1. God’s Absolute Predestination
World Scripture
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.
Exodus 33.19
Lo! this is an admonishment, that whosoever will may choose a way unto his Lord; yet you will not, unless God wills. Lo! God is Knower, Wise. He makes whom He will to enter His mercy, and for evildoers has prepared a painful doom.
Qur’an 76.29-31
We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified.
Romans 8.28-30
The Lord is the Doer, cause of all: what avail man’s designs? As is the Lord’s will, so it happens. The Lord is Almighty, without impediment to His will. All that is done is by His pleasure: From each He is far, to each close. All He considers, watches over, discriminates— Himself He is sole and all.
Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani, M.5, p. 279 (Sikhism)
When Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call, she was told, “The elder will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So it depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.
Romans 9.10-16
Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139.15-16
Allah’s Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, “Every one of you is collected in the womb of his mother for the first forty days, and then he becomes a clot for another forty days, and then a piece of flesh for another forty days. Then is sent to him the angel who breathes the soul into his body and is commanded to write down four words: his livelihood, his life span, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed (in religion). Verily, it may be that one of you will be performing the works of the people of Paradise, so that between him and Paradise there is the distance of only an arm’s length, but then what is written for him overtakes him, and he begins to perform the works of the people of hell, into which he will go. Or maybe one of you will be performing the works of the people of hell, so that between him and hell there is the distance of only an arm’s length, but then what is written for him overtakes him, and he will begin to perform the works of the people of Paradise, into which he will go.
Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 4 (Islam)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
When God looks at a person, He sees the person’s past, He penetrates his present mind, and based on these He foresees his future.
(100:93, October 8, 1978)
Do you think that I was born to fulfill a certain purpose, which predetermined the way I grew up and what I have become? Or am I the product of my circumstances and the sum total of the things that happened to me as I went about my life? My life was predestined before I was born. Therefore even the features of my face14 were predestined… I am not the man I am today because of things that happened to me in the course my life. I am the man whom I was predestined to become. I grew up holding on to the Principle; I did not go my own way unconnected to the Principle.
(161:159, February 1, 1987)
God, being omniscient, foreknows who has the qualifications necessary to become a central figure in the providence of restoration. God predestines those whom He foreknows; then He calls upon them to fulfill the purpose of His providence.
Calling the person is God’s responsibility, but that alone does not entitle the person to be justified before God and be given glory. Only when the person completes his responsibility after being called by God is he justified and then glorified.
God’s predestination concerning an individual’s glorification is thus contingent upon the completion of his portion of responsibility. Because the biblical verse does not mention the human portion of responsibility, people may misinterpret it to mean that all affairs are determined solely by God’s absolute predestination.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Predestination 4)
It is written that God loved Jacob and hated Esau even when they were still inside their mother’s womb and had not done anything good or evil. God favored one and disfavored the other and told Rebecca that “the elder will serve the younger.” (Romans 9.10-13) What was the reason for this favoritism? God favored one over the other in order to set up a certain course in the Providence of Restoration. God gave Isaac twin sons, Esau and Jacob, with the intention of having them stand in the positions of Cain and Abel. They were to make the conditions of indemnity necessary for accomplishing His Will to recover the birthright of the elder brother, which was lost when Cain killed Abel in Adam’s family. God intended to realize this Will by having Jacob (in the position of Abel) win over his elder brother Esau (in the position of Cain). Since Esau was in the position of Cain, he was “hated” by God. Since Jacob was in the position of Abel, he could receive God’s love. Nevertheless, whether God would in the end favor or disfavor them depended on whether or not they completed their given portions of responsibility. In fact, because Esau obediently submitted to Jacob, he was able to rise above his previous condition of being hated by God and receive the blessing of God’s love equal to Jacob’s. Conversely, even though Jacob was initially in the position to receive God’s favor, he would have ceased to receive it had he failed in his responsibility.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Predestination 4)