Predestination vs. Free Will
From God’s perspective, everything is mandated by Him. From my perspective, I have a free will. I can choose to write this, or choose to not write it. Whatever I choose, this is God’s will, and He has mandated such.
Doesn’t God, then, decide whom He guides and whom He would misguide? Doesn’t that mean He creates our actions? Yes, it ultimately does. Because there is nothing in existence or non-existence that is not under His control. How, then, should one reconcile Him misguiding someone so that they should end up in hell? Was it not Him who ultimately chose that person to commit such acts that should lead him to hell?
We must not ignore the aspect of free will. We have a choice, or at least I believe we do, even if that choice is predetermined. Possibly God could have chosen our paths, but left us to determine them. For example, if I do this, A will happen, but if I don’t do that, B will happen, and If I do this instead, C will happen, etc. Moreover, actions do grant one paradise; it is ultimately the Divine Mercy of God that would grant such a gift.
Most probably, we will never fully understand this concept because we are simply not capable of it. Whatever the case may be, I affirm that there is both free will and predestination.
In the end, it’s a bit like physics. Something happens inside a black hole, and we know this for a fact. We don’t however know what is happening, because we don’t have the tools.
