{"id":97997,"date":"2016-11-10T08:22:22","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T15:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=97997"},"modified":"2016-11-10T08:22:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-10T15:22:22","slug":"a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html","title":{"rendered":"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc\u2026and are now critiquing the Calvinists who are saying God pre-ordained Trumps win\u2026all sorts of banter going on\u2026the best line I saw? \u2026.\u201dand the open theists are saying \u201cWow \u2013 not even God saw THIS one coming!\u201d (That just about KILLED me!)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Scotland is, of course, one of the great nexi of Calvinism and all the barren and fruitless arguments that surrounded predestination and all that. \u00a0One reaction to heretical Calvinist predestinarianism (in which God assumes a sort of Islamic function and does *everything* including making sure that sinners sin against him so he can sadistically have somebody to damn in order to fill some bizarre quota for some reason) is something called \u201copen theism\u201d (in which God has no idea what\u2019s going to happen next and is as clueless as you and me about how the billiard balls of history are going to bounce).<\/p>\n

Catholic faith, of course, is that God is in control of all of creation. \u00a0All the hairs of your head are numbered. \u00a0Not a sparrow falls without the Father\u2019s knowledge. \u00a0And he is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, who was, who is, and who is to come.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the tradition insists that God\u2019s sovereignty is not a zero sum game in which it\u2019s either his power or our freedom. \u00a0On the contrary, Paul says, \u201cWhere the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.\u201d \u00a0So his power is precisely the ground of our freedom and his omniscience does not cancel out our ability to make real (and often sinful and stupid) choices. \u00a0Our free actions are part of his Providence. \u00a0He sees us act in his eternal Now. \u00a0And of course, to see a person doing something is not to make him do it. \u00a0God has been seeing the election of Donald Trump\u2013and all other human choices\u2013in the Eternal Now from all eternity. \u00a0This did not take him by surprise. \u00a0Nor has it thwarted \u00a0his will any more than the betrayal of Judas did. \u00a0God orders all things to the good of those who love Christ Jesus and are called according to his purpose. \u00a0That does not, of course, mean \u201cLet us do evil that good may come of it.\u201d \u00a0But it does mean that we can have good Hope in Christ that this evil too shall be redeemed.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we do what we do: seek God\u2019s will and try to do it as best we can. \u00a0For me, that means going to Mass right now and praying for a friend who is in serious crisis. \u00a0Please pray for her, will you?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc\u2026and are now critiquing the Calvinists who are saying God pre-ordained Trumps win\u2026all sorts of banter going on\u2026the best line I saw? \u2026.\u201dand the open theists are saying \u201cWow \u2013 not even God saw THIS one coming!\u201d (That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-97997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mailbag"],"yoast_head":"\nA reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc...and are now\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc...and are now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-10T15:22:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html\",\"name\":\"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say...\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-10T15:22:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-10T15:22:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc...and are now\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say…\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say...","description":"so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc...and are now","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say...","og_description":"so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc...and are now","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2016-11-10T15:22:22+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html","name":"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say...","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-11-10T15:22:22+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-10T15:22:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"so Im on a molinism site that discusses different understandings of gods sovereignty, foreknowledge, predestination vs freedom, etc...and are now","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/a-reader-writes-from-appropriately-enough-scotland-to-say.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A reader writes from (appropriately enough) Scotland to say…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}