Determinism:  What is it?

Determinism has its roots with Greek philosophers of the 6^th and 7^th centuries but as we think of it today it appears to be a coined term of more recent times.  It is also at the heart of what is called Reformed Theology or Calvinism.  The word predestination also comes to mind as I think about this.  I personally don’t like all these terms because they tend to be defined in different ways by different people.  There’s little uniformity in how they are defined.  For instance, there are those who are called Five Point Calvinists, Four Point Calvinists, and, even, Three Point Calvinists.  I would be called a Provisionist, even though the spell-check on my computer doesn’t even recognize the word. There are even people who are called Hyper-Calvinists who, like these other Calvinists, reject the idea that Christ’s death was sufficient for all people even though the Scriptures plainly say it was.  To make verses of Scripture fit their beliefs, they even redefine words for us like “world” and “all” even though Scripture is plain about their meaning.

1 John 2:2

² And he [speaking of Jeus Christ] is the propitiation for our sins: and NOT for ours only [as believers], but also for the sins of the whole world. [Emphasis added]

1 Timothy 2:5-6

⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

⁶ Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. [Emphasis added]

What could be clearer than all that? But the division about this subject is endless. It clearly shouldn’t be, but it is.  For more information about this, please see my article—

Salvation:  Does God desire it for everyone?

If you’d like a definition for Five Point Calvinism, please see my articles on this website.  There are links to over a dozen of them.  Here are the links to two of those—

Calvinism:  What is it all about?

Calvinism:  Is it a false teaching?

If you go to the web and ask about determinism, you’ll find it stated as the view that it is God who determines every event that occurs in the history of the world.  Probably the most important and damaging part of this is the idea that it is God and not man who determines who’s going to Heaven and who is going to Hell.  In other words, it is the belief that man’s will has no part in it at all.  Essentially it claims man doesn’t even have FREE will.  He has volition but it is God who has pre-determined all the choices he will make.  While I’d never be one to argue that God is incapable of doing something like this, I would argue that He chose to do otherwise and to allow man to have FREE will. 

Scripture clearly tells us God created man with free will before his fall into sin.  When He placed him in the Garden of Eden, man was given a test by which he was completely free to express his volition.

Genesis 2:15-17

¹⁵ And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. [Emphasis added]

There are those who wish to argue that it was when man sinned that he lost his free will.  However, there’s nothing in Scripture that tells us that! Such a belief is solely a false assumption on man’s part.  The Bible demonstrates that man retained his free will after his fall into sin.  He was still faced with things that worked to influence his decisions.  Before his fall there was just Satan who worked to influence him, and he succeeded.  Scripture gives us the record of it—

Genesis 3:1-7

¹ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Even as Satan does today, he worked to influence man’s rejection of God’s commands.  Mankind actually does combat on three fronts today—the world, the flesh [his sinful nature], and the Devil [Satan]. For more information about him, please see my articles.  Here are the links to a few of them—

Satan:  What is his origin, name, and/or titles?

Satan:  What are the basics about him?

Satan:  What does he look like?

Satan:  Why does God allow him to exist?

² And the woman said unto the serpent [speaking of Satan or the Devil], We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Here we see that the woman got the facts wrong.  God had not told them they couldn’t TOUCH it; He only said that they were not to EAT of it.  It is when Satan sees that she misunderstood this that he directly challenges what God had said.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

It was then that man tried to solve his problem by his own efforts just as he still does today through various expressions of “religious” works.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  [Emphasis added]

Determinism would be the idea that it was God who determined all this that happened.  Determinism would say that it was God who planned all this and then caused them to sin.  Yes, determinism teaches that every choice to sin is caused by God.  Obviously, this is a subtle [and to some not so subtle] attack on the integrity of God, holding Him responsible for all this.  But the Bible tells us we are all responsible for all our decisions.

Galatians 6:7-9

⁷ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh [his sinful nature] shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

⁹ And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. [Emphasis added]

Even though man lost his position of privilege in the Garden, he didn’t lose his free will.  A part of the proof of that is that He still holds man responsible for his decisions.  We even see that in the English construction of the term—response—able. Yes, man is able to respond to God freely.  He is perfectly capable of responding to commands any way he would like, meaning He can be obedient or disobedient.  The choice is his!

It is also important to note that God rewards man when he chooses to be obedient to God.  We’ll all someday be rewarded for our choices to be of service to our Lord.  I explain this thoroughly in my articles about it—

BEMA Seat:  What is this?

Rewards:  For what will God wish to reward you in eternity?

But if Calvinism and determinism is true, why should God reward people for things they didn’t really choose to do?  If God MADE them or caused them to do what they did, how is it that He’s to reward them for this or blame them for something THEY didn’t determine to do. Does that make any sense at all to you? Of course not! Furthermore, how is it that He can “deprive” me of things HE never determined to give me? That, too, is complete nonsense! Only by man having the freedom to choose can these things be correctly addressed.

This that’s called determinism denies man the freedom to choose.  That’s the bottom line to that teaching.  I listened to this nonsense in seminary for three years.  Determinism says that all of man’s choices and decisions have been predetermined for him by God.  Despite the fact that man seems to be under no coercion and seems to choose freely his courses of action, determinists argue from several different viewpoints that man’s choices are not freely performed.  But it is the Bible that tells us the truth regarding this matter.  Man can certainly be influenced in how he decides on all kinds of things but it is man who makes the final decision, not God.  And, again, that’s what determines whether man will be rewarded with Heaven or have to face adverse consequences in Hell and the Lake of Fire.  It will be his choice that determines this.  Note what God had to say to the people of Israel about the use of their volition—

Joshua 24:14-15

¹⁴ Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

Please note all these commands for them to exercise their volition, their free will in all this.

¹⁵ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. [Emphasis added]

Again, please note all the words I’ve underlined that represent an appeal for them to exercise their volition, their free will.  What would be the point of all this if it was God who was deciding this for them? He could just cause or make them respond to His appeal. The Bible is filled with such appeals to man’s volition.  Here are some such appeals made to us by the apostle Paul.

Romans 12:1-2

¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that YE present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is YOUR reasonable service.

² And BE not conformed to this world: but BE YE transformed by the renewing of your mind, that YE may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. [Emphasis added]

Time after time we have appeals in how we should exercise our volition.  With each of them we must choose as an expression of our will.  Again, what would be the point of the appeals if God predetermined all our choices and caused us to make them?

Ephesians 4:1-3

¹ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation [KLESIS = calling or appointment] wherewith ye are called [KLETOS = appointed],

² With all lowliness [TAPEINOPHROSUNE = humbleness] and meekness [PRAUTES = a non-disputing attitude], with longsuffering [MAKROTHUMIA = patience], forbearing [ANECHO = bearing with] one another in love;

³ Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [Emphasis added.]

Still again, what is the point of all these appeals if personal volition isn’t involved? We are all exhorted to choose to be this way in our relationship with others.

Philippians 3:1-3

¹ Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe [ASPHALES = safe or secure].

² Beware of dogs [KUON = dogs—used here metaphorically for those who are impure], beware of evil workers, beware of the concision [KATATOME = to cut off – a term used contemptuously for Jews who had abused the spiritual meaning of their circumcision].

³ For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. [Emphasis added]

Need I say more? There are many more such statements in Scripture.

I’ll never forget my days at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi where I was faced with a full dose of determinism called Calvinism and Reformed Theology.  The idea of man having free will was completely rejected by them. To them, determinism reigned!

Conclusion—

There is certainly no shortage of controversy and confusion about this subject of free will as it relates to determinism.  Free will and having the liberty to choose is a teaching many Christian colleges and even seminaries reject.  I fully agree that while a person may be free to choose, it is true that man’s bondage to sin certainly affects his choices.  Hence, man’s will is not free in the sense of being independent of his reason, his conscience, and his feelings.  All this plays into the decisions he makes.

There’s also a difference between being free and being able.  We may be free to do as we will but there are often circumstances that affect and hinder our choices.  For instance, we may deeply desire to be free of sin in our choices but accomplishing that is another matter.  Even the great apostle Paul expressed his frustration in that.

Romans 7:22-24

²² For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

²³ But I see another law [or principle] in my members [the parts of my body], warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

²⁴ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [Emphasis added]

We will always need the ongoing influence of God’s Word in our lives to have any success in this at all.  That’s one reason why we’re given the following commands.

2 Peter 3:18

¹⁸ But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. [Emphasis added]

2 Timothy 2:15-16

¹⁵ Study [SPOUDAZO = be diligent] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

¹⁶ But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. [Emphasis added]

That’s probably the most important command that you’ll ever read in how you should exercise your volition.  I sincerely hope you’ll choose to be obedient to it and never let anyone convince you that you’re not responsible for your decisions.