Predestined or Foreknown: What's the Difference?

C. Michael Holloway
22 November 1998

1. Opening and Prayer
2. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to be here last week, but I didn't think you all wanted to try to listen to babble incoherently, cough, and sneeze for 45 minutes. I suspect that will still be some coughing this morning, but I hope to avoid the sneezing and the incoherent babbling.
3. This has nothing to do with our lesson today, but it does have something to do with word meanings and origins. Can anyone tell me where the term 'lobbyist' came from? When Ulysses Grant was President, he would often walk or ride the couple of blocks from the White House to the Willard Hotel, and sit in the lobby of the Willard smoking a cigar and drinking brandy. Once people learned of this habit, some people who wanted political favors, or to try to convince Grant to do something they wanted done, would come over to the hotel when he was there and talk to him in the lobby of the Willard Hotel. He started calling such people lobbyists.
4. Review of previous weeks
1. In the previous 8 classes we've talked about a lot of things.
1. The basic goal of the class.
2. The word heart.
3. The words knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. are intimately related, but not quite synonymous.
4. Whether the Bible speaks of head knowledge and heart knowledge.
5. Gossip and slander.
6. Humility.
7. Judging.
2. There's at least one common theme that runs through all of these studies so far. Can anyone tell me what that this?
1. The importance of integrated thinking.
2. That is, thinking about the similarities between things, instead of the differences; seeing the forest and not just the trees. Here are some examples of how we've done this.
1. In talking about the heart, we emphasized that the primary use in the Bible is to denote your whole person, not just a single aspect of it, such as the emotions, the intellect, or the will.
2. When we talked about gossip and slander, we emphasized that they're really just two aspects of the same sin: saying something you ought not say.
3. In talking about humility, we emphasized that it's just one aspect of holiness, and it can't really be separated from the others.
4. In the two weeks when we talked about judging, we emphasized that the Golden Rule applies to judging, just as it does to other aspects of our behavior towards others.
3. Why do you think that I've emphasized integrated thinking?
1. Such an emphasis is consistent with the Biblical emphasis.
2. Also our culture over-emphasizes differences and specialization, so emphasizing similarities and generalization is an important balance to this.
3. One example of the over-emphasis on specialization within the Christian culture is the proliferation of books dealing with specific, single aspects of Christian living.
1. You can get books on being a Christian parent, books on being a Christian spouse, books on being a Christian businessman, books on being a Christian educator, books on being a Christian athlete, books on being a Christian teenager. Someone will probably soon write a book on being a Christian left-handed, brunette, legal secretary whose parents divorced when she was 7, if they haven't already.
2. Now, not all of this is bad, but it does tend to obscure the fact that what we're supposed to be is a Christian Christian. If we do that, all the specific areas will take care of themselves.
4. If you forget all the specific things we've talked about in this class, but you remember the importance of integrated thinking, the importance of seeing the forest and not just the trees, then I'll be happy. Well, that's not quite true. I want you to remember some of the specifics, too, but I think you know what I mean.
4. As you'll see, we're going to continue this theme of integration today, too.
5. I said two weeks ago that our words for this class would be all, world, and predestined. And, we will, in one way or another, touch on these. But what I want to do specifically, to keep with the theme of integration, and also, because I think it will be more instructive and interesting, is to concentrate on two words: predestined and foreknow. It is around those words that the real controversy today lies. I also said that we were going to take 2 weeks on this subject. My plan is to just take 1 week.
1. In his book titled simply Predestination, Gordon Clark tells this story: "One evening I attended a large tent meeting in Indianapolis. In the middle of the sermon as the evangelist warmed up to his subject, he launched into an attack on predestination; or to make the situation clear, one might say that the evangelist attacked the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. After about ten minutes of this, he seemed to be satisfied that he had pretty well made his point. But he hesitated a moment. Perhaps a fleeting thought occurred to him that after all the Bible does indeed speak of predestination. So he added, 'Of course,' and I particularly noted the of course, 'I accept what the Bible teaches about predestination.' The only trouble was that he never gave his audience the least hint of what he thought the Bible teaches."
2. The vast majority of evangelical believers today are both like and not like this preacher Clark refers to.
1. They are like this preacher in that they vehemently attack the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. In the minds of many people, this doctrine belongs in the same bucket of heresy as polygamy and idol worship. Someone tell me in one sentence what the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination is.
1. That God chose before the foundation of the world those who He would enable to believe in Jesus for salvation; His choice was based on nothing that those people would later do.
2. Labeling this view Calvinistic is somewhat misleading, because it suggests that Calvin is the one who came up with the view, which is certainly not the case. Nevertheless, the label is so firmly entrenched, that we can probably use it safely.
3. Along these lines, in the preface to his book known as The Freedom of the Will, Jonathan Edwards wrote: 'I should not take it at all amiss to be called a Calvinist, for distinction's sake; though I utterly disclaim a dependence on Calvin, or believing the doctrines which I hold, because he believed and taught them, and cannot justly be charged with believing in every thing just as he taught.' (The real title of this book, by the way, was An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions of that Freedom of the Will which is Supposed to be essential to Moral Agency, Virtue, and Vice, Reward and Punishment, Praise and Blame.)
2. The majority of evangelical believers today are not like Clark's tent preacher in that they can usually give at least a hint about what they think the Bible really teaches about predestination. What is that? What does the vast majority of the evangelical church think the Bible means by predestination?
1. That God, after looking down through time to see who will choose to believe in Jesus, ordains those people to salvation.
2. In other words, in the view of most, predestination is a response by God to the actions that He foresees will be taken by man.
3. So then, there are basically two views about the meaning of predestination. We want to know what the Biblical view is.
1. There are lots of different ways we could go about discussing this. In preparing for this lesson, I've considered and rejected at least half a dozen different approaches.
2. Before we're done, some of you may wish that I'd rejected this approach, too, but I hope not. At a few points, our discussion will necessarily become a bit more philosophical than may be comfortable for some of you, but try to stick with it, and I hope you'll find it helpful.
6. Let's begin by considering some facts about the words.
1. The verb predestined occurs 6 times in the NASB, all 6 in the New Testament. (If time permits) Let's look at 4 of those occurrences.
1. Acts 4:27-28 For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, {28} to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.
2. 1 Corinthians 2:6-9 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; {7} but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; {8} the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; {9} but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."
3. Ephesians 1:3-5;11-12 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, {4} just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love {5} He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ... In Him {11} also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, {12} to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
2. The Greek word in all these cases, and in the two we haven't read, is proorizo [pru-ri-zo], which means simply 'to determine beforehand'.
3. The words foreknew, foreknown, and foreknowledge occur at total of 5 times in the NASB, all 5 in the N.T. Let's read all of these occurrences, and in doing so, we'll pick up the other 2 occurrences of predestined, too.
1. Acts 2:22-23 Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- {23} this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
2. Romans 8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. {29} For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; {30} and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
3. Romans 11:2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
4. 1 Peter 1:1-2;20-21 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen {2} according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. ... {20} For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you {21} who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
4. There are two Greek words involved here.
1. There is the Greek verb proginosko [prog-i-nos-ko], which means basically 'to know beforehand'.
2. There is also the Greek noun prognosis [prog-no-sis], which means 'knowledge beforehand'.
5. Those are the basic facts about the words. Are there any questions?
7. Let's now think about these words a bit.
1. Without giving any consideration to Biblical usage, or how these words might apply to God, what can we say about the necessary relationship between the words?
1. Determining beforehand (that is, predestination) necessarily implies knowing beforehand (that is, foreknowledge). Someone who is able to determine in advance that some event will inevitably take place, knows in advance that the event will take place.
2. In theory, at least, the converse is not necessarily true. Theoretically, it seems possible that someone might know in advance that some event will take place, without having determined the inevitability of that event himself.
2. Those who object to the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination assert that this is basically the case with God.
1. With only a few relatively obscure exceptions, non-Calvinists admit that God has perfect foreknowledge, but they assert that foreknowledge does not imply control.
2. An example that is often cited to illustrate this assertion is this: An observer is standing on a high tower, below which two roads meet at right angles. He sees two cars approaching the intersection at high speed. The observer knows they will collide, but it is not he who causes the collision.
3. There are two fatal problems with this example, however.
1. First, the observer does not really know; he does not have perfect foreknowledge. "The collision might be probable; but just possibly one of the card hits a boulder that has dropped from the cliff in a spot the observer cannot see. The other car continues unharmed." This observer isn't omniscient; God is.
2. The non-Calvinist might reply, but the observer could really know what was going to happen and still not control the event. An observer might, but God cannot. Clark puts it this way. "But if God knows a future event, the event is inevitable. If it were not inevitable, then God might 'know' a future event that finally never takes place. But this is ignorance, not knowledge. If in 2000 B.C. God knew that Hitler would invade Russia, or that I should get a hair cut on October 3 at 2:20 P.M., the event would be inevitable. Now, if God did not determine it, who did? The event was certain back in 2000 B.C. If God did not make it certain, there must be, beside God, another power that fixes at least some future events. That these events will occur, God discovers empirically by looking into the future and seeing what events his rival decided to cause. Such a view is utterly anti-scriptural. 'Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him? ... Who instructed him ... and taught him knowledge?'"
4. Let's go back over this carefully.
1. Pick some event. For variety, let's pick Stonewall Jackson being shot by his own men at Chancellorsville in May 1863.
2. If we admit that God has perfect foreknowledge, then we must conclude that at any time in the past, God knows everything that will happen thereafter. Let's pick 2000 B.C. So, in 2000 B.C. in human time, God knew that Jackson would be shot in the wilderness near Chancellorsville in May of 1863.
3. Because God knew in 2000 B.C. this event would occur, it must be the case that the event was already certain in 2000 B.C.
4. Who, or what, made it certain?
5. It couldn't be Stonewall Jackson, or any of the men who fired their weapons on that day in May in 1863, because none of them were around in 2000 B.C. to make anything certain.
6. Unless there's some other being or force that is able to control at least some of what happens, without God's involvement, only God could make it certain.
3. When it comes to an omnipotent, omniscience God, knowledge beforehand necessarily implies determination beforehand. That is, foreknowledge implies predestination.
4. Anyone who admits that God knows everything that will happen, must, if he wants to be logically consistent, admit that God determines everything that will happen. It's really as simple as that.
8. Of course, I know, as well as you do, that there are lots of people who admit that God knows everything that will happen, but vigorously deny that He pre-determines it. Why is this?
1. Some people may be confused by the few Scripture passages that seem to perhaps be saying something different.
1. To someone in this situation, I would remind them of the basic principle that we are to interpret the obscure passages in light of the clear ones.
2. Most of the confusion comes from assuming that "all" must always mean "each and every single person", or that "world" must always mean "every person in the world." I'll give one example of each to show that this isn't the case.
1. Titus 2:11 says "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men". Unless we are to become universalists, and say that everyone is saved, we must realize that "all" here doesn't mean "each and every single person".
2. John 12:19 says "The Pharisees therefore said to one another, 'You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.' Clearly, no one is going to assert that "world" here means "every single person in the world."
3. Finally, I would refer them to any one of a number of books that address the confusing passages directly.
2. For some people, the idea that God ultimately determines who is saved seems unfair, unjust, and unloving. I've had more than one person say to me something like this: "I wouldn't want to serve a God who decides for Himself who is saved."
1. There are several different things to say to someone in this situation. One is to explain how all of the non-Calvinistic 'solutions' that claim to get God off the hook for choosing the elect, fail to get him off the hook, anyway.
1. God's providence alone keeps him on the hook, so to speak.
2. R. L. Dabney put it this way: "A most convincing proof, of a very practical nature, may be derived from the observed course of God's providence. That providence determines sovereignly the bounds of each man's outward privileges, of his life and opportunities. It determines whether he shall be born and live in a Pagan, or a Christian country, how long he shall enjoy means of grace, and of what efficacy, and when and where he shall die. Now in deciding these things sovereignly, the salvation or loss of the man's soul is practically decided, for without time, means, and opportunity, he will not be saved. ... What chance has that man practically, for reaching Heaven, whom God caused to be born, to live, to die, in Tahiti in the sixteenth century? Did not the casting of his lot there virtually fix his lot for eternity?"
2. Another, assuming the person is a professing Christian, is to ask them a series of questions like this
1. Why are you saved?
2. Why do you have faith?
3. What did you decide to believe?
4. Does this mean you're smarter than others who don't make that decision?
5. Then why did you decide to believe when others don't?
9. Next week, we're going to look at the word submission. Your homework for the week is to consider the extent to which biblical submission requires you to keep silent when you disagree.