How shall we best understand Romans 8:29? If God foreknows, do we really make free-will choices? Yes indeed, say the early Christian writers:
- Justin Martyr (AD 150): “Some might suppose that we say that everything happens by fatal necessity because it has been foretold. For it is known beforehand. However, we can explain this. We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and good rewards are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions [Rom 2:5-11]. If that were not so, but if all things happen by fate, the nothing at all is in our own power. For if it is fated that one man will be good and another evil, then neither is the first one praiseworthy nor the second one to be blamed. Again, unless humans have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions.” – First Apology 43
- Tatian (AD 160): “Yet these events are not fated. Rather, they take place by the choice of free agents.” – Address to the Greeks 7
- Clement of Alexandria (AD 190): “Those persons were already chosen whom God predestined. For he knew before the foundation of the world that they would be righteous.” – Miscellanies 17
- Ambrosiaster (AD 375): “Those whom God foreknew would believe in him he also chose to receive the promises.” – Commentaries on Romans and 1-2 Corinthians 70
- Theodoret (AD 425): “He did not arbitrarily predestine anyone. Rather, he predestined them according to his foreknowledge of them.” – Commentary on Romans 29
Unfortunately, Augustine (AD 354-430) influenced the church in the opposite direction, pulling it into the thinking of the Gnostics and pagans, both of whom believed in fate and [arbitrary] predestination.
