JW teach that your life is not predestined. Predestination means the path of your life(death) is suppose to be determined at birth right? Its kind of a confusing subject. If God knew before hand that we were going to die in a certain manner and in (some cases some die horrible deaths),why allow you to be brought into the world at all? I have several friends of different religions and they practically all believe that when you are born into this world its already determined when you are going to die. I dont have too many problems with that line of reasoning. What I have a problem with is the manner of that persons death? Would a loving God really allow someone to come into this world knowing that they would die a horrible death like torture,decapitation,or any gruesome death? What about the poor innocent children that die because someone beat them to death, or put them in a microwave,etc. Please help me out on this one? Sorry so graphic in description in manner of death. But I just wanted to get my point across.
Do you believe in predestination?
by jetery 31 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
sspo
If there is a God, your reasoning is right but i don't beleive God is interested in mankind
since he would allow all the things you mentioned and having the power to do stop it.
-
leavingwt
I will not worship a God that decides before certain people are born into the world, that they will be assigned to burn in Hell for eternity. Calvinism implies that God does this very thing, as far as I can tell. (I have an open mind, if someone cares to explain it differently.)
-LWT
-
easyreader1970
If I was predestined for this horrible craphole of a life I have right now, I am pretty pissed at whoever is in charge of the whole predestination process.
-
sir82
This cartoon seems appropriate in this thread...
-
Nathan Natas
I believe in the influence of genetics, and time, place and culture, but I do not believe that an invisible man in the sky has determined all these things in advance.
-
IP_SEC
According to Relativity's view of SpaceTime, all points in spacetime exist simultaneously, we just havent caught up the them yet. SpaceTime is like a big loaf of bread containing all points in space and all points in time.
Cut ya a slice and chew on that for a while.
-
Elsewhere
I don't care.
If everything is not predestined, then everything is not.
If everything IS predestined, then there is nothing we can do about it.
-
Twitch
If god exists and is omni-everything as it were, then it would exist outside time and "be" everything all at once from beginning to end for eternity (or something to that effect if I understand the idea correctly :) This would account for a lot of omni-abilities that only a god could have.
Assuming this to be true, it would know the history of everything that was/is/will be, in a sense. Including you.
If that's the case, predestination is a given, though you'll never know it. But what happens to choice then? What choices do you really have with an omniscient god by nature knowing what you will do and how you'll end up? How could it not know and truly be god? Is choice an illusion? If we choose the future, how could god not know it yet predict it?
Of course, trust in gods' will is required. We accept the infinite mystery of a will and purpose greater than ourselves and bow our will in accordance with its. We surrender our right to choose our own path. We understand and accept that the reasons for it's will are beyond us.
As for the question of why would a loving god allow brutal things to happen to people who don't deserve it, that's a good one. I'm sure there are reasons for such things,...
Personally, I don't believe in predestination so it follows that I don't believe in god. Or maybe it's the other way 'round, I forget.
-
WTWizard
I believe that God has predestined the whole human race to fail to become happy and free. That Almighty Lowlife Scumbag has also prejudged specific humans, and will do everything in His power (and then some) to prevent those people from ever being happy. They have the freedom to try or to not try, but if they try, Baghead will step in and sabotage their attempts.
There is no way such a God deserves an iota of praise or worship, whether or not He predestines life for each and every one of us. If He sabotages my efforts to gain happiness, then He is not getting my worship regardless of what He did for everyone else. Let "everyone else" be the ones praising that Almighty Lowlife Scumbag. I will not.