RELIGIOUS DETERMINISM By: Alessia Lee Chong, Sandra Awad, Mira Sayah, Natasha Sillery, Autumn Scott, Lorraine Zhang, Wardah Malik, Asfa Shaikh

Key Ideas!!! Determinism – The idea that every human event, action or decision has sufficient causes. Things happen in our lives that we have no control over; they follow natural laws. Freedom as a human capacity is under attack in a number of philosophies and theologies.

Key Ideas (Cont’d) Determinism is an appealing philosophy because as Kant said, it is difficult to come up with a theory to explain freedom; it is not something that can be explained with science. Rather, it is a practical issue. Key ideas found within religious determinism are: Predestination Free will

Predestination Some churches within Christianity do not believe in the idea of human freedom, while others do. Catholicism versus Calvinism!! Churches that believe in predestination think that each and every action an individual takes is predetermined knowledge of God. Most Christians believe in providence: God’s influence upon events and actions.

Predestination (Cont’d) FOOD FOR THOUGHT If salvation or damnation is predetermined at birth, is there freedom?

Predestination (Cont’d) John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer, believed that there was no connection between predestination and freedom & ethics. Those of the Puritan Tradition believe that if people are cut off from God, they cannot be saved. They believe that God loves and elects some people, but rejects others.

They believe that God freely grants salvation to those who are elected. Puritans believe that questioning God’s freedom is sacrilegious. However, Catholics believe that human freedom and God’s providence do not conflict with one another.

The Catholic Church has always struggled to maintain that humans are free because of God’s providence. Salvation is God’s initiative of love; God’s love requires and makes our co-operation possible. The Catholic tradition has been the greatest defender of human freedom!

Oh look… Another Food for Thought Question! What is free will?

St. Augustine and Free Will No denial about the fact that we have free will. He defines good will as a will that helps people seek a good life. Decide the difference between the good and the bad when making choices.   The responsibility to make decisions based on our conscience.

Augustine’s Thought on Freedom Will  Free choice. Understanding  Knowledge. These two elements combine when making a decision. “Augustine maintains both human freedom of the will and divine foreknowledge of all future events.” (Miller)

DISSCUSSION!! According to you, is God the guiding or the controlling force in an individual’s life?

“Even if there is free will and an absence of any all-encompassing deterministic fate, there can still be "for God a certain order of all causes," among which causes are our freely choosing wills.” (Miller).

Augustine’s Thought on Freedom (Cont’d) Evodius asks, “Why did God give human beings free choice of the will," given that it enables us to sin? "The fact that human beings could not live rightly without it was a sufficient reason for God to give it” (Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo).

St. Augustine (354 -430) on Free Will: “It is certain that we will when we will; but he [GOD] brings it about that we act but that without His help we neither will anything good nor do it” (35). You are what you do!! (Like how you are what you eat… get it? ;)

We were meant to do the actions God intends us to do. (life depends on FATE and free will is limited) You should feel that it is your responsibility as God’s creation to do good. God dictates what is right or wrong (10 Commandments); it is in our character to utilize that information to decide between right or wrong.

Works Cited Miller, Keith. “ Augustine’s Thought On Freedom” Thinkquest (1998): n. pag. Oracle. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. “You Are What You Do.” In Search of the Good: A Catholic Understanding of Moral Living. Canada: Canadian Conference of Catholic bishops. 35. Print.

Thank you For listening You are all beautiful!