A Short Thesis on Predestination

[Lojo613 1882]

[!] Father Goren sits alone deep in the bowels of the Church archives, a massive list in his hand as he takes notes on the location and contents of a variety of Scrolls. Lifting one Et Principia Ecclesiae Dogma, Father Goren marches back to a table laden with books, scrolls, and a single dim lamp. Opening the scroll, he begins to muse over the text within, one finger hovering above the parchment while his other hand twirls a quill. Suddenly, he pauses his read, abruptly standing. “Oh dear.... perhaps I shall shed some light on this matter” he murmurs to himself , placing a stack of books onto a nearby stool before placing a brand new paper in front of himself.

The complex truth that is Free Will and the fallacy of Predestination

 

Praise be to Him, Infinite of Knowledge, Master of Fate, Lord of Destiny, GOD!

 

Predestination

          The Church of Canon holds that Free Will exists. Not often written or spoken of is another peculiar topic known by the name Predestination. What is predestination? This is the concept that GOD, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge and timeless nature, already knows the path of Man and his afterlife. According to those who subscribe to this notion, Time works in a manner similar to a river, where upon GOD watches as all things drift down and knows the exact course they shall take. Many a small and breakaway stream line this river, which to those who float among it appear as paths and choices which one may possibly make. GOD, however, can see that these streams hold no sway, and knows the true path of all in the stream of Time. Free Will, while therefore existing for lesser beings, is ultimately an illusion. GOD knows who shall spend time in the Void, and who shall number among the righteous in the Seven Skies.

 

Determinism & Indeterminism 

        The outlook of Predestination is grim, and not entirely correct or supported by the Holy Scrolls. Overall this is due to Predestination relying on an idea known as Determinism. What is Determinism? Determinism is the idea that all mortal actions are influenced by material motives, that is, all mortal actions are the result of things which have occurred previously in Time. A sinner who drinks, drinks because his wife has died, but if this man had been schooled properly in the faith, his motives may have been different and therefore it is not him who is responsible for his actions, but fate. What then, is Indeterminism? Indeterminism rejects the notion that all actions, while seeming to be a choice to the one who makes them, are actually the result of a prior experiences in Time. Rather, Inderterminism posits that there is some spark or moment of choice which is inspired from a source outside of Time and the material world. In other words, Indeterminism posits that choices matter. 

         What are the criticisms of Determinism in regards to the Holy Scrolls? No being should be able to subvert the plan of GOD should Determinism exist. There should be no force which has the power to hinder or inhibit the Will of GOD. In this theoretical world, the Holy Scrolls were merely describe events, and not divine motive or interactions, as everything, including the faults, were part of His plan. However, the Divine Gospel does reveal the motives of GOD, and it is telling of a story other than a being which chose to control every aspect of Time and choice. 

 

 “And while the other Immortals had pleased GOD with their creation, none had fulfilled His plan, which was interrupted by the sin of Iblees.” (Gospel 1:27)

 

         This line gives us a glimpse, as if the Sun was peeking from behind the clouds, of the greater character of His magnitude. The Scrolls are His word, and last into the eve of the world, and cannot rot, and it is by His word that this is revealed to us. 

          Now that the argument has been made against Determinism, it is time to examine Indeterminism and the argument against it. GOD is omnipotent, GOD is infinite, and GOD knows all. He is beyond Time, beyond mortality.  Yet, there is a way that Free Will, and choice, can coexist with an infinite being who knows the outcome of all fate yet may still have His plan interrupted.

 

The Maze Allegory

          Imagine Time not as a river, but as a maze. We within it make choices, and our choices take us upon various paths. Some paths are righteous, and some paths are wicked, and no man knows the entirety of  its intricacies. GOD, who stands above this maze, sees all possibilities, and at times will steer us and offer us guidance. Yet we are those who walk this Maze, and although GOD knows the result of every path, of every corner, we do not, but by our choice may we pick which path we walk. GOD has not assigned us a path, we forge our own, for all paths are the work of GOD.

 

A judgement on Predestination

         So we come to ask, is Predestination real? If Determinism should hold sway over a man, then yes, it is real. Whether we shall be destroyed at Dies Irae or shall live in Paradise shall be determined by GOD at our birth, and only through illusion does it seem we have choice in the matter. Should one take inspiration from the Gospel, and read close the Scroll as revealed by Ex. Godfrey, one will discover Indeterminism to be littered within His Scrolls, and know that we, up until Dies Irae, may choose the fate of our souls, and choose to walk the righteous paths or become lost in the maze. 

 

Summary

Predestination is supported by the belief in Determinism, which is the notion that all actions humans take are the result of a previous action in time.

The Holy Scrolls contradict this notion, holding that His plan was interrupted at one point by the choice of another.

Therefore beings must be able to make meaningful choices, which contradicts the notion that the paths of beings are wholly determined by GOD.

Therefore Predestination cannot be correct, as it would contradict the Scroll of Gospel, but instead rather GOD knows all outcomes but we may choose which path we take and outcome for ourselves we walk towards.

 

-Goren

May His Light guide you, reader, and lead you to Paradise.

 

[GoodGuyMatt 7113]

Brandt Barclay reads through the letter interestedly. Once he finishes, his head tilts to one side as he takes a moment to think, trying to remember something "Ist the premise of Indeterminism nicht the one of Siegmundic Canonism?" he wonders to himself, searching through his memory to find an answer. Though mostly believing this to be correct, Brandt anyway decides to take a parchment and pen down a letter, sending to Father Goren soon after, inquiring of said topic.

"Ein rather informative letter that was, I must say." he comments as he looks back at the parchment he just read, dipping his head singularly before sending his own letter to reach the Father "Mögen Godan uns helfen." he concludes in Waldenian before going about his own business

[AnonymousAlexa 3890]

Angelika Bykov nodded, her lips upturning into a faint smile upon reading Father Goren’s thesis. ”I agree completely. We are all subject to change. Our daily actions and choices determine where each individual shall be sent to after death. This gives us incentive to uphold good faith and dignity, which was Godan’s hope for humanity.”

[thesmellypocket 1859]

"We believe in single predestination, meaning that God has foreknowledge of those that will choose damnation. How could this not be so? He knows all things. He is outside of time. But we do not believe in determinism, viz. man cannot make meaningful choices or does not have free will. It is just that God knows the outcome of our free choice."

[argonian 14254]

“Man is free to choose, but God knows the choices man will make. If I have a friend with a sweet-tooth, and he passes a bakery, I know he’ll walk inside and buy a cake. I don’t know this for sure, for I am not infallible and cannot see the future, but God is and can, and so He can know these things with certainty. From the moment of creation, He knew all souls that would come to be and what choices they would make. A mortal man myself, I need to wait until I see my friend walk out of the bakery to know for certain that he chose to buy the cake, but God exists outside of time and can see that choice before it had even been made.” 

[Lojo613 1882]

12 hours ago, GoodGuyMatt said:

 "Ist the premise of Indeterminism nicht the one of Siegmundic Canonism?"

”Not so, while it is held that man is responsible for his actions, many Canonists would argue that GOD already knew whether such a man would make said action long before it was made. Man experiences the world in a state of indeterminism, despite its true nature being that of a deterministic reality. I argue that reality is at its core indeterministic, and time is not wholly linear.” Father Goren writes “Although, this matter is wholly philosophical, and most likely should not affect the lives and decision making of any who read this Thesis.”