Do we have to believe in predestination? Has God already created our future?

What is predestination?

The Catholic Church allows a number of opinions on the subject of predestination, but there are some points on which it stands

The New Testament teaches that predestination is real. Saint Paul says: “Those who [God] predicted that he also predestined to conform to the image of his Son, so that he could be the firstborn among many brothers. And he also called those he predestined; and even those he called justified him; and even those whom he justified glorified "(Rom. 8: 29–30).

The scriptures also refer to those whom God has "chosen" (Greek, eklektos, "chosen"), and theologians often link this term to predestination, understanding the elect as those whom God has predestined to salvation.

Since the Bible mentions predestination, all Christian groups believe in the concept. The question is: how does predestination work and there is considerable debate on this topic.

At the time of Christ, some Jews - like the Essenes - thought that everything was destined for God to happen, so that people would not have free will. Other Jews, such as the Sadducees, denied predestination and attributed everything to free will. Finally, some Jews, like the Pharisees, believed that both predestination and free will played a role. For Christians, Paul excludes the Sadducees' point of view. But the other two opinions found supporters.

Calvinists take the position closest to that of the Essenes and place a strong emphasis on predestination. According to Calvinism, God actively chooses some individuals to save, and gives them the grace that will inevitably lead to their salvation. Those whom God does not choose do not receive this grace, therefore they are inevitably damned.

In Calvinist thought, the choice of God is said to be "unconditional", which means that it is not based on anything of individuals. Belief in unconditional elections is also traditionally shared by Lutherans, with various qualifications.

Not all Calvinists speak of "free will", but many do. When they use the term, it refers to the fact that individuals are not forced to do something against their will. They can choose what they want. However, their desires are determined by God who gives or denies them the saving grace, so it is God who ultimately determines whether an individual will choose salvation or damnation.

This opinion was also supported by Luther, who compared the will of a man to an animal whose destination is determined by his knight, who is either God or the devil:

The human will is placed between the two like a pack animal. If God rides him, He wants and goes where God wants. . . If Satan rides him, he wants and goes where Satan wants; nor can he choose to run to or seek one of the two riders, but the riders themselves vie for possession and control of it. (On the slavery of the will 25)

Supporters of this vision sometimes accuse those who disagree with them how to teach, or at least imply, salvation through works, since it is the decision of an individual's will - not of God - that determines whether he will be saved. But this is based on an overly broad understanding of "works" that does not correspond to the way the term is used in the scriptures. Using the freedom that God himself gave to an individual to accept his offer of salvation would be neither an action accomplished by a sense of obligation towards the Mosaic Law, nor a "good work" that would gain its place before God He would simply accept his gift. Calvinism critics often accuse his vision of representing God as capricious and cruel.

They argue that the doctrine of unconditional election implies that God arbitrarily saves and curses others. They also argue that the Calvinist understanding of free will rob the term of its meaning, since individuals are not actually free to choose between salvation and damnation. They are slaves to their desires, which are determined by God.

Other Christians understand free will not only as freedom from external coercion but also from internal necessity. That is, God has given humans the freedom to make choices that are not strictly determined by their desires. They can then choose whether or not to accept his offer of salvation.

Being omniscient, God knows in advance whether they will freely choose to cooperate with his grace and will predestinate them for salvation on the basis of this foreknowledge. Non-Calvinists often claim that this is what Paul refers to when he says: "those whom [God] predicted also predestined".

The Catholic Church allows a series of opinions on the subject of predestination, but there are some points on which it is firm: “God predicts no one to go to hell; for this, it is necessary to voluntarily turn away from God (a mortal sin) and persevere in it to the end "(CCC 1037). He also rejects the idea of ​​unconditional election, stating that when God "establishes his eternal plan of" predestination ", he includes in it the free response of each person to his grace" (CCC 600).