According to the Characteristics of Yaweh, Predestination is Evident

Thanks to whatledge for what I know will be a rather fantastic debate. Predestination, or at least the kind of which whatlege argues, is the type that excludes free will. For this to be at all debatable, my opponent must do more than simply prove that God knows what will happen, as this is definitionally implied by omniscience. Instead, the concept of pre-destination that is argued in this debate is the type that says that we do not have any control over our own choices; our actions are determined and are not chosen. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com...) C1: The old omniscience argument. God knows everything that has happened, happens, and will happen. Or, more accurately, he sees time like we see sheets of paper: it's all there at once. This doesn't preclude free will. I agree, God knew not only everything that would happen to the person, but everything that the person would choose to do as well. God knows what will happen. God's knowledge of what we will choose does not take away the choice. Fate is what will happen; free will is what can happen. An analogy will help illustrate this point. Let us say there is a time traveler. This time traveler observes the actions of a man for one week and records them in a journal. At the end of our week, the time traveler goes back to before the week began. He sends this journal to the man, so that it will arrive at the end of the week. Assuming that the time traveler's actions didn't set off any paradoxes or change the course of time for the man, he will receive a journal detailing his actions for the past week, postmarked before the week began. He still freely chose to do every action that he did, even though it was foreknown what he would chose to do. So it is with God and humans. C2: Omnipotence Actually, omnipotence means that God is all-powerful i.e. he can do all things that are not intrinsically impossible. This does not conflict with free will or prove pre-destination, as God is not prevented (and in the Christian tradition, does) surrender some of his omnipotence to gain greater things. Also, the implied claim is that there are choices that go against God's will, especially if the choice is more important than its outcome. God wills that the choice exist more than he wills a particular outcome of the choice. C3: A pretty lot of verses. I argue that all of these point to God's omniscience, but do not entail pre-destination. The only valid way to interpret scripture is to interpret the verse with respect to the whole. The whole gives commands again and again and again throughout the whole text. Telling someone not to murder is useless if the person doesn't choose to murder or not to murder. Considering that the Bible presumes free will in giving ethical commands again and again, we must interpret the verses that seem to point the other way in this light. First off, please provide chapter/verse references if you post scripture. Acts 4:27-28 (YLT) "for gathered together of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, were both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with nations and peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel did determine before to come to pass." See my response to opponent's C1. God engineers all events that happen; this does not violate free will. Genesis 45:4-8 (YLT) "4 And Joseph saith unto his brethren, 'Come nigh unto me, I pray you,' and they come nigh; and he saith, 'I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt; 5 and now, be not grieved, nor let it be displeasing in your eyes that ye sold me hither, for to preserve life hath God sent me before you. 6 Because these two years the famine is in the heart of the land, and yet are five years, in which there is neither ploughing nor harvest; 7 and God sendeth me before you, to place of you a remnant in the land, and to give life to you by a great escape; 8 and now, ye -- ye have not sent me hither, but God, and He doth set me for a father to Pharaoh, and for lord to all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt." The problem disappears in the literal translation. Also, see response to C1. Acts 2:23 (YLT) "23 this one, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, being given out, having taken by lawless hands, having crucified -- ye did slay;" It doesn't violate anyone's notion of free will for God to know what's going to happen to himself (The passage refers to Jesus). Also, see response to C1. I look forward to my opponent's responses.