[Notes] A Theological Note on Romans 8:29a

1. The Question

The purpose of this Note is to put forward a Calvinistic theological reading of Romans 8:29a regarding God's foreknowledge.

Christians study the Bible and form theories about what the Bible teaches.

On many topics, different Christians form opposing theories about what the Bible teaches that are logically incompatible with each other.

One such topic is the relation between free will and predestination.

The Arminian theological tradition affirms that human beings have free will while the Calvinistic theological tradition denies it.

Free will is concern with decision making.

The idea is that human being possesses a faculty called "the will" that makes decision about his beliefs and actions.

For the purpose of this Note, a person possesses free will if his decisions are not determined by any causes other than his will.

In particular, the theory of free will denies that God can determine the beliefs and actions of a human person.

(Although denying human beings have free will, the Calvinist nevertheless affirms it is human beings whom make their own decisions.

The Calvinistic theory of voluntary human decision making without free will is not within the purview of this note.

Also, the free will spoken of in The Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter IX is a different concept from the one defined above.)

Both theological traditions appeal to the Bible as their authority.

One Bible verse some Arminians appeal to against the Calvinists is Romans 8:29.

(Romans 8:29 ESV): "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

Predestination is the claim that God from eternity determined and elected some definite human persons to salvation while the rest are passed by.

The Calvinist grounded predestination in a Sovereign God who expresses his will in divine decrees.

The Arminian claim is that predestination is based on foreknowledge: God predestines to salvation those he foreknows will believe the Gospel.

In particular, God predestines to salvation those humans he foreknows will exercise their free will to believe the Gospel.

Thus, the Arminian claims:

(a) Human beings possess free will.

(b) Salvation is conditioned on human free will.

(c) God predestines human beings to salvation.

(d) God's predestination of humans to salvation is based on his foreknowledge of how humans will exercise their free will.

(e) God predestines to salvation those humans he foreknew will exercise their free will to believe the Gospel.

The Calvinistic and Arminian views are contrary with each other: they cannot both be true but they can both be false.

The question is: Does Romans 8:29 supports the Arminian claim that predestination to salvation is based on God's foreknowledge of how human beings will exercise their free will in response to the Gospel?

This question can be divided into two parts:

(a) Does Romans 8:29 supports the Arminian claim that predestination to salvation is based on God's foreknowledge?

(b) Is predestination to salvation conditioned on how human beings will exercise their free will in response to the Gospel?

The interest of this Note is in the first part of the question.


2. Some translations of Romans 8:29

New King James Version (1982): "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

New Revised Standard Version (1989): "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family."

New American Standard Bible (1995): "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;"

English Standard Version (2007): "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

Holman Christian Standard Bible (2009): "For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers."

New International Version (2011): "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."

Lexham English Bible (2012): "because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers."


3. "For those whom he foreknew"

Our question about Roman 8:29a is concerned the phrase "for those whom he foreknew".

The literal meaning of "foreknow" is not in dispute.

To foreknow is to know in advance or beforehand.

What are in dispute are "how" God foreknows and its implications.

There are three theories of "how" God foreknows:

(a) God foreknows by foreseeing.

(b) God foreknows by middle-knowledge.

(c) God foreknows by decreeing.

I suppose God foreknows by foreseeing is the common sense view.

The analogy is with the human sense-perception of seeing.

As I am able to see a house in front of me, so God is able to "see" what happens into the future.

One explanation of how God is able to "see" into the future is that there is no future for God; God is not a temporal being and all things are before him in an "eternal now".

The Molinist theory of middle-knowledge is too big a topic for this note.

Please see the article by John D. Laing in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for an introduction.


4. God Foreknows by Decreeing

How does God foreknows in advance?

The Calvinistic theory is that God foreknows by decreeing.

The doctrine of God's Eternal Decree is the claim that God from eternity has ordained whatsoever comes to pass.

How does God ordained whatsoever comes to pass?

God ordained whatsoever comes to pass by determining which state of affairs will be actual.

How does God determined which state of affairs will be actual?

God determined which state of affairs will be actual by determining the truth-value of each propositions.

A proposition that God determines to be true will be an actual state of affair.

A proposition that God determines to be false will correspond to a non-actual state of affair.

In creating the world, God brings about actual state of affairs according to the propositions he has determined to be true.

The object of knowledge is truth or a true proposition, and since it is God who determines the truth-value of each proposition, therefore God knows (and foreknows) by knowing what he has determined to be true.

God knows by knowing his own will or Eternal Decree.

The two theological interpretations (excluding middle knowledge) of Romans 8:29 are:

(a) Common sense: For those whom he foreknew (by foreseeing) he also predestined (by determining?) to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

(b) Calvinism: For those whom he foreknew (by determining) he also predestined (by determining) to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.


5. A Calvinistic Answer to the Two Parts of the Original Question

A Calvinist would:

(a) Disagree with the Arminian that predestination to salvation is based God's foreknowledge (by foreseeing).

(b) Disagree with the Arminian assumption that human beings have free will.

(c) Disagree with the Arminian claim that God's foreknowledge is based on God foreseeing how human beings will exercise their free will in response to the Gospel.

(d) Affirms that all of God's knowledge (including his foreknowledge) is based on his Eternal Decree.

(e) Affirms that predestination to salvation is based on the God's Eternal Decree.

The logical and causal sequence is:

God's Eternal Decree (God's volitional activity)

==> What is true and false (proposition or object of knowledge)

==> What will be actual and non-actual (state of affair).


6. A Criticism of God Foreknows by Decreeing

A criticism of the view just propounded is that it is contrary to 1 Peter 1:1-2:

English Standard Version (2007): "To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you."

Holman Christian Standard Bible (2009): "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To the temporary residents dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you."

New International Version (2011): "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance."

Lexham English Bible (2012): "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen who are residing temporarily in the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you."

Is the Biblical claim that election is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father contrary to the view just propounded?

It is not.

Gordon H. Clark has a very good explanation of why not (Clark 1993, 88):

"It is of course true that God knows the future, and it is equally true that history unfolds just as God knows it will. Certainly all things happen according to the foreknowledge of God. But, as the Westminster Confession, Chapter III, section ii, so explicitly states, 'Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed any thing because he forsaw it as future.' In very simple language, 'according to' and 'because of' do not mean the same thing. Consider a raildroad schedule. The trains run according to the timetable (or should), but it is not the timetable that determines their progress. The type of engine, the weight of the load, the traffic, the stability of the roadbed, the purpose of the train - all these determine the schedule. Thus the train runs according to schedule, and if we know the schedule, they run according to our foreknowledge, but not because of it. Similarly with election. The mere fact that God knows ahead of time that a man will trust Christ is not the causal explanation of election. Election does not depend on God's knowledge of the future."


7. An Evaluation of the Dialectical Situation

To sustain their theological theories, theologians should:

(a) Base their theological claims on the Bible or the logical consequences of the Bible.

(b) Rebut any criticisms that they have misinterpreted the Bible.

(c) Criticize any competing theological claims as not adequately interpreting the Bible.

What this Note attempted to do is quite limited.

It attempts to show that an Arminian using Romans 8:29 to criticize that Calvinism is inadequate to this verse is not successful.

It rebuts the criticism by appealing to a claim that is not in view in Romans 8:29 but is a part of Calvinism: the claim that God foreknows by knowing his Decree.

(Similarly, the theory that God foreknows by foreseeing is not something in view in Romans 8:29 either.)

This claim, the doctrine of God's Eternal Decree, is established by other Bible verses.

In so doing, it shows that Calvinism is consistent with this verse.

That is, there is an interpretation of this verse such that its truth is consistent with Calvinism.

Romans 8:29 by itself does not discriminate between the two theological interpretations placed on it by Arminianism and Calvinism.

So I do not believe Romans 8:29 functions as a "crucial test" between the two.

That is, Romans 8:29 does not by itself shows that one theological system is true and the other false.

To decide between Arminianism and Calvinism takes many Bible verses.

Also, if the purpose of this Note is to criticize competing theological claims, it will have to state and criticize as not adequate:

(a) The theory that God foreknows by foreseeing.

(b) The Molinist theory of Middle Knowledge.


8. Appendix 1

This Note has the limited purpose of putting forward a theological reading of God's "foreknowledge" in Romans 8:29a.

The theory of God's foreknowledge put forward is based on some ideas of Gordon H. Clark (1902 - 1985), a Calvinistic philosopher and theologian.

(Clark 1980, 2):

"This means that God is the source and determiner of all truth. Christians generally, even uneducated Christians, understand that water, milk, alcohol, and gasoline freeze at different temperatures because God created them that way. God could have made an intoxicating fluid freeze at zero Fahrenheit and he could have made the cow's product freeze at forty. But he decided otherwise. Therefore behind the act of creation there is an eternal decree. It was God's eternal purpose to have such liquids, and therefore we can say that the particularities of nature were determined before there was any nature."

"Similarly in all other varieties of truth, God must be accounted sovereign. It is his decree that makes one proposition true and another false. Whether the proposition be physical, psychological, moral, or theological, it is God who made it that way. A proposition is true because God thinks it so."

"A great deal of Charnock's material has as its purpose the listing of the objects of God's knowledge. Here, however, the quotations were made to point out that God's knowledge depends on his will and on nothing external to him. Thus we may repeat with Philo that God is not to be ranked under the idea of unity, or of goodness, or of truth; but rather unity, goodness, and truth are to be ranked under the decree of God."


9. Appendix 2

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter III -- Of God's Eternal Decree

I. God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeable ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions; yet has He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.

III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death.

IV. These angels and men, thus predestinated, and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.

V. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, has chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto; and all to the praise of His glorious grace.

VI. As God has appointed the elect unto glory, so has He, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore, they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power, through faith, unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.

VII. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extends or withholds mercy, as He pleases, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praised of His glorious justice.

VIII. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men, attending the will of God revealed in His
Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.


References:

Clark, Gordon H. 1980. God and Logic. The Trinity Review (November-December):1-7.

----------. 1993. New Heavens, New Earth: A Commentary on First and Second Peter. Jefferson, Maryland: The Trinity Foundation.

Laing, John D. [n.d.]. Middle Knowledge. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. James Fieser and Bradley Dowden.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/middlekn/
(accessed 2014-06-15).

End.