One of the darker worldviews available today is determinism, which claims humans haven’t any free will. While it sounds dark, many Christian apologists would argue it’s the logical option if we don’t imagine in God. How did the worldview of determinism develop, and why do some people find it appealing?
What Is the Philosophy of Determinism?
The term determinism describes several philosophies or studies. The common element is that all of them claim events are inevitable. No alternative is feasible; all things are determined (by physical laws, by some strict deity, etc.).
The philosophical view of determinism reports that humans haven’t any alternative in life. According to the determinists, a human being could make a conscious alternative; the assumption that this alternative shows humans have free will is ultimately an illusion. For example, if someone growing up in a totalitarian country finds a solution to escape to a rustic where they will be free, that individual wouldn’t be free since, in response to determinism, all the pieces is already pre-determined.
Just a few worldviews apply determinism to assert that a supernatural god controls all the pieces. Generally, though, determinism is today related to secular worldviews that claim nothing divine or supernatural happens in the true world. Consequently, this context has no transcendent point of reference for goodness, beauty, and truth. All of life is nature, red tooth, and claw, as Alfred Lord Tennyson puts it in his poem of lament In Memoriam. If there isn’t any transcendent reality, then life is totally meaningless. As humans living in an empty cosmos, we must fabricate our own meaning in a meaningless universe without objective truth.
Who Are Some Famous Supporters of Determinism?
The Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius was one among the primary thinkers to advertise determinism. According to Lucretius, the truth of the issue of evil was objective proof against the existence of and loving God or gods. In his Epicurean view, though this life is a present, we’re still trapped in a deterministic universe where death is the top. In this context, one must live a life stuffed with a healthy amount of hedonism.
The late creator Christopher Hitchens was an enormous proponent of determinism. Hitchens’ books (most famously, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) and articles critiqued the thought of a transcendent reality aside from what will be explained empirically. Hitchens viewed the Christian worldview as a type of depraved sadomasochism and, ultimately, a delusion. For Hitchens, deterministic materialism was a a lot better solution to live one’s life than submitting to a celestial dictator who created everyone sick and commanded them to be made well. As clever as Hitchens was, he gave a caricature of the Christian faith. Friends like Christian apologist and mathematician John Lennox challenged Hitchens’ arguments in debates. To some extent, his brother Peter Hitchens challenged determinism in books like Rage Against God.
Does Determinism Fit Christianity’s View of Predestination?
Determinism results in one among the hardest philosophical questions: is there free will? Many philosophers argue there are two options: Either human beings have free will, or free will is an illusion fabricated by wishful pondering, and humanity will not be free.
Just a few theologians who take a powerful view of God’s sovereignty have explored theological determinism, where predestination and divine election mean we don’t select salvation. However, most historically orthodox Christian thinkers state that Christianity affirms some element of free will. Therefore, the idea we are able to only have free will or complete sovereignty is seemingly mistaken. There is a paradox between grace and works where they’ll work together. As Paul writes in Philippians 2:12, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have got at all times obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now rather more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it’s God who works in you each to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Some theologians, reminiscent of John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards, have tried to elucidate the paradox through a scientific argument. Whether it might probably be fully explained through logic or is something beyond finite human understanding is up for debate. Regardless, a paradox will not be similar to a contradiction, which could be literally not possible. There isn’t any contradiction between the truth of and loving Creator and a finite human being’s free will.
Even theologians who take strong Calvinist views on predestination agree that Christians cannot imagine in secular determinism, that life was entirely created by accident with none divine plan. In the Christian worldview, there isn’t any such thing as an accident. God is sovereign, and human beings have free will concurrently.
Why Should Christians Know about Determinism Today?
Christians should pay attention to determinism since it is a well-liked view that informs culture in various ways. Therefore, we must be careful for its ideas appearing in unexpected places. As Colossians 2:8 states, “See to it that nobody takes you captive through hole and deceptive philosophy, which relies on human tradition and the basic spiritual forces of this world quite than on Christ.” This verse from one among Paul’s letters affirms that true wisdom, hope, and joy are present in knowing Christ and never in old or latest philosophies that supply a contradictory view of what matters.
Christians must also know that determinism offers a false answer to the suffering and bleakness we live with. In this worldview, no hope or redemption is obtainable to people searching for meaning and purpose. The us vs. them conflicts (over politics, religion, or every other viewpoint) proceed with no possible resolution.
Christians must also be careful for determinism since it seemingly offers a bleak but free solution to live. Many determinists recognize it results in a nihilistic worldview but struggle with the implications. In this view, nothing in each day life ultimately matters, and all the pieces is meaningless. Although nihilism may lead to that without the love of Christ being the target point of reference, many skeptics who live a deterministic life do good on this planet, exude compassion, and check out to make the world a greater place by being human being. However, as Paul explains in Romans, life will not be simply about being human being. It is about recognizing we’re fallen, broken sinners beloved by Christ.
How Can Christians Respond to Determinism?
Christians can offer several loving responses to the grim world of determinism.
First, we are able to ask people why humanity craves freedom and sweetness if it doesn’t exist. Throughout history, humans have asked: Where will we find hope in a bleak world stuffed with chaos? Is change and redemption possible? These questions point to the proven fact that the human heart desires justice, love, hope, joy, and the transcendent. It all points to the truth that human beings were meant for more.
These transcendent desires have never died out and are universal throughout history. A very good example of this from literature is the chapter on hope from C.S. Lewis’s classic book Mere Christianity. Lewis himself struggled to seek out hope after losing his mother at a young age and suffering the trauma of World War I. This suffering caused Lewis to be a staunch atheist. Still, his eager for the everlasting, roused by the ability of story, art, different landscapes of Nature, and mythology, showed him the boundaries of determinism and helped Lewis embrace faith in Christ. Lewis could communicate his personal experience of finding hope in Christ through various World War II radio broadcasts, which became the idea for Mere Christianity. The book has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide find hope in Christ.
If our questions on meaning show we desire things like joy and hope, we are able to then show people how Christianity offers a solution to those desires. In the Christian worldview, reason, imagination, and faith are usually not mutually exclusive. Great Christian writers and thinkers reminiscent of Lewis, Lennox, George MacDonald, Madeleine L’Engle, and J.R.R. Tolkien attest to this and have inspired hundreds of thousands worldwide on their faith journey.
We may help people consider whether determinism offers future because it claims that there’s nothing beyond death. In the Christian worldview, death will not be the top. Although every human being dies due to the fall of our ancestors at first, we now have the hope of everlasting life.
Since Christianity offers a vision of the longer term, it also shows how we are able to live well and contribute to future. We live within the “already, but not yet” worldview where we all know Christ has redeemed us, the dominion of God has arrived and is moving, and future is coming as God’s plans are fulfilled. We are fallen human beings living in time and space, where hope can sometimes feel distant. Yet through Christ, we’re redeemed and may do good works that can have everlasting effects. Through acts of kindness, justice, compassion, and human love, and creating different artistic endeavors, we proclaim the king of God within the here and now and the longer term marriage of heaven and earth.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/AOosthuizen
Justin Wiggins is an creator who works and lives within the primitive, majestic, beautiful mountains of North Carolina. He graduated along with his Bachelor’s in English Literature, with a give attention to C.S. Lewis studies, from Montreat College in May 2018. His first book was Surprised by Agape, published by Grant Hudson of Clarendon House Publications. His second book, Surprised By Myth, was co-written with Grant Hudson and published in 2021. Many of his recent books (Marty & Irene, Tír na nÓg, Celtic Twilight, Celtic Song, Ragnarok, Celtic Dawn) are published by Steve Cawte of Impspired.
Wiggins has also had poems and other short pieces published by Clarendon House Publications, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal, and Sweetycat Press. Justin has an amazing zeal for all times, work, community, writing, literature, art, pubs, bookstores, coffee shops, and for England, Scotland, and Ireland.
This article is an element of our Christian Terms catalog, exploring words and phrases of Christian theology and history. Here are a few of our hottest articles covering Christian terms to assist your journey of data and faith:
The Full Armor of God
The Meaning of “Selah”
What Is Grace? Bible Definition and Christian Quotes
What is Discernment? Bible Meaning and Importance
What Is Prophecy? Bible Meaning and Examples
