Throughout the Old and the New
Testaments, there are signs of free will and determinism that play into
decisions made throughout the stories in The Bible. Specifically in the book of
Psalms, Mark, Jonah, and Ecclesiastes, each of the three perspectives on the
seemingly simple question, “Who is writing the script of my life,” are brought
to life and begin to prove why there are so many people who strongly believe in
determinism and strongly believe in free will. There will never be a definite solution
to this question and that is proven through the lenses that each of these books
can be viewed through.
As I begin to think deeper and
deeper about this question and am provided with more and more resources that
allow me to think about why I believe what I do, it becomes harder and harder
to stay grounded in my original thoughts. In Psalms we are provided with an
overwhelming amount of words that make me believe that God has determined our
lives for us. In Jonah, we see the compatibilists viewpoint and the double
angle that while God has determined our lives there is a time where we have to
choose what is best, using our free will. Finally, in Mark, it backs the idea
that we have to make a decision in all we do and the choices we make are not
predetermined, but are given to us to make our own judgment.
Of these three verses, I am going
to focus specifically on Psalm and Mark because they are such strong examples
of our lives being predetermined and of having the will to make decisions for
ourselves. While these two can be looked at so strongly on either end I am also
going to point out how the other opinion can be viewed in each example.
In Psalm we see strong wording such
as, “before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” These words
in their literal sense are evidently pointing out that it was believed by some
that God has chosen the words we speak, the actions we take, and ultimately the
lives we live. This is a strong statement in my eyes, and while this does
strongly allude to the determinism viewpoint, it can be looked at through the
lens of someone who believes in free will and say that while the words we say
are chosen by us, God understands the reason we choose the words we do because
He is our creator and knows us completely.
In Mark, at a literal sense, this
verse completely displays a situation where Mark is able to use his free will
to decide what he is going to do with the wealth that he has. This is a
powerful verse because Jesus is offering up eternal life to Mark and he has the
choice to accept that by giving up his materialist things or to deny and live a
life of satisfaction from the things he owns and the wealth he has accumulated.
Determinists would believe that God had this planned out up until the very
moment where Jesus challenges Mark. God would have already planned out the
choice Mark makes.
Through these few examples it can
be seen that the Bible can and should be viewed in different lenses and from
different perspectives. This allows us to understand all that God has written
for us and be able to use that to affect our decisions and the way we live.
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