Preaching Calvin & Predestination

Whenever I get to sit with a small group from my church to talk theology, invariably a question surfaces regarding that ever-thorny conundrum: predestination and free will. The dilemma isn't merely theological. Philosophers wonder about it under the guise of determinism versus human independence; as do psychologists in their debates over nature versus nurture as well as biologists when deliberating the impact of genes versus the environment. Anyone who regards fate or its cousins as a potential force compelling and controlling human life has wrestled with this puzzle. For Christians however, the predestination predicament takes on deeper hues. Rather than impersonal fate, inherent traits, or genetic mutations, Christians regard an intimately personal and loving God as the force behind any predetermined script human behavior would follow.