1

From the Christian perspective: Does God allow the process of recessive genes being over-powered by dominant genes to create who you are - personality traits, interests etc. - and then see how a person with your qualities would fit best in this world. . . thus, molding your destiny?

Hannah
  • 41
  • 5
  • 1
    Hi Hannah! Welcome again. I'm down voting here again, because this really is just not a great fit for what we do here. This is an interesting theory, but we don't really deal with theories here. We deal with the things that are in the Scriptures, Traditions, Reason, and Experience of Christianity. This is good philosophy but not really particularly suited to Christianity per SE. If helps, think about if this would be any less on topic on say, Islam or Judaism. If it would work there equally as well, you are probably asking more of a truth question like philosophy. – Affable Geek Jun 02 '13 at 23:11
  • This was well written though. Thanks! – Affable Geek Jun 02 '13 at 23:12
  • Hi(: Ok, I understand. Thanks for informing me! I'll have to look somewhere else. – Hannah Jun 02 '13 at 23:29
  • @Hannah dont give up just because affable geek told you its not welcome i'm upvoting you back to zero a (hyper?) calvinist would be able to answer your question in the affirmative and a arminian would blame your parents rather than God –  Jun 03 '13 at 03:37
  • I agree with @caseyr547 ... This is a Christian site to discuss Christian matters, and I believe this is a Christian theologic discussion. I think it's ridiculous for any one user to declare what the purpose of this site is and isn't for. I'm upvoting your question because it's one that I've considered often in the debate of Calvanism v Armeniasm. – Albert Renshaw Jun 03 '13 at 04:44
  • 2
    @AlbertRenshaw: The comments about the scope of this site were not "one user declaring" anything, we have a well established set of community standards here as the site has been developed. What Affable said is representative of the wider community that has been involved over the past couple years. Not every question that is relevant to Christians falls within the scope of this site. – Caleb Jun 03 '13 at 07:56
  • Hey Hannah and welcome to the site. I have agreed with the votes to close this, but I might not have picked the best matching reason. As Affable noted, part of the issue with this question is that there isn't a way to answer this definitively or even generally because inside circles using the label "Christian" there is more than one idea about how "destiny" works and how involved God is. It might be possible to scope this question a bit more specifically so that it is answerable, but we need a framework by which answers can be judged as properly representing the relevant doctrines or not. – Caleb Jun 03 '13 at 08:00

1 Answers1

2

Calvinists are famous for their belief in double predestination.

Double predestination

Calvinistic predestination is sometimes referred to as "double predestination."2 This is the view that God has determined the eternal destiny of every human being. He has chosen some to eternal life to be saved through the finished work of Christ, and foreordained others to everlasting punishment for their sin.

Hyper-Calvinists believe in Equal Ultimacy, which states that God actively forces everything to happen. I think this is what your question is asking about. In Equal Ultimacy, God would be forcing your genes into certain conformations and making you exactly what you are.

The opposite view of Calvinism is Arminianism. No version of Arminianism has God directly forcing people to do anything. It leaves the responsibility of the most weighty thing - salvation - on the individual; likewise with the less weighty things. Your genetics would be said to come from your parents through a system which God started and continues by His power which is resisted by the devil.

Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

From an Arminian perspective God's work in the earth and his ability to answer prayer also has something to do with your genetics.

I'm Arminian so I blame my negative genetic traits on my parents and occasionally the devil, and I attribute my positive genetic traits to God as answered prayers.

Thomas Shields
  • 5,275
  • 2
  • 34
  • 65
  • Thank you Casey! For the answer, the up vote, the edit and for explaining the three different perspectives of God's intervening role of the nature of destiny ( that's all very interesting ). I'm starting to see how this site functions. And I now am understanding about avoiding questions that can not be necessarily given an answer. That's actually a brilliant idea. I guess I somehow assumed that somewhere in the Bible it stated a verse that would possibly answer my question. Psalm 139:13 helps. . . A LOT! Thanks again(: – Hannah Jun 04 '13 at 16:08