God’s Will and Predestination

Sometime ago I was reading something related to Duns Scotus by Richard Cross that introduced me to Scotus’ views on the predestination of certain persons to salvation and not others. It sent me back to certain biblical texts and from there to a whole history of interpretations of such texts, as well as reading for myself a translation of what Duns Scotus had written on the subject.

It would seem that for some such as Scotus (and alter Calvin) there is a predestination to salvation that is purely from God’s almighty Will that none can or should question. God as God can do whatever He likes and who are we to question that choice? But for others such as Bonaventure the will of God also includes some prior knowledge by God of how persons might respond to the gospel invitation to faith.

I confess I am uncomfortable with any idea of predestination by God if it is simply from an unquestionable and potentially arbitrary Will, especially if the divine Will is from the character of love. I am more sure that any such choice of God for any person’s destiny also relates to some divine knowledge of the person and how they may respond to God’s invitation to come and find salvation. Anything else seems too arbitrary and God’s will is not arbitrary but is based upon the essential loving character in the nature of God.  Any choice of God for or against a person’s destiny to salvation must be according to God’s love and actual knowledge of the person, as well as their known freedom to turn away from what is offered in hope.