Christianity and Fatalism
score:5
The short answer is "no. it's not fatalism" for most Christians. Most traditions believe and teach that God gave us free will. Without free will, there could be no such things as faith. Without free will, there could be no good or evil. Without free will, there'd have been no reason for Joshua 24:15, for example. We'dsimply be programmed, mindless automatons going through the motions of life. This would be fatalism.
The fact that God knows what we will do does not negate the fact that we have a choice. For example, I know right now that if I tell my kids to go clean their rooms, they will resist. I can predict with a high degree of accuracy what each will say, and exactly how they will resist. I'm not making them react a certain way, I just know from experience.
God, of course, knows with 100% accuracy what we will do. This still doesn't mean we don't choose to do it.
The idea of fatalism suggests that we throw up our hands and just let what happens happen, because it's going to happen anyway. If this were what God intended, entire swaths of Scripture would have to be removed. And command to obey, repent, any statement that God loves a humble heart and obedience would be rendered meaningless.
Joshua 24:15 (KJV) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Upvote:2
The closest concept that would apply to fatalism would be predestination. A strict predestination ante previsa merita says that God has chosen who will be saved, even before the foundation of the world, without regard to what you will or will not do in your life.
Even the most strict adherents to unconditional election, however, would point out that you don't know if you were chosen by God to be saved or not. And, as such, we should live as if we already were saved.
More post
- 📝 Christianity, community, friendship, and relationships
- 📝 What are non-ordained lay person powers?
- 📝 At what point is a new soul created according to the Catholic Church?
- 📝 If miracles stopped after the Apostles, then why are there admonitions to pray over people?
- 📝 Was the Gathering Relics of Holy Men in 1st Century common in the Early Church?
- 📝 When did the Pharisees stop being afraid to arrest Jesus?
- 📝 Why do some Christians bowdlerise words like "God", writing "G-d" instead?
- 📝 What support is there in the Patristic writings for Marian Devotion?
- 📝 What are the "evangelical counsels"?
- 📝 What is the hope in Roman Catholicism?
- 📝 How do Jehovah's witnesses respond to the historical evidence for the physical resurrection?
- 📝 How do Catholics assert certain Traditions being equal with Scripture when Scripture never says tradition can be of equal authority?
- 📝 Why is our righteousness as filthy rags?
- 📝 If the dinosaurs and man co existed, why did the dinosaurs perish?
- 📝 Do we have any more information on Jesus's Sisters?
- 📝 Who are the leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses church?
- 📝 Is polyandry legal in the bible?
- 📝 Marriages that are blessed (convalidated) and Holy Communion
- 📝 Need help remembering CS Lewis Quote about Joy and Chemical Reactions
- 📝 Where did the first born blessing come from?
- 📝 Are there historical accounts of the character of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah?
- 📝 What teachings do all Catholic schools share?
- 📝 What is the scriptural basis, if any, for the Catholic teaching that the h*m*sexual tendency is of itself not a sin?
- 📝 Looking for sources of Mediaeval church architecture that shows and\or explains hard to find architectural church additions?
- 📝 What reasons does Christianity give for "Why There Must Be A God?"
- 📝 The task of interpreting the Word of God - The Pope
- 📝 How do we apply Matthew 12:25
- 📝 How do Mormons interpret the warning in Revelation about adding to the book?
- 📝 Imaginary or legendary saints associated with Catholicism?
- 📝 How long, and in what cases did Catholics participate in the Black Fast?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Christianity and Fatalism
- 📝 Can somebody summarize the different "branches" of Christianity to me, and explain why they exist in the first place?
- 📝 At what point did Judaism and Christianity diverge?
- 📝 Does Christianity allow eating pork and horse meat, which even though it is prohibited by the Jewish Law?
- 📝 What are the major differences between evangelical Christianity and Mormonism?
- 📝 Did this phrase "love the sinner but hate the sin" in this form originate in Christianity and who is credited to have first used it?
- 📝 What is the basis for the belief that Christianity and Islam worship different gods?
- 📝 Trinitarian Christianity and Numbers 23:19 - Was Jesus a man?
- 📝 Christianity and extreme, seizure-like bodily shaking
- 📝 Which groups of Christians hold signs about Jesus or Christianity in public, and why?
- 📝 Christianity certainty and other religions certainty
- 📝 How can apologists argue that if Jesus did not rise again then Christianity and the Church would not have lasted, when other religions have?
- 📝 Is Christianity just a belief system, or is it also a system for organizing and governing society?
- 📝 Mere Christianity Book I Chapters 1 and 2: How would Lewis explain morality being inherently known but also taught?
- 📝 How do human rights and Christianity relate to each other?
- 📝 Is Christianity the sum of the actions and beliefs of its adherents or a set of actions and beliefs defined by the Bible?
- 📝 Does Christianity allow allegorical readings of creation and the deluge?
- 📝 Christianity and Usury from a Historical perspective
- 📝 What Biblical basis supports the idea that questions and answers about Christianity could be sinful?
- 📝 Does Christianity as described in the Bible support dualism of the mind and body?
- 📝 Is there a need for Christians to believe in Christianity at all, if they don't believe in Resurrection and Salvation through Christ alone?
- 📝 Why is there a modern misconception about Christianity and Science?
- 📝 For those who believe there was no historical Adam and Eve, how does Christianity make sense?
- 📝 Are good and evil in Christianity ultimately based on maximizing wellbeing and minimizing suffering?
- 📝 Virgin birth in other religions and relevance to Christianity
- 📝 Did the symbols of star in Christianity and Judaism originate independently?
- 📝 When someone converts to Christianity and is "reborn in Christ," is it the body or the soul that is reborn, or both?
- 📝 What's the position of the Catholic Christianity and the new testament regards h*m*sexuality?
- 📝 Are Christians monotheists and what is the nature of Jesus? (i.e. Give me the basics of Christianity please)
- 📝 What is the relation between Christianity and Islam
