A predestined individual already has his or her end defined from birth.
Predestined is the adjective applied to one whose destiny is already written. In this way, it is understood that the predestined person has his end defined from the moment of his birth by the work of a divinity or some type of greater force.
Predestination is the destiny that is specified in advance of something . The concept is used in the field of religion to name the design of God that selects, through divine grace, the people who will achieve glory.
The life of the predestined human being
According to this belief, human beings are born predestined since God decides on their destinies. In this context, God is not only the Creator , but also dictates evolution according to his will. Predestination is therefore opposed to the notion of free will .
If it is believed that man is predestined, it is accepted that God knows the destiny of all human beings. This thought opens the door for various theological and philosophical debates: if God is benevolent and knows what each subject will do, why does he allow people to do evil? On the other hand, if evil is justified based on free will, predestination would not exist.
Calvinism
Calvinism is one of the doctrines that held that men were already predestined. This movement, led by the French theologian John Calvin in the 16th century, postulated that, although God would have already defined who would achieve glory and who would not from the moment of Creation , people should search within themselves for divine grace and act accordingly. according to God 's laws to demonstrate (and prove to themselves) that they were among the elect.
Although a doctrine that maintains that the actions of each individual do not matter since God has planned their destiny does not seem like the best way to encourage moral behavior , Calvinism enjoyed great acceptance. The reason for its success is that to discover in oneself the signs of divine grace and verify that God has chosen one, it is necessary to stay within the line of behavior typical of a good person. Depending on how it is observed, this doctrine can be considered a self-fulfilling prophecy , that is, once formulated it becomes the very cause of its existence.
For Calvinism, the human being is born predestined.
The predestined individual according to Buddhism
Buddhism interprets predestination in a very different way. Firstly, it does not relate it to the existence or work of any divine entity.
Regarding its meaning, Buddhism starts from observing that certain events happen in a chain.
Other uses of the concept
The word predestination can also be used to talk about other concepts, such as the future, karma, the final judgment or destiny , all ideas belonging to determinism , a philosophical doctrine that links any human action and thought to the cause-consequence chain, which is impossible to break.
It is also possible to speak of predestination from a purely physical point of view, as occurs when discussing time travel . In this way, it deals with events that will take place in the future, unlike beliefs that point directly to life after death. It is important to make the following distinction: while in a universe in which every decision we make alters the future there are infinite possible events, in a predestined universe everything we will experience has already been determined by a superior force.
Discussion of God's omniscience is often included when discussing predestination, since if he can know all events, he must be able to see both the past and the future. Although both concepts seem to point to the same thing, there is a substantial difference: if our passage through this world is predestined, it means that God has planned it; Omniscience, on the other hand, does not imply direct action on your part, but rather describes your degree of knowledge .