if any one were to say that the wild olive is not received into the paradise of God.”

St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5:10,1
[A.D. 180]

 

“You are mistaken, and are deceived, whosoever you are, that think yourself rich in this world. 
Listen to the voice of your Lord in the Apocalypse, rebuking men of your stamp with righteous
reproaches: ‘Thou sayest,’ says He, ‘I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel
thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest
be clothed, and that the shame of thy  
nakedness  may not appear in thee; and anoint thine eyes with
eye-salve, that thou mayest see.’ You therefore, who are rich and wealthy, buy for yourself of Christ
gold tried by fire; that you may be pure gold, with your filth burnt out as if by fire, if you are purged
by almsgiving and righteous works. Buy for yourself white raiment, that you who had been naked
according to Adam, and were before frightful and unseemly, may be clothed with the white garment of
Christ. And you who are a wealthy and rich matron in Christ’s Church, anoint your eyes, not with the
collyrium of the devil, but with Christ’s eye-salve, that you may be able to attain to see God, by deserving
well of God, both by good works and character.”

St. Cyprian of Carthage, On Works and Alms, 14
[A.D.254]

 

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5, 48

 

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