Celtic Viking, I have to say that I agree with your views on free will. PVC represents one school of thought on the Christian views on the matter, however I believe that the scripture makes it clear that free will doesn't exist. Without getting theological, I've always thought that everything we do is inevitable, every signal transmitted through our brain was always going to react the way it did to the previous one. Even when I roll a die, I may have to treat the situation as if chance exists because I have no foreknowledge, however it's inevitable that I roll the number that I do, because I was always going to pick up the die in a certain way, drop it from a certain height, and as a result it would roll a certain distance. Maybe I just watched the Matrix too much when I was young, but that's my view on free will.
The matter of predestination is one of the most controversial topics within Christianity, and I've heard many say that the God of John Calvin is a "murderous God". But as God replied when Israel said God was unfair, "are my ways not equal?". While I understand why some people may dislike the idea of predestination when we're brought up in a culture that teaches us to be proud and value ourselves, the free will approach to salvation is no more appealing IMO - either certain people must be more deserving than others, or God merely leaves it down to chance. In such a situation, Christians should look to what the scripture tells them, and it clearly points towards predestination.
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