Classical Categories #1

Angela Compton

Feb. 1, 2013

It has always been my belief that choices I made in my past, both good and bad, have brought me to where I am today.  I didn’t understand it nor could I explain the reasoning behind it.  I just knew it.  I made those choices freely and of my own accord.  With that statement you could surmise that I lean towards being a person who solely believes in free will - the complete and unhindered ability to make your own choice.  What I didn’t mention is that I am also a proponent of theological determinism.  Meaning I also believe in the idea of a higher power orchestrating the events of my life.  The combination of those two beliefs makes me a compatibilist (Simpler).  I believe that there are things in my life that have been planned for me, but I also believe that the choices I make by my own free will determine if those events will actually take place or if there will be a new alternative to what was there before.  I find the idea of a kenotic position (Johnson) an interesting one and it fits with my views because just like a parent, God is there guiding and being there when needed, but He also steps back to allow His children to grow and experience life their way.  He can lead them so far, but ultimately how they live their life is by the choices they make.

Advocates of free will, determinists and compatibilists can take a situation or even a story from the Bible and use it to show that their way of thinking is the “right” way.  In the story of Jonah and the whale for instance in Jonah 1:1-17, this story is what a compatibilist would consider proof that people have both determination and free will.  Jonah was able to refuse the word of the LORD when He commanded that he cry out against the great city of Nin’e-veh.  After God sent out high winds and seas and ultimately the whale swallowed Jonah that became another instance where Jonah had to choose between two decisions, follow the word of the LORD or perish in the whales’ belly (The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Jonah 1:1-17).  

            Like the Bible, everything is open to our own interpretation.  You must sit down and search within yourself to find where your beliefs lie and which category best suits those beliefs.  There are no right or wrong answers.      

Simpler, Steven. “Who Is Writing the Script of My Life?” p. 2,4,5,6. 31 Jan 2013

Johnson, Elizabeth A. “Does God Play Dice? Divine Providence and Chance.” Theological Studies. (March 1996). Pp. 2-18. Web

The New Interpreter’s Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha Walter J. Harrelson, general editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003. Print