Foreknowledge

how does this figure in Calvinism...

This post isn't going to be long. Why? Because using foreknowledge to bring an objection to the Doctrines of Grace is down right dumb. You see the objection goes something like this: God only foreordains and predestines some to Heaven because the foreknew (knew ahead of time) that the elect would choose to follow God. The following verse is usually used to support this argument:

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30)

Okay, everyone knows God is omniscient right? Right. God has, does and will always know everything about the past, the present and the future. Okay, put on your thinking caps on now. Go back to before God created anything; do you really believe that whatever God foresaw would take place in His future Creation, was complete news to Him? Nonsense! God did NOT learn anything through foreknowledge. God is omniscient remember! He has never been surprised, He has never had a new idea, He has never gained any knowledge. God foreknew His elect BECAUSE He foreordained them to be His elect. Denying this is an attack on the omniscience of God.

Still unconvinced? Alright. Try this one: if God chose His elect on the basis of His foreknowledge of their choice, what's the point of Romans 8:29-30? If God foresaw my saving faith before the creation of the world, why not just leave things be? Why complicate things with predestination and election when He foresaw my "decision for Christ"?

Nonsense!

In conclusion, there has been some contentions a few days ago over foreknowledge and foreordination. The debate was over whether these two words were synonymous or not. Three Greek words were presented, two of them coming from the same root word, the other, in effect, came from a different Greek word. The definition of foreknowledge is "to have knowledge beforehand", and the definition of foreordination is "to predetermine". Different definitions, yet both words, when speaking of God's use of foreknowledge or foreordination, are quite synonymous, as my post has argued. That is why the King James Version of the Bible uses the terms interchangeably (see 1 Peter 1:2 and 1 Peter 1:20, "foreknowledge" and "foreordained" are from the exact same Greek word).

When God foresees, He's foreordained.


Take care,

Rand

Labels: Calvinism, Doctrines of Grace, Election