Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 5
The speaker challenges Augustinian/Calvinist predestination as “arbitrary” and says Scripture “presumes freedom to choose,” arguing God’s foreknowledge is “based on God’s knowledge of the choices we will make,” and God then “interacts with us according to our choices.” How does that reframe the way you read biblical warnings, commands, and promises—especially passages that appear to describe God hardening (Pharaoh) or restraining/withdrawing help?
Another way to ask: If God knows the future because he knows the choices we will make, how does that change how you read the Bible’s warnings, commands, and promises? How would you read stories where God hardens someone like Pharaoh, or seems to pull back help?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The speaker’s view makes warnings and commands real invitations with real consequences, not theater—because Scripture “presumes freedom to choose.” Passages about hardening or restraint (like Pharaoh or the Spirit being “restrained”) are read as God responding to what people persistently choose, sometimes even facilitating the path they want.
- He calls Calvinistic predestination “arbitrary” and says it implies “we don’t have any choice,” which he rejects.
- “The whole climate of scripture presumes freedom to choose good and evil,” citing the tree, Cain (“do well… you’ll be accepted”), and God’s questions to Cain.
- “God’s foreknowledge does not mean that we do not have a choice. Rather, it’s based on God’s knowledge of the choices we’ll make.”
- “God interacts with our choices to give us what we really want… Those who really want what’s right… he gives them eternal life… To those who don’t, he lets them.”
- He uses Pharaoh: God “hardened his heart because that was what he wanted.” Clement also: if people “abandon their eagerness, the spirit… is restrained.”