An atheist friend of mine recently argued, "If God gave man free will, how can everything be part of God's plan? If everything is part of God's plan, how can we have free will?" (I think I've also heard atheists argue against the thesis on the grounds that it would imply that God planned--and thus indended/caused--evil and sin. E.g., asking why is it God's plan for some children's lives that they die of starvation.)
Now I understand that this is closely connected to debates about the relationship between free will and predestination, with some denying libertarian free will, or some proposing 'middle knowledge', or some denying God's total foreknowledge/predestination (for example). My intention is not necessarily to start a debate among such theories about the relationship between the two, nor to focus on the free-will side of that debate, but to raise the specific question of whether everything is part of God's plan (in the sense the atheist intended--that everything including every human choice/action was already part of God's predetermined plan from the beginning). And how would you answer my friend? I'm not sure it would be effective to explain different theories of Calvinism, Molinism, Open Theism, etc. I think his take-away would just be that Christians can't even agree among themselves, and take that as further evidence that Christianity is fictional.
As far as I know, the Bible doesn't say that everything is part of God's predetermined plan. If the saying is extrabiblical, where did it come from? Or is it soundly inferred from the Bible, from passages on predestination or from verses like:
Acts 2:23 "...this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."
or
Gen 50:20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."
Personally (so you have an idea of where I'm coming from), my first response would be to tell my friend that the Bible doesn't say everything is part of God's plan. I lean toward libertarian free will, and it seems these verses can mean that whatever men freely choose, God incorporates it into his plan. (Though I don't think this necessarily implies open theism.) I guess I could also say that the Bible also doesn't say that man has libertarian free will.
Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
A secondary question for discussion: If every human choice was part of God's plan, then does that mean that God intended each human to commit every act of sin he commits? Or does "God's plan" have multiple meanings (e.g., such that X can be planned in some sense, but not intended or caused by God)?
Now I understand that this is closely connected to debates about the relationship between free will and predestination, with some denying libertarian free will, or some proposing 'middle knowledge', or some denying God's total foreknowledge/predestination (for example). My intention is not necessarily to start a debate among such theories about the relationship between the two, nor to focus on the free-will side of that debate, but to raise the specific question of whether everything is part of God's plan (in the sense the atheist intended--that everything including every human choice/action was already part of God's predetermined plan from the beginning). And how would you answer my friend? I'm not sure it would be effective to explain different theories of Calvinism, Molinism, Open Theism, etc. I think his take-away would just be that Christians can't even agree among themselves, and take that as further evidence that Christianity is fictional.
As far as I know, the Bible doesn't say that everything is part of God's predetermined plan. If the saying is extrabiblical, where did it come from? Or is it soundly inferred from the Bible, from passages on predestination or from verses like:
Acts 2:23 "...this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."
or
Gen 50:20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."
Personally (so you have an idea of where I'm coming from), my first response would be to tell my friend that the Bible doesn't say everything is part of God's plan. I lean toward libertarian free will, and it seems these verses can mean that whatever men freely choose, God incorporates it into his plan. (Though I don't think this necessarily implies open theism.) I guess I could also say that the Bible also doesn't say that man has libertarian free will.
Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
A secondary question for discussion: If every human choice was part of God's plan, then does that mean that God intended each human to commit every act of sin he commits? Or does "God's plan" have multiple meanings (e.g., such that X can be planned in some sense, but not intended or caused by God)?
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