October 1, 2023

Gleanings

Fatalism and the Apostle Paul

Gerald R. Chester, Ph.D.

One of the ways humanity discovers God’s truth is through general revelation. Commonly, this is accomplished heuristically (through trial and error) using sense perception, reasoning, and experience. An example of this is the warning the apostle Paul gave the ship’s leaders on a journey to Rome.

Paul advised them, saying, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.“ (Acts 27:10 ESV)

Paul had experience traveling by boat and had knowledge of the weather patterns in the region. Therefore, he probably based his advice on his own sense perception, reasoning, and experience.

About two weeks later, Paul had a dream or vision during the night and received specific revelation. God gives specific revelation to a specific person in a specific situation at a specific time. For example, David sought divine guidance to fight his enemy (2 Samuel 5:19) and Jesus promised his disciples that when they were arrested because of him, they would be given the words to say to the authorities (Luke 12:11−12). Paul was also given specific revelation about his situation (Acts 27).

In Paul’s warning (Acts 27:10), he thought lives might be lost, but the specific revelation the angel of the Lord gave him revealed that no lives would be lost. Note Luke’s account of Paul’s words to the people on the ship:

Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.' So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.“ (Acts 27:21−26 ESV)

We might think that once Paul knew the Lord’s will to graciously spare all the people, Paul could then relax—he did not need to be concerned about anything, which would be fatalistic. But Paul didn’t respond as a fatalist; he remained vigilant and responsible.

When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go. (Acts 27:27–32 ESV)

After two weeks of being driven by a storm across the Mediterranean Sea, the sailors sensed danger. They feared that the ship might hit rocks and break up. They sought to escape using a lifeboat. Apparently, they presumed that their chances of survival were better in a small lifeboat. But Paul warned the centurion and soldiers that staying onboard was necessary for the safety for everyone, including the sailors.

Note that Paul did not respond to the situation as a fatalist. He exercised human responsibility. Though he had specific revelation about God’s will to save all, he was convicted that all must stay on the ship. His thinking was probably based on the circumstances. It was a dark night and they could not see land; therefore, he probably reasoned that it would be dangerous to be in a small boat in stormy seas at night not knowing which direction to row. Also, he knew they had not eaten for days. So wisdom, from common grace, was to eat some food for strength and stay onboard until daylight.

Notwithstanding the revelation of God’s will to save all the people on the ship from death, Paul did not abandon his responsibility to function with the tools of common grace. He did not became a fatalist. This illustrates the twin realities of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Both are true though it is difficult for us to understand how this could be.

Another example of these twin realities is Peter’s explanation of Jesus’ work in dying on the cross. Peter spoke to the Jews gathered on the day of Pentecost—the birth of the New Testament ekklesia (church):

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Acts 2:22–23 ESV)

Though Jesus was crucified at the hands of the Jews, this was all part of the plan and foreknowledge of the Father. Notwithstanding that God’s will was done in the act, the perpetrators were still accountable. Divine sovereignty did not negate human responsibility.

It is tempting to be a fatalist once God’s will is revealed. After all, how can the actions of man matter once God’s will is known? It is easy to think as a fatalist, but this is not God’s way. By God’s sovereign pleasure, he has ordained the twin truths of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. He has decreed that human responsibility never thwarts divine sovereignty, and vice versa. These twin truths may seem contradictory to humans. Nevertheless, God has made them both true. This is, indeed, one of the mysteries of God’s universe.

Theologian John Frame wrote the following regarding the Calvinistic view on the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility:

The relation of divine sovereignty to human responsibility is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith. It is plain from Scripture in any case that both are real and that both are important. Calvinistic theology is known for its emphasis on divine sovereignty—for its view that God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). But in Calvinism there is at least an equal emphasis on human responsibility. An equal emphasis? Many would not be willing to say that about Calvinism. But consider the Calvinistic emphasis on the authority of God’s law—a more positive view of the law than in any other tradition of evangelical theology. To the Calvinist, human beings have duties before God. Adam failed to fulfill his duty and plunged the human race into sin and misery. But Jesus fulfilled his duty and brought eternal salvation to his people. Although God is sovereign, human obedience is of the utmost importance.¹

The tension between the twin truths of divine sovereignty and human responsibility presented in Scripture is undeniable. To denigrate either is inconsistent with Scripture. And the temptation to fatalism must be resisted. Part of knowing God is realizing that he is not fully knowable. There are always aspects of who he is that are beyond human knowledge. The harmonization of divine sovereignty and human responsibility is clearly one of the truths about God that we, in our human condition, will probably never be able to resolve to our satisfaction. Christians must, therefore, trust that since the Scripture presents both to be true, we must accept it.

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¹ John M. Frame, Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief, https://a.co/4mB6I9h.