After reading over the different perspectives I seem to agree with
theological determinism the most. I always find myself saying, "Everything
happens for a reason." I normally say this when something bad happens such
as my tire going flat on my car or even worse when someone who I am close to
loses a loved one. I have always been taught that God already has everything in
our lives planned out to a certain degree, which is one reason why I think I
believe this. However at the same time I do not think that everything such as
the example that was used in the readings that God plans for you to order a
certain drink at Starbucks. I think everything happens for a reason but God
sets you up for the decisions you make. God may give you a flat tire, because
he wants you to go to class late and sit next to your future husband or wife
just like the story you used that happened to one of your students. However you
may choose to arrive late by walking all the way to the class or maybe your too
lazy to where you decide to not go at all. Overall God plans out what he wants
for you to do in life, but when it comes to it you have your own choice.
As a whole I think
that I agree with theological determinism, however cultural determinism makes a
lot of sense to me as well. My dad was a baseball player and for that reason my
brothers and me all grew up playing the same sport. If it was not for my dad I
do not think that we would have necessarily played, because we probably would
not have been introduced to the sport without him. I have grown to love the
sport and am very thankful for being able to play and because of baseball I
have had the chance at going to college.
At the same time
both theological and cultural determinism are much alike because God plans for
you to be in a certain family and your are in a certain family that steers you
in the direction of the same things that the parents do. God truly decided what
you were going to do by placing you in a certain family.
There are many strengths
with determinism, because you are being steered in a direction by God, and you
can always know the simple saying of “everything happens for a reason”. On the
other hand there are definitely weaknesses, because it is scary thinking that
every decision you make has already been planned out by God and you are not
really controlling any aspect of your life. For that reason I choose to agree
with determinism, but not as strictly as most people because I do not think that
God would plan out every decision that someone makes, because there would be no
point in life. We are here to spread his word and if he planned everyone’s life
out I feel like he would make sure everyone goes down the path of following him
and his word.
You feel most at home with Theological Determinism as you describe in your blog but in reality it sounds like you are a Compatibilist. Here's what you say: "I choose to agree with determinism, but not as strictly as most people." You want to soften Determinism so that there is room for humans to make choices. That's a Compatibilist perspective that leans more closely towards Determinism than Free Will.
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