Nate and I have been studying the bible, praying for revelation, and speaking with revered friends / pastors / and family about this topic since last August. I feel like it is a topic that will continue to return to us throughout the rest of our lives. It seems like of the group of people we have been in contact with, its a rough split between the ideas of free will and predestination. We had one pastor tell us that they believe there has to be a meeting of the two ideas somehow and only God knows how. Seeing as how this has been argued for centuries, I don’t think it will be something that I solve or that I will really even try to change any one else’s mind on. I’ve pulled together a document containing the major scriptural references that we have been “shown” by those on the side of predestination and my response to them. I don’t think its a very professional piece as I’m still learning and struggling (aka its an in progress document), but I do feel that its time to be at peace with our decision to leave our current church and share with anyone who is interested the thoughts that are tumbling around in our heads. We definitely are willing to discuss further on this matter if anyone wants to, as long as at the end of the conversation we can agree to disagree and that we’ll all meet up in heaven and talk about it some more when God’s plan has been fully revealed to us (that is, if we aren’t too busy hanging out with God).
The document is here: Free Will .doc
I think your browser will try to download it automatically.