Oddbean new post about login | logout Are we where we are because God has willed it so, or because He has allowed it?
Willed "5 Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah 1: 5
"formed thee in the bowels of thy mother"⁉️ What are you, a piece of 💩⁉️
That's the Douay-Rheims Catholic Version of the Bible. The Protestant versions read "formed you in the womb" or "belly"
This was true for JEREMIAH; not everyone has been ordained to be a prophet to the nations. I do believe that in situations and with people that are key to God's plans, He will intervene in ways that make sure His specific purposes/will are accomplished. The conversion of the Apostle Paul looks like a case of this. But though God made sure Paul got saved, where it almost looks like his free will was overridden, Paul himself later writes that it was possible he, too, could lose his salvation: "But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway." –1 Corinthians 9:27 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%209:27&version=DRA
definitely just allowed, because we need to see it
I lean toward "allowed" as well. I saw a bumper sticker on someone's car the other day that read "Everything is as Allah has willed it." I thought, Really? This mess that the world is in is God's will? I look at some of the messes of my own life and can see how my choices caused them, and how that I'm sure the good God had a better plan, but allowed me to make my own mistakes. Even still, I believe He is ultimately in control and will work all things together for good. But I do think He allows more freedom in the world than some determinists like Muslims or Calvinists allow.