Is God Sovereign or Do We Have Free Will?

Part 6a: A Word Study on 'Predestine'

Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash

“Now, you don’t believe in predestination do you?” A seemingly innocent question from a sweet, older church lady. To be honest, she asked it half-jokingly.

But the new pastor wasn’t laughing. His calm demeanor suddenly melted away like an ice cube tossed in a volcano. He felt a surge of panic rush upward from his heart and into all the nerve endings in his face.

And finally out came the reply — hesitatingly, yet honestly. “Well, yes. I do.”

“You do?!”

“Yes ma’am. I believe it because it’s taught in the Bible.”

Now it was she who felt a sudden surge of panic. “It is?!”

*****************

These kinds of exchanges about God’s sovereignty in salvation are not all that uncommon in churches. For lots of people, the first time they hear that predestination actually is in the Bible a feeling of shock washes over them like a wave. Indeed, I began this series by revealing my own dismay after reading John 6:35-40 and 44 one day in a gas station parking lot.¹

That’s why the aim of this series is to take a long, hard look at the Scriptures and see if we can understand what the Bible says about this subject. And in this piece in particular, we’re going to try and discern how the word “predestine” (προορίζω) was used in the Greco-Roman world (the historical-cultural context in which the New Testament was written).

But since it’s been a while, let’s briefly review how to engage in word studies.

Review of How to Do Word Studies

In earlier articles in this series, I laid a foundation for an exegetically-sound method for understanding the ways in which biblical authors used words.² And here’s the big idea — word studies should happen in two steps:

(1) Discern what the word could mean and…

(2) Determine what the word does mean in its context.

Today we’re going to focus on the first task. Our aim is to try to figure out the range of possible meanings that “predestine” (προορίζω) carried when it was used in its Greco-Roman setting. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll then seek to understand which definition best fits the use of this word in key New Testament passages.

Here’s a quick example and then we’ll get going.

Suppose you picked up a newspaper and came across this sentence:

The man was found alive, tied up in the trunk of a 1995 Honda Civic.

If you had no idea what a trunk is, then your first task would be to determine all the possible definitions of the word. And here’s what you’d find:

Definition #1: The storage area located at the rear of a vehicle.

Definition #2: The long snout of an elephant which it uses to drink water and grasp food.

Definition #3: That part of the tree which is above the roots, but below the canopy.

Now, based on the context of the sentence in the newspaper, which definition do you think applies? Definition #1, right?

Right. Because that makes the most sense out of the words which surround trunk in the sentence. Trunk of a car. Trunk of a tree. Trunk of an elephant. Words are defined by the friends they keep.³

So again, in this article our goal is to figure out all the possible definitions of “predestine” (προορίζω). And to help with that, I’m using a New Testament Greek lexicon known affectionately as BDAG.⁴

And what’s interesting is that there’s actually only one definition given for this word: to decide upon beforehand, predetermine.⁵

There are a few primary texts outside of the Bible where this term is used, but I want to focus on two: One written by a secular Greek author before the composition of the New Testament and another from a Christian author shortly after the New Testament’s composition.⁶ I’ll provide a bit of historical context for each and then point us toward the passage in which they use the word, predestine. And first up is a guy named Demosthenes.⁷

Secular Greek Source: Demosthenes, Against Onetor, Speech 31, Sec. 4 (4th cent BC)

Demosthenes was a well-known Greek orator who was born in 384 BC and died in 322 BC. He was also an outspoken opponent of Philip II’s and Alexander the Great’s expansion of the Greek city of Macedon. When his revolt failed against the latter, he committed suicide.

Before those tragic events, though, he was a prolific speech writer. In fact, 61 of them have been preserved.

And the one we’re focusing on is #31. Its title, Against Onetor, is quite fitting because it’s about Demosthenes’s legal battle with his former guardian, Onetor. In it, Demosthenes argues that he was swindled out of his inheritance at the hands of Onetor.

Quite the drama, huh?

At any rate, the passage that concerns us is in section 4, where Demosthenes alleges that Onetor had a certain house marked with stones as a claim for ownership. The sense intended here is legal in nature and carries the idea of someone who is authorized to determine possession of property.

In later Christian usage, this term came to take on a more theological sense, with God being the One with the right to determine ownership of a people for Himself. A determination which was made, as we’ll see from Irenaeus below, beforehand.

Christian Source: Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 2.33.5 (180 AD)

Irenaeus is arguably one of the most important figures among the early church fathers. Born in AD 130, he was a disciple of the well-known Polycarp.⁸ And his work was foundational for distinguishing the Christian faith handed down by the New Testament apostles from a growing 2nd century heresy known as Gnosticism.

The New Bible Dictionary defines this heresy as follows:

“The foundation stone of this belief was a radical cosmological dualism, i.e., the belief that the created world was evil, and was totally separate from and in opposition to the world of the spirit. The supreme God dwelt in unapproachable splendor in this spiritual world, and had no dealings with the world of matter. Matter was the creation of an inferior being, the Demiurge. He, along with his aides the archons, kept mankind imprisoned within their material existence, and barred the path of individual souls trying to ascend to the spirit world after death… only those who possessed a divine spark (pneuma) could hope to escape from their corporeal existence. And even those possessing such a spark did not have an automatic escape, for they needed to receive the enlightenment of gnosis before they could become aware of their own spiritual condition… In most of the Gnostic systems reported by the church fathers, this enlightenment is the work of a divine redeemer, who descends from the spiritual world in disguise and is often equated with the Christian Jesus.”⁹

These dangerous Gnostic ideas were seeking to embed themselves in the fledgling church of the second century. But not if Irenaeus had anything to say about it!

Justo Gonzalez captures the importance of Irenaeus’ role in church history when he writes:

[Irenaeus’s] goal is to expound the faith that he has received from his teachers, without adorning it with his own speculations. Therefore, the writings of Irenaeus are an excellent witness to the faith of the church toward the end of the second century.¹⁰

In other words, Irenaeus provides a crucial link between the apostolic faith that we find in the New Testament and the second century Church. To put it another way, what was at stake in the second century was nothing less than preserving and transmitting orthodox New Testament teaching for the sake of future generations of believers. And Irenaeus (among others) was a key player in this regard. So, while his words aren’t Scripture, we do see how one who was quite close to the composition of the New Testament Scriptures understood the apostolic faith contained therein.

An important work along these lines is his well-known Against Heresies. And in one portion of it in particular, you’re going to see how he draws a distinction between those who will be saved and those who will be judged. And in doing so, he uses the word that we’re investigating, predestine (προορίζω):

“And, therefore, when the fixed number is complete, [that number] which he had predetermined in his own counsel, all those who have been enrolled for life shall rise again… Those, on the other hand, who are worthy of punishment, shall go away into it… Both classes shall then cease any longer begetting or being begotten, from marrying and being given in marriage; so that the number of mankind, corresponding to the foreordination of God, being completed, may fully realize the scheme formed by the Father.”

Irenaeus clearly affirms that the only reason why some people are saved is because God graciously predetermined that they would belong to Him.¹¹ But note that Irenaeus also affirms our moral culpability. Those who are not saved go away to punishment because, quite simply, they are worthy of it.

But — we might say to Irenaeus — if they haven’t been predestined for salvation, then how can God hold them accountable?

That’s a fair question. And one I’ve wrestled with quite a bit myself. And while I plan to try my best to reconcile all of these ideas closer to the end of the series, I don’t want to leave you on a cliff edge for quite that long. I also don’t want to put words in Irenaeus’s mouth. But I think I might have a notion as to how he would respond. So, step back away from that edge for a moment and consider this.

Think of God’s granting salvation as similar to a Presidential pardon. When the President of the United States chooses to pardon someone, it’s not because of that person’s merit. Indeed, they are imprisoned because they are guilty of criminal activity. Rather, the president may choose to pardon whom he wills simply because it’s his prerogative to do so. No questions asked. But what about those he chooses not to pardon? Well, it’s not unfair because they are still receiving the just penalty for their crimes. The president is under no moral obligation to pardon all criminals.

In a similar fashion, God knew that we would all sin against Him. But in grace, He chose beforehand to “pardon” a great multitude of sinners. And the fact is, He didn’t have to pardon any of us. We all stand justly condemned for our sins — which should cause us to rejoice all the more when we realize that God saved us while we were his enemies (Rom. 5:8). There was a saying among the Fathers that damnation is all of man and salvation all of God. I think that’s right. Predestination, rightly understood, should produce teary-eyed gratitude and worship. Our sins deserved his punishment. He chose to show us his grace.

Conclusion

But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, suffice it to say that secular Greek literature used predestine (προορίζω) of someone who had the right to determine ownership of property. And Christian literature, written only a generation after the apostles, understood that term to refer to God’s prerogative to predetermine who would be His people.

Next time, we’ll dive into the New Testament texts themselves and see if this definition still holds.

Blessings!

Drew

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like…

1. You can read it here: Is God Sovereign or Do We Have Free Will? Part 1: The Bible Says, ‘Yes.’

2. You can read those pieces here:

Is God Sovereign or Do We Have Free Will? Part 3: Explicit References to Election, Predestination, and Foreknowledge in the New Testament.

Is God Sovereign or Do We Have Free Will? Part 4: Looking Through the Windows into the World of the New Testament.

3. Credit for this phrase goes to my former Professor of New Testament, Dr. Tomlinson (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary).

4. Walter Bauer et al. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature 3rd ed. (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000).

5. BDAG, 873.

6. Anther primary source usage is found inTestament of Solomon 12:3 (~1st-3rd cent AD). In this passage, the author makes reference to God planning beforehand to thwart a powerful demon through Christ’s work on the cross.

7. I want to give a big “thank you” to

Ched Spellman

for helping me locate this reference in Demosthenes’s speech!

8. Polycarp is another towering figure in early church history. He was a bishop in Smyrna and when commanded to curse Christ and worship the Roman emperor or die, he replied, “For eigthy-six years I have served him and he has done me no evil. How could I curse my king who saved me?” Justo L. Gonzalez, Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation vol 1 (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2010), 54.

9. I. Howard Marshall et al, “Gnosticism,” New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1996), 415-416.

10. Gonzalez, Story of Christianity, 84.

11. Notice also how predetermined is preceded by the idea of their being a fixed number of people who would be saved. This shows that Irenaeus understood and embraced the doctrine of election, which you can read about more here: A Word Study on ‘Elect.’

Predetermined is then followed and paralleled by the phrase those who have been enrolled for life — Another indication of Irenaeus’s belief in God’s sovereign choice in salvation.