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Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. [1] Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby God's omniscience seems incompatible with human free will.
According to Thomas Aquinas, God is the "Highest Good". [1] The Summa Theologiae (question 6, article 3) affirms that "God alone is good essentially". [2]Because in Jesus there are two natures, the human and the divine one, Aquinas states that in him there are two distinct wills: the human will and the divine will.
Sovereignty can include also the way God exercises his ruling power. However this aspect is subject to divergences notably related to the concept of God's self-imposed limitations. The correlation between God's sovereignty and human free will is a crucial theme in discussions about the meaningful nature of human choice.
A major theological dispute at the time of the sixteenth century would help to force a distinct division in ideas – with an argument between two eminent thinkers of the time, Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther, a leading Protestant Reformer. Erasmus in Discourses On the Freedom of the Will believed that God created human beings with free will.
Traditional theism (e.g. Thomas Aquinas) distinguishes between God's will and God's permission, claiming that while God permits evil, he does not will it. [7] This distinction is echoed by some modern open theists, e.g. Gregory A. Boyd, who writes, "Divine goodness does not completely control or in any sense will evil."
God could not issue horrible commands: God's own essential goodness [81] [90] [91] or loving character [92] would keep him from issuing any unsuitable commands. Our obligation to obey God's commands does not result in circular reasoning; it might instead be based on a gratitude whose appropriateness is itself independent of divine commands. [93]
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These articles go into particular ways that believers serve God even in times of affliction (49), including prayer (47-48), fasting (50-51), true worship (52) that does not involve images of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit (53), hallowing of God's name, permitting the taking of oaths when appropriate (55), and the observance of the Lord ...