QUESTION

Why do you say that the Absolute Predestination of All Things (APOAT) is a form of Christian Irrationalism? I’ve heard you state that it posits a God who is the immediate author of sin. Please explain. (Anonymous)

ANSWER

This is a good question that is worth exploring. Consider the following…

God is said to be the author of eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:9).
This authorship involves his predestinating and ordaining of the events of our eternal salvation (Ephesians 1:4-6, Romans 8:29-30, John 10:28).
APOAT insists that God’s predestination extends beyond the work of our eternal salvation and includes absolutely ALL things that come to pass, including the commission of sin.
If the predestination of sin comes to pass through precisely the same ordaining mechanics as the predestination of salvation, then God is indisputably the author of sin, because he is said to be the author of salvation that occurred by the same mechanism (Hebrews 5:9).
This violates the holiness of God (Isaiah 6:3) and the principle that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5) because the authorship of sin is an act of darkness.

COMMON RESPONSES

In my experience, APOAT adherents usually respond to the accusation that this arrangement makes God the author of sin, with a dismissive, “No, it doesn’t!” But the conclusion is unavoidable based on the aforementioned precepts that they also affirm. Simply stating that, “God is not the author of sin” does not overturn the logical consequence of their affirmations. Others resort to “antinomy”, “mystery”, or “paradox” to “explain” the dilemma, but this provides no rational explanation for the contradiction either. It is just a parlor trick intended to train one’s eye away from their theological train wreck.

It is for this reason that I refer to the APOAT as a form of Christian Irrationalism. It is also why we need a more refined and nuanced handling of divine decrees, ordination, and predestination that does not violate I John 1:5. A proper view must accommodate the bible’s testimony that the events of history are a combination of things that God has done (Genesis 1:1) as well as things that God has long-suffered his creation to do in rebellion against him under his permissive dominion (Numbers 14:18). Apart from recognizing that God does not directly, actively, and causatively force creatures to commit sin, and that he nevertheless long-suffers his creatures to sin against him, we end up with contradictory doctrine that at once insists that God is holy only to admit that he directly causes sin. This makes God the author of sin, and destroys the biblical distinction between good and evil.

HANDLE WITH CARE

The matter of divine decrees and ordination is one of the most difficult topics to handle correctly without stepping on a theological landmine. It seems that few Christians respect and appreciate that to the degree that is needful. As often as not, they dive into this subject armed with addled thinking, sloppy rhetoric, and untempered zeal. From my vantage point, if Christians took a great deal more care in their efforts to speak on the topic of divine decrees, and were more introspective about the ramifications of their own assertions, we might find the dialog on predestination less contentious and more profitable.

- Elder Daniel Samons