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Did God predestine the Fall?

redleghunter

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If I understand you correctly, God never has had any plan, but He merely reacts to what happens. Am I correct in thinking this?
Yes don’t know how to categorize this. Perhaps this is semi-Deistic?
 
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redleghunter

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I did not quote Calvin and this is not about him. But the dodge is noted.

Why won’t you address the Scriptures I provided? They were in context and a direct Apostolic teaching.
 
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No that he is omniscient, but that it was his plan.

If it wasn't His plan from the start, would the atonement of Christ then be plan B? Nah, it's impossible for God to be omniscient and have a plan B, it is one continuous plan of redemption originating before the foundation of the world.
 
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redleghunter

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So God’s plan is to set things up and correct what goes wrong?
 
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redleghunter

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Good post. Missing one important thing. This was part of God’s predetermined plan. Peter says so in Acts 2:23.

That verse contains both predetermined and Foreknowledge.
 
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He wanted it to happen, so He orchestrated it. He’s in control of everything.

For clarity sake, it is not His plan to always be directly in control of everything, both the WCF and LBCF acknowledge secondary agents of causality. I agree He wanted it to happen, had He not, He could have easily prevented, He could have done away with the evil one and his crew before creating mankind.
 
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mark kennedy

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Of course there is, even if God knew what your choice would be, God never makes anyone sin. The offense was inevitable without righteousness, that comes only from God since it's based on his nature.
 
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redleghunter

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it advocated in regards immortal soul/spirit theology which is central to Calvinism, and in the link you provided the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, I cited directly from, and refuted it.
That we have both an outer man and an inner man (soul/spirit) is central to Holy Scriptures.

But this is not the thread OP.
 
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liberty of conscience

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(° ͡ ͜ ͡ʖ ͡ °) (ᵔᴥᵔʋ)

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Not necessarily.
 
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DZoolander

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God is not bound by time so even saying that God foreknew means like God was present at a point in time

But free will is inextricably bound to time. If your path is set and knowable - then there is no choice.
 
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DZoolander

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Of course there is, even if God knew what your choice would be, God never makes anyone sin. The offense was inevitable without righteousness, that comes only from God since it's based on his nature.

I don't see how you can have it both ways. To say that I have free will is to say that I could go here, or I could go there. Both are possible.

If it is known with 100% certainty that I will go *there* - then by definition it's impossible for me to do otherwise. There's only the illusion of choice.
 
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Hammster

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Salvation is not his plan B, he just worked with what people messed up.
Now answer my question.

I’ll stick to the topic.

So the cross is plan A. There a reason it was. It shows God in all of His glory. Every attribute of God is on display. Because of the cross we know things about God we never would have known had Adam not sinned. So sin, as horrible as it is, was necessary to show God’s glory in full.

I’d ask you if there was anything God could have done to keep Adam from sinning, without violating his “free will”, but you’d surely deflect. So, I’ll answer. There’s at least two things. One, He could not have made a law. Had He never gave the command, there would have been no law to violate. Two, He could have prevented Satan from tempting Eve.

These are not things that He was powerless to do. So since they happened, He wanted them to happen.
 
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DZoolander

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The concept of free will to me poses an interesting theological dilemma to Christianity and other faiths - because it illustrates conflicting goals.

On the one hand, they want to portray man as a flawed sinful creature undeserving of God's grace. Man could do X, or he could do Y. But he, to God's disappointment, chooses sinfully. Righteousness was an option, man just doesn't choose it and is therefore unworthy.

But if you're going to say that man could do X, or man could do Y, that means that the future is not set. If that choice is REAL, that means that every moment is the door to a new possible unknown future.

That poses problems with the other goal - which is how people want to define God. God cannot have any bounds. There is nothing that is beyond Him - and that includes all knowledge. With that definition, people can't bring themselves to say "God doesn't know X, Y or Z" - which of course includes the future and all of your actions.

It really can't be both, though. If free will is real, then the future is not set and God can be surprised by the outcome. If, however, the outcome is pre-set and known with certainty, then there is no choice anywhere in the continuum.
 
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Dave L

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Adam naturally wanted to sin upon hearing the Law or he would not have. But he did not sin until he acted on it. James says lust turns into sin when acted on.

Look at the Genesis account. God created Adam sinless. Because sin is the violation of a law. And Adam did not have the law at this time.

God then gave Adam a law. Adam wanted to break this law or he would not have.

But Adam did not actually sin until he broke the law. (that is, until he ate from the forbidden tree).

Sin happened when Adam broke God's Law. But the law also revealed that Adam wanted to sin or he would not have.
 
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