Predestination and Free Will


Mark A. Foster


"Know thou, O fruit of My Tree, that the decrees of the Sovereign Ordainer, as related to fate and predestination, are of two kinds. Both are to be obeyed and accepted. The one is irrevocable, the other is, as termed by men, impending. To the former all must unreservedly submit, inasmuch as it is fixed and settled. God, however, is able to alter or repeal it. As the harm that must result from such a change will be greater than if the decree had remained unaltered, all, therefore, should willingly acquiesce in what God hath willed and confidently abide by the same.
"The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and entreaty can succeed in averting it."
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p.133

"Fate is of two kinds: one is decreed, and the other is conditional or impending. The decreed fate is that which cannot change or be altered, and conditional fate is that which may occur....
"But conditional fate may be likened to this: while there is still oil, a violent wind blows on the lamp, which extinguishes it. This is a conditional fate. It is wise to avoid it, to protect oneself from it, to be cautious and circumspect. But the decreed fate, which is like the finishing of the oil in the lamp, cannot be altered, changed nor delayed. It must happen; it is inevitable that the lamp will become extinguished."
-- `Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p.244

As I see it, predestination (or fate) is really another way of referring to the various expressions of God's Will. We sometimes experience them as "tests and difficulties," and they are often expressed as types of prophecy.

For the most part, our actions, both individually and collectively, function within the framework of conditional or impending predestination. God provides us with certain possibilities ("doors"), and we either work toward them or we do not. However, certain manifestations of God's Will may be irrevocable or decreed. They are not contingent on human choice or behavior.

Here is how to refute the conflation of predestination with foreknowledge.

Premise 1. I study a new, experimental medicine for colds.

Premise 2. After taking the medicine, all members of the experimental group report that their colds have been eliminated.

Conclusion: The knowledge that the cold would be cured caused me to conduct the experiment. In other words, in this case, after administering the medicine, I may have a type of omniscience (not exactly, of course). However, it would be foolish to argue that this knowledge caused me to administer the medicine.