Chosen But Free

“Chosen But Free”, by Norman L. Geisler tackles one of the toughest, most controversial topics of Christianity. This being the issue of free will and predestination.  Many Christians, theologians, philosophers, and churches have struggled with this concept, and I expect will continue to question it. I don’t believe that human minds are capable of understanding God, his concept of time or space or knowledge. At times I think that it is pointless to even contemplate this issue for that reason; the fact that we will never know unless God wants us to know at the end of times. Geisler however did a great job of answering questions based on scripture and accurately portraying God. He has a moderate view and explains the two extremes of the argument but comes to a happy middle ground which I believe to be relatively accurate.

The argument for God’s sovereignty, predestination or God’s foreknowledge states that God knows for certain every detail of the future. This includes everyone’s choices and who gets saved and who does not. The bible does talk about God’s knowledge of the future; however this leaves no room for humans to make any of our own choices outside of what God already knows. This is a depressing existence as none of your choices really matter since they technically wouldn’t be your choices but what God has already predestined for you.

There is also the opposite argument of man having total free will and ability to make our own choices regardless of what God has planned for us. This implies that God does not know our future at all, and that he does not make choices for us, neither does he know who will be saved and who won’t. This goes against the truth that God is omniscient or all-knowing. This view gives man power and freedom in making choices however, it allows for the possibility that God doesn’t know what is going to happen in the end and that Jesus may not win the fight over Satan. This possibility also goes against scripture and everything we know about the end times.

These two arguments are two extremes and Geisler’s point of view is somewhere in between both. He admits that we cannot solve the problem of how sovereignty and free will relate by denying one or the other. He also acknowledges that both divine sovereignty and human freedom are truly a mystery. We know that both are true, however it may be impossible for us to know how they fit together. I believe that God sets out the same rules and guidelines for all humans. He gives us on our lives paths many different branches where we can choose where to turn. He knows what is at the end of each of those paths, and he wants us to choose the best one, however he also know which path we are most likely to take. This allows for God’s total knowledge of all the choices, as well as the possibility of humans choosing for themselves.