Autor: Ormerod, Neil

Buch: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Titel: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Stichwort: Vorsehung - Prädestination; Augustinus; Konversion (psychologischer Aspekt); Vorherbestimmung - göttliche Weisheit

Kurzinhalt: [Grace] ... if this is God's work and not a human achievement, then the question obviously arises, why is it so rare? ... In loving wisdom God creates the whole of the created order in a single act. In that sense, God does not predestine anything ...

Textausschnitt: PROVIDENCE AND PREDESTINATION

125a A central element in the Christian tradition of grace is its "gratuitous" nature. Grace is not something we can control, demand, or require. It is pure gift from God. This gratuitous quality is most evident in the experience of conversion, or operative grace. God turns around the life of the sinner, taking out the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. "This is the work of the Lord, a marvel to our eyes" (Ps 118:23). But if this is God's work and not a human achievement, then the question obviously arises, why is it so rare? Perhaps we all have our favorite list of people we think need conversion, whether terrorists, politicians, or CEOs of multinational corporations who exploit the poor and devastate the natural environment. Why is it that God does not turn their hearts into hearts of flesh? Put more bluntly, why is it that some are saved, and others, apparently, are not? This is the classical question of predestination. (Fs) (notabene)

125b The language of predestination is taken from the Scriptures, which clearly recognize the problem we have identified (Rom 8:29-30; Eph 1). There the context is one of conversion of the pagans compared with the lack of response to Jesus among the Jews. Why did some respond and others not? Because of God's divine election (see in particular Rom 9-11). Augustine takes up this theme with a vengeance. For Augustine, the mystery of predestination is one hidden in God. Some are chosen, others are not. The number of the predestined is already determined and cannot be changed-only God knows who they are. The predestined are few in number, while the rest of humanity is a massa damnata, or damned lump.1 This theme was also taken up by a number of the reformers who taught double predestination. God predestines some to heaven and others to hell. (Fs)

125c The difficulty is that this scriptural theme must also be kept in balance with other scriptural themes that stress God's love and compassion for all, and in particular that God wills the salvation of all (1 Tim 2:4). Augustine was well aware of such verses, but refused to concede to his opponents that the plain meaning of the text was what the text meant!2 If one combined the universal salvific will of God with the notion of predestination and operative grace, one might rather conclude that all are in fact saved. Indeed, some have drawn such a conclusion, a point we shall return to when we consider the question of hell. In the meantime I shall make the following points. (Fs)

126a What is most disturbing about the notion of predestination is the sense of some arbitrary choice being made by God about who will be saved and who will be damned. We find the arbitrariness of it repugnant-and so we should, for such arbitrariness is a sign of the inauthentic, not the authentic good. So we need to eliminate any sense that God is making some type of arbitrary decision about our salvation. Here it is important to recall the notion of God's universal salvific will. If God in fact wills that all be saved, then God is doing everything possible to work for our salvation. While it may be presumptuous to conclude that all are saved, the teaching of predestination should give us confidence that God is working for our salvation, not against it, and God's will is anything but arbitrary. As Jesus teaches:

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matt 10:28-31)

126b Second, we may respond to the question, Why is conversion not more common? Perhaps the reason is because it is so difficult to achieve, even for God. If conversion is too abrupt, it may disrupt the psychological identity of the person, leaving him or her incapable of functioning. Through the operation of divine providence God patiently leads the sinner to the point of conversion, a process that may take a lifetime. We must also take into account the resistance of the sinner to God's promptings, which can make the process even more difficult. After conversion there is still the possibility of breakdown, of turning away from God in sin. All this should remind us of the serious nature of sin, of the rupture it causes in our relationship with God and our fellow humans, and of the high price paid for our redemption. (Fs)

126c Finally, as indicated in the previous paragraph, any discussion of predestination must occur within the framework of divine providence. In loving wisdom God creates the whole of the created order in a single act. In that sense, God does not predestine anything, since in God's creative act there is no before or after. God creates the whole of creation, from the initial Big Bang to the final cosmic consummation, in a single divine act. This includes all our free acts and their consequences, all the acts of divine graciousness and all our sins.3 Again we only have a sense of this as arbitrary if we have lost a sense of God's loving wisdom as the source of creation. (Fs)

127a In this sense, then, Catholic teaching affirms a doctrine of predestination, a predestination to glory, grounded in the love and grace of God. It does not affirm any predestination to eternal loss. God does not predestine anyone to hell; that is solely the achievement of the damned. (Fs)