Just thinking out loud

“In the magnificent cathedral the Honorable and right Reverend Geheime-General-Oberhof-Pradikant, the elect favorite of the fashionable world, appears before an elect company and preaches, with emotion, upon the text which he himself elected: “God hath elected the base things of the world and the things that are despised”—and nobody laughs.

--Kierkegaard


One of the difficulties in biblical doctrinal study is the antithesis between predestination and election and freewill. Predestination and election is a fact that we can’t help but accept because of the very nature of God—Omniscient and omnipotent. Freewill is also a fact that we can’t help but accept because of the very nature of humanity—depravity and accountability. The conflict is well defined: how can humanity be accountable if everything’s predestined; how can God be God if he is not in control of everything etc.


I have seen many pastors during bible studies tackle the paradox and it’s not a pretty sight—either they get stumped for a week or they just try to avoid the conflicting doctrines.

The problem is logic, the “either or” method of harmonizing the doctrines.

We can learn a lot from the oriental non-logical (not illogical) way of thinking.

All those Zen stuffs…(Just thinking out loud!)