Tag Archives: determinism

What if: Could Anakin Skywalker have chosen not to become Darth Vader?

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In Star Wars Episode III, The Revenge of the Sith, Jedi Master Mace Windu and Sith Lord Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) are engaged in battle when Anakin Skywalker enters the room. As Anakin watches on, Palpatine fires force lightning which Windu deflects with his light saber. Locked in this struggle, the Sith looks at Anakin and cries out that he must choose whom he will help.

https://youtu.be/YBLcxXR1PMw

The young Jedi is faced with a decision.

  1. Help Mace Windu defeat Palpatine.
  2. Help Palpatine defeat Mace Windu.

In choosing to help Mace Windu, Anakin can reject the Dark Side and fulfill the prophecy that, as the Chosen One, he would bring balance to the Force. However, Anakin is fearful of losing Padme and wants Palpatine’s help. In helping the Sith Lord, Anakin would be completing his journey to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader.

It appears that Anakin has an important choice to make. Or does he? Continue reading →

Grace for All: Predestination in the New Testament (Is it one big script?)

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In the last post blogging through the book, Grace for All, we saw David Clines present to us the big picture of how one might understand predestination in the Old Testament. In this post I. Howard Marshall gives us a view of “predestinarian thought” in the New.

Marshall is a NT415xXkjORGL scholar and Professor Emeritus at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He has authored numerous commentaries and works of theology including the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion winner New Testament Theology.

Marshall reminds us of the challenge that everyone who reads Scripture and studies theology has regardless of the views one holds.

it is one thing to state what Scripture says; it is another to understand it and to bring it into relation with the rest of what Scripture says.

In debates over soteriology, often a verse like Ephesians 1:4-5 is presented as a proof text for unconditional election because it states that we are chosen and predestined. Continue reading →

Grace for All: Exploring Predestination in the Old Testament

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David A. Clines, Emeritus Professor (link) at the University of Sheffield, has specialized in the Hebrew language and study of the Old Testament. In Grace for All, David seeks to summarize the predestinarian ideas found in the OT.

415xXkjORGLHe does this, not by focusing on a few passages, but by analyzing the larger themes found in four major collections of the Hebrew Scriptures.

  • Patriarchal histories in Genesis
  • Primeval histories in Genesis
  • Proverbs/Wisdom literature
  • Prophetic literature

In the essay Clines defends this approach and asks the reader to consider how they approach this topic in the Scriptures.

No doubt there are many reasonable inferences that may be made from biblical statements about predestination. But to be faithful to the Bible means in part to follow the Bible’s emphases and not erect mere inferences into essential biblical doctrine.

Continue reading →