The Prodigal Son Contradicts Predestination

Dale said:

Thank you both for the info you provided in response to my question.

It sounds to me like Catholic theologians are tying themselves in knots. One of their saints used the term “predestination,” so they don’t want to disavow it. They wind up disavowing almost every consequence of it.

For instance, “God predestines no one to evil”

and

“There is neither predestination to evil as a final end nor predestination to any evil deed in particular.”


Both of these are quoted by JSRG.

It is a lot simpler to say that I don’t believe in predestination and I haven’t seen any reason that any Christian should.

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Dale said:

Brightfame: “How can you prove that with other scripture?”

Why do I have to prove it with other scripture? This is from the Gospels. Jesus is speaking. The core of the teaching of Jesus is in His parables, and this is one of the Parables.

Brightfame: “The prodigal son was dead to God wasnt he? What does this mean?”

Calvinists may be assigning a meaning to “dead” that isn’t in the Scripture. Perhaps “dead” means that the son was headed for spiritual death, but not beyond repentance.

Brightfame: “Did he by his own freewill come alive again ? Did he from his own freewill found himself while being lost?”

Do you have a prejudice against the term “freewill”? Here is what the Parable says:

“… he came to his senses.” --Luke 15:17
“… he got up and went to his father.” --Luke 15:20

The son isn’t dragged home. No one gives him a map, he knows the way. No one tells him, “You’d be better off to go back to your father.” No one converts him. He figures it out for himself.

The father does send a messenger to find his son and tell him that he is welcome home. It is the son who decides to return, come what may, even if he is not well received.

““But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him …”
--Luke 15:20

The father sees that his son has decided to come home, but it is the son who made the decision.

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Dale said:

Brightfame: “I proved it with one scripture is enough.”

You have cited no scripture on this thread.


Brightfame: “ Any positive spiritual movement by the lost son, the dead son, presupposes that he was the recipient of quickening by God, being found and made alive first.”

Your use of “presupposes” means that you are injecting your views into the Scripture instead of being responsive to what the Gospel says.

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Dale said:

Perhaps you could cite the passage that you thought you had already cited.

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