[net.religion] Predestination: Free Will vs. Omnipotence

edhall@randvax.ARPA (Ed Hall) (02/25/84)

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I was brought up Presbyterian, and am well acquainted with the
doctrine of Predestination which Tom Albrecht brings up.  I've never
believed it, and never met a Presbyterian who didn't have a problem
with believing it.  I know my father had trouble--and he was a
Presbyterian minister.  He regarded the Westminister Confession as
a guide, and not a mandate.

I remember back when I was about 13 how one of my peers was
convinced that he was destined for Hell, and thus felt that it
didn't matter what he did--he might as well do what he wanted.  And
he did just that, and at the time I knew him was a petty criminal.
Of all the people I have known he came the closest to believing
in Predestination; he wasn't a churchgoer, of course, though his
parents were.

The idea of Predestination didn't seem any stranger to me than the
idea of Hell; both of them seemed in direct contradiction with the
God of Love I believed in then.  After about four years, during
which I was almost constantly seeking religious discussions
with various people, I emerged convinced that there was no True
Religion.  When I look back, my abandoning the Christian faith
had its roots in the above-mentioned contradiction.

It is a testament to Calvin's great faith that he followed his
reasoning to what he felt was its logical conclusion, and did
not shrink from it no matter what the implication.  Would that
some of people on net.religion be so courageous.

		-Ed Hall
		decvax!randvax!edhall