Predetermination?

Question

Everything that happens in the universe is part of a plan. Nothing is random. If it happened, it did so because it was supposed to happen.

Could this really be true? I mean, if everything is part of a plan, then who the heck planned it out? And when? And why did this person, being, entity, deity, etc. decide to plan everything out? Did he/she/it just not have anything better to do on that particular day, and therefore said, "Gee, I think I'll amuse myself by planning out everything that will happen over the course of the next trillion years or so. Yeah, that should give me something to do and think about." And if that is the case, how did things happen BEFORE everything was planned out? Was it all random up until then? Or did someone else plan everything else up until that point, and then for whatever reason yielded the power of the plan to the thing that is currently planning everything out, which we can assume is God.

But that would imply that there is something out there that is bigger than God…and of course that can’t happen. Or can it? Is God’s entire existence--assuming there is a god of some sort--planned out, too? Does He know everything that is going to do before he does it?

Also, if everything is predetermined, all part of a plan, then does that this include disasters? Was September 11th part of someone’s plan? What about the bombing of Pearl Harbor? Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The AIDS virus? Bird Flu? Better yet, what about the fact that we sit and argue over whether or not everything that happens in the universe is predetermined? Was that planned out, too? Did someone sit down one day and plan everything out, including in the plan the fact that there would be confusion over whether or not everything really IS part of a plan? If that’s the case, then someone out there has a weird sense of humor. Then again, I sometimes find odd ways of amusing myself, too. So who am I to criticize?

Answer 1

Chaos Theory...

In mathematics and physics, chaos theory describes the behavior of certain nonlinear dynamical systems that under certain conditions exhibit a phenomenon known as chaos. In biology chaos theory can explain how small random events may affect large ecosystems in an unpredictable way. Among the characteristics of chaotic systems, described below, is the sensitivity to initial conditions (popularly referred to as the butterfly effect). As a result of this sensitivity, the behavior of systems that exhibit chaos appears to be random, exhibiting an exponential error dispersion, even though the system is deterministic in the sense that it is well defined and contains no random parameters. Examples of such systems include the atmosphere, the solar system, plate tectonics, turbulent fluids, economics, population growth and the vast variety of dissipative structures.

Systems that exhibit mathematical chaos are deterministic and thus orderly in some sense; this technical use of the word chaos is at odds with common parlance, which suggests complete disorder. A related field of physics called quantum chaos theory studies non-deterministic systems that follow the laws of quantum mechanics.

Answer 2

Human beings have free will. Only certain events are predestined, like Jesus birth and ressurection, and the endtimes. As far as God sitting up there and planning everything out, you have to realize he does not dwell in the dimension of time that our universe does. Can you go back infinite years from now? Or how can we arrive at the present time, if it took an infinite amount of time. The answer is clearly there has to be a start in the dimesion of time. However God dwells outside of time, where there is more than 1 dimesion. It is like we are in the chalk board, and God is everything surrounding it. The reason we cannot comprehend eternal things, is because it is outside of our realm. So God can look at the very beginning of our creation, and see everything that will happen, because time just never ends. If he looks trillions of years, he can still look further. But God definetly did not write our lives out. We have been given free will.
The bible says this Romans 8:29-30:"Whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

So if this is the case then the definition of predestination given in the dictionary is wrong. It is clear from this passage that foreknowlege and predestined are not the same thing. Paul says God knew us first, then he predestined us for something. This tends to conflict with the idea that predestination means that God already knows what our ultimate decision will be.

Also you find the predestination and calling are not the same thing either.Once God knew us, and assigned us this destiny, He then began to work with us, opening our minds a little at a time, showing us things in the Bible we hadn't seen before, and causing us to ask questions we had never asked before.

There is also this We know the verse that says, "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). This strongly implies that we have the freedom of choice. If we dont choose that Way of life, God won't choose us to be in the resurrection.

Answer 3

Yes there may be a plan, but you also may remember that people were also given free will.

You can plan a house, but the plan will only be as good as the builders. You get my drift.

People are not perfect and even if there is a plan, since when does everything go to plan.

Answer 4

The Bible does not state all things are predestined. While the sacrifice was predestined before the creation of the world and is God's plan the Bible does not say all things are planed or predestined only his plan for our salvation. When people refer to God's plan it is this atonement and the resurrection of the dead. It should not infer that all things are predestined as the Bible does not teach this.

Answer 5

I see Your point, it's difficult to imagine a superior being manifesting the same morality as ourselves considering the absolute power such a scenario affords. With that in mind there is no reason at all we should expect anything close to an explanation, it would be as us telling bugs why we must destroy their colony or harvest their honey, completely beyond their scope of understanding. Take care.

Answer 6

Predetermination means no free will, plus it can never be proved or disproved. I choose to believe that I control my destiny, if not then what would be the point of living? Predetermination are for those that need to make excuses for themselves.

Answer 7

You are in control of your life, no one else.If you dwell on what you want long enough, the universe will realign itself for you. It is not determined before you, you create it.

Answer 8

I'm a non-compatible determinist. every thing you just said except without a god.

what determines our universe if not god?
physics.

Answer 9

I don't believe that everything is "predetermined" or "predestined" i believe things just happen.

Answer 10

Determinism, maybe, predeterminism, silly.