Is Predestination Unjust? The Hardest Objection, Answered

One of the oldest and most persistent criticisms is that predestination is incompatible with divine justice. Critics argue, “How can God be just if he condemns people whom he has already predetermined would be condemned?” If God knows from eternity that a person will be condemned, and if this condemnation is part of his eternal decree, then that person cannot be held morally responsible for their actions. Justice would require that people have a real chance to do differently, which predestination seems to deny. Calvin responds to this criticism by distinguishing between justice as a human concept and justice as a divine attribute. Human justice is always relative, always subject to external standards. But God’s justice is absolute. It is the measure of itself. When God condemns, he condemns justly. Not because he conforms to some external standard of justice, but because his very nature is absolutely just. If God determines something, it cannot be unjust. For justice is defined by God’s will. Furthermore, Calvin emphasizes that God condemns no one who does not deserve condemnation. All are sinners. All deserve death. That God chooses some for salvation is an act of supreme grace, not an act of injustice. Another important criticism is that predestination eliminates human responsibility. If everything is predetermined by God, critics argue, then people are not responsible for their actions. They are merely pawns on a divine chessboard. This criticism is particularly important because it seems to attack a foundation of Christian ethics. The idea that people can and should be held responsible for their moral choices. Calvin responds that this criticism confuses two different levels of causality. God is the first cause, but creatures are genuine secondary causes. The fact that God determines that something will happen does not mean that it does not happen through creaturely causality. When a person sins, he sins voluntarily according to his own character and will. That God knows in advance that he will sin and has permitted the circumstances that lead to sin to occur does not eliminate the fact that he freely chose to sin. He is responsible for his action because the action is truly his even though God has providentially ordered the circumstances.