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The predestination as a topic in theology and philosophy is certainly a difficult one.

And the difficulties that it poses are of at least two different kinds.

First of all, there are obviously intellectual difficulties, conceptual, logical,

metaphysical difficulties that are posed by the idea of predestination.

For example, how do we understand the way in which God realizes his purposes?

If we believe in a God of unlimited knowledge and unlimited power,

does that mean that God's purposes, or God's will, are always accomplished?

If God's purposes are not always accomplished, if the preacher can thwart God's purposes,

then what of God's sovereign power and omnipotence?

But if God's purposes are always accomplished, if God's will cannot fail to be done, then

what of the creature's freedom and responsibility,

a point to which we will return a little bit later.

So there are philosophical difficulties that accompany the thought of predestination

and have been the subject of a great deal of reflection over many centuries.

But there are also religious and existential difficulties, difficulties any believer may sense,

even if they are not preoccupied with some of the more technical and recondite philosophical

questions that the idea of predestination raises. If God predestines us, do we have no say in our final destiny, in our salvation?

Who does God predest?

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