By coincidence, I found this brief article from www.christianitytoday.com.  It is a translation of a short part of St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica.  It is about prayer and predestination.  It may not help, but I thought it was interesting.  Also, it seems like everyone on this message board is at least somewhat in agreement that predestination cannot be accepted in its most strict sense.  Click here for the article.

On 3/13 at 20:41, Angela wrote:
I just wanted to share something i found out tonight...i looked up the word for predestine, and although it didn't have very much to say, it was very clear that a better translation is 'foreknow'.  in other words, it seems to not express the idea of God planning out who will do what, but simply that he has advanced knowledge, and timeless knowledge. I know this doesn't help a whole lot, but I thought it was interesting!

On 3/12 at 12:53, Brian wrote:
This is an area of faith that I had not thought about, and I see now that maybe I was a little foolish not to. Has my entire life been planned out ahead of me leaving me with no choice in what I do? Or am I free to come and go and do as I please? As I thought about this I thought where better to go than to scripture. So I set out on a ?quest? as it were to discover the truth. What a journey indeed, and though I realize that I could never hope to have a completely clear view of the matter I felt as though at the least I could do was make a decision as to what I believe is the truth.
   He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:5-6)
   In this verse we see that the Lord calls all of us. But we see also that we are free to choose to leave God's calling unanswered:
   But you who forsake the Lord, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny; I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer, when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes, and chose what I did not delight in. (Isaiah 65:11-12)
   I continue my search for an answer but I feel that this has given me a good idea of what the Lord has in store for us all.

On 3/11 at 10:48, Ben wrote:
Unless there's some perfectly correct, objective definition of predestination in place that I'm unaware of, it depends on how you define it. God calls us ALL. He wants us ALL to come to him. But He also knows everything we'll ever do. He knows ahead of time which of us will heed his call, and which will choose the world. Thus, in a sense, we are predestined. But the human-thinking point of view seems to say that that means He is picking and choosing who He thinks is better. But He's not, because it's still entirely our choice whether we take the cross or not. So yeah.

On 3/10 at 22:25, Daniel wrote:
LOL I'm afraid it is very difficult for the human mind to struggle with the concept of predestination and gain much ground on it. You are essentially trying to grasp at God's omniscience, something rather unachievable for the meager human intellect. Bearing this in mind, it is helpful to at least find a common ground for what we speak of when we say “predestination.” The concept may seem obvious, but is it really? Do we mean “God has a predestined purpose for us, one which we will carry out?” or perhaps “God, since He is omniscient, knows all that we shall do. So in a sense, we are ‘predestined’.” You see, it becomes quite impossible to discuss something if no one really knows what they are exactly discussing ;) So the best thing to do is hit the Scriptures, again and again, until it sinks in, until we are able to hear the Holy Spirit.
Allow me to go off on a tangent; it is extremely important to remember in any discussion of this nature scriptures like these:
Job 36:26 “How great is God—beyond our understanding!”
Job 37:5 “He does great things beyond our understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
To be frank, what we are dealing with are opinions. None of us really fully understands, much less even pretends to get close to an understanding, of this matter. And because of that, there is no sense in believing anything but what God tells us. Thus there are some things we must accept and can understand, because we can find these things in scripture and in our relationship with God. We know that we have free will. Anyone with common sense will tell you that they can choose their actions. The Bible is filled the confessions of people who know that they have a will separate from God's will, and that they desperately need their will to be in harmony with His; they know that His will must be done. This is sensible; is it not your choices that speak the clearest of you? Yet at the same time, we know that there is definitely something to this pre-destiny concept. The Gospels make it clear that people are brought to Jesus Christ by the Father (John 6:43-51). Those who dwell in Christ and in whom Christ dwells in know this well. I know that God knew me before I was born, before the world was created; it has never been a question in my mind, and obviously it was not a question in Paul's mind either, which Romans 8:29-39 clearly shows us. We also know from Paul's words that pre-destiny has to do with Christ. In essence, all of mankind shares one common destiny; life through Jesus Christ. All of us are meant by God's awesome love to accept our LORD and Savior, to give Him everything, so that we may enjoy the existence that God meant for us. It is now our turn; God has already given Himself to us. Our LORD Jesus is the predestined Way. But because we have free will, we can choose to defy our destiny, and tragically embrace destruction. We can choose not to accept Christ, and the unimaginably wonderful relationship with Him that He offers us! So in other words, Paul is not talking about “Person X WILL do such and such on such and such day at such and such hour, and has no choice on the matter, because these ARE his predestined actions.” That has nothing to do with the message here. What Paul is getting at is this: “If the LORD has been for us before we were even born, before the world was created, to the point of the predestiny which Paul has spoken of, why should we ever fear?” It would be great folly to doubt the LORD, who in His infinite wisdom, knowledge, and grace, has known us always, and has perfectly prepared a Way for us to Him, and greatest folly not to take the perfect Way offered with a glad heart.

On 3/8 at 09:00, Angela wrote:
OK, I don't really know how to start this, but here goes.  My very vague opinion of predestination is this: I believe in something that falls between predestination and free will. Actually, now that I think of it, it isn't between them so much as it denies both.  I believe that God wants to be in a relationship with each of us.  I also believe that relationships can only occur if both members wish to be in the relationship...if only one side does, then it simply is not a relationship. From these two ideas I think that though God first chose us (seeing how he made us and all) we also choose to be in a relationship with him.  I haven't worked out the details...but that's where I stand so far.

On 3/8 at 00:30, Kyri wrote:
While parts of me are inclined to believe in predestination, I have to say ideally, no, I don't believe in it.


I recently reread the Book of Romans and was puzzled by St. Paul's talk of predestination.  Of course, I am familiar with the fact that God calls people, but to what extent?  Where does free will enter in?  I've decided it would be interesting to hear some other people's opinions, thoughts, feelings, and ruminations on the issue.  The above quotes are all the submissions I received.  All comments were based on the following two sections from the New Testament, but people brought in other verses and sources.

    And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
    - Romans 8.28-30 (NIV)

He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Christ Jesus, in accordance with his pleasure and will...In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
    - Ephesians 1.5, 11 (NIV)

Please be respectful of other people's opinions in your submissions.  Also, don't assume other Christians will automatically agree with your assumptions and conclusions.  The purpose of this forum is not to quash anybody's opinions or decide on any absolute Truth, but to have an enlightening conversation about the Word of the Lord.