Determinism or Free Will?

Compatibilism is the most sensible position to take on this matter, in my opinion. I view the things happening around me and in my life to be determined by God, but he does lay out choices for me along the way. So, compatibilism makes sense to me because it is when free will and determinism can coexist, so to speak. With these two drastically different concepts coexisting, I think that God has several options for my life. I believe that God does have a plan for my life, but along the way he leaves certain choices up to me to decide.

Determinism can be defined as your life is set, and these predetermined things will happen whether you realize it or not. I see determinism as God having a plan for your life; I believe that everyone has a purpose, and that purpose for your life is in God’s hands. For me, God determined from the beginning that I would have an interest in the sciences, or that I would really enjoy working with children. Both of these areas in my life were formed because of God’s plan. This can also be described as natural traits or gifts that I believe God gave me. Even though I have made choices in my life to learn more about biology or to be a leader for children at church, God had that planned for me, and it is a part of my personality to find interest in those things.

Now, I did state that compatibilism is the stance I take, so with that there is also free will. Free will can be defined as you're making the choices for your own life. I think God gives you options in the path of your life that he allows you to make. A personal example is when I was deciding what college to attend. I had narrowed down my options to Belmont and Samford, and they looked equal in my mind. God had given me the choice of attending either one of those schools, and I choose to attend Belmont. Looking back on it now, I see that Belmont truly is the best place for me to attend undergrad, and by doing so I realize that Samford probably wouldn’t have affected me as much as Belmont has. This is where I am still trying to figure out compatibilism. Did God know that I was going to attend Belmont, and that it would end up helping me in the best way? Did God know in that moment of decision senior year, but he still gave me the options?

The portion of compatibilism that I am still trying to figure out or even if I can figure out is what is predetermined and what is my choice. Does God already know the choices I will make? If so, what did God truly determine for me, and what did I decide for myself? As I try to understand these questions, I refer back to Genesis 2 when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. From the beginning, God gave humans free will. Eve made the decision to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge, and that decision caused her life to change drastically. Did God know that Eve would make this decision? With all these things being said, I believe that God has a plan for me and he gives me choices along the way.