Dictator vs moron

“Why do ideas matter? Because the thoughts we entertain –especially those we seriously entertain tend to influence our choices. Belief leads to behavior. Ideas lead to actions.” (Geisler) In the book Chosen but Free, Geisler addresses the issue of salvation and free will. In the opening chapter he talks about ideas and how our beliefs affect our lives and our choices. Geisler addresses the two main views of Christianity that in my mind rather plague Christianity; Calvinism and Arminianism. He also presents a view that is in the middle of the two. I believe that God knows what is going to happen and that he gives us the choice to do what we want and no matter what we choose to do God has the ability to know and cover all the bases. God will never be surprised by what we do.

I think that hyper Armenians who believe that God does not know what we are doing and that he is waiting on the edge of his seat to find out what we are doing seem to be comparing God to child. In my opinion that is rather insulting of the God who created out entire universe and created mysteries that we cannot explain to this day. I also do not agree with the hyper Calvinists that believe that God is controlling our every movement of our lives. When a person is being completely controlled there is no true freedom yet Christ himself says that accepting him is a decision. God is not an overbearing dictator who tells us what to do.

God is a being whose character is perfect. We cannot try and fit God into our rules otherwise we find ourselves with inconsistencies. Instead I think that we need to fit our ideas into God. When we bring our thoughts on theology into the spectrum of how big and powerful God is the idea that he knows us and still allows us to make our own decisions fits into the character of an awesome, all powerful, all knowing and ever present God. God does not exist within the boundaries that we as humans must exist in; he is much bigger than that.  Trying to shove God into the box of Calvinism or the box of Arminianism is also in my opinion saying God is incompetent.

If God is truly perfection like most agree that he is; then by limiting God you are limiting hi perfection. As I read through Chosen but Free and I read the stance of the Calvinists and the Armenians it was rather sad the arguments over verses. The issue of salvation and free will is important but I think that as a whole the midpoint view of God being capable of both knowing what will happen and allowing us to decide what we are going to do is feasible. I know that for myself that if I went to either extreme I would either not care about the rest of this world or I would consider God a moron.