Predestination is the belief that God foresees and wills from all eternity that some individuals will be saved. Other terms for predestination include election and foreordination. The belief that God predestines some people for salvation and others for damnation is called double predestination. Both Christianity and Islam include a belief in predestination. This article deals with predestination in Christianity.
The doctrine of predestination has been a problem in Christian theology since the time of Saint Augustine << AW guh `steen` or aw GUHS tihn >> in the early 400’s. The problem arises from the apparent conflict between the beliefs that God is all-powerful and that human beings have free wills. Some theologians have stressed the importance of human freedom, and others have emphasized God’s power and grace in salvation. Augustine wrote that salvation is initiated only by God’s freely given grace. In the 1500’s, Martin Luther and other leaders of the Protestant Reformation taught that salvation depends entirely on God’s all-powerful will. They believed that nothing humanity did could require God to grant salvation in return. The Protestant leader John Calvin taught the doctrine of double predestination.
Some people have criticized the doctrine of predestination as being negative and pessimistic. However, Luther, Calvin, and others saw it as a doctrine that should free people from constantly worrying about and struggling to earn salvation. Because salvation is in God’s hands, they believed, the individual should stop being anxious and simply trust in God.
