Predestination...well the thought could be that since God knows everything...He knows where your going to end up and what you are going to do even though you have free will he know everything you are freely going to do before you do...

LOL...the predestination vs. free will debate is about as paradoxical as the time continumn on Star Trek. How I see it, may be different than other Presbyterians - but here goes. I see it as being a combination of both. Not one or the other. You can be on a street courner, see a car coming one way - and another coming the other. You can see that both are on a course where they both will intersect, and get into a major car accident. You can either choose to interviene, or allow it to happen. Where free will comes in, is the fact that the two people chose to get into the cars in the first place. In this same way, God knows what our choices are going to be - He see's events well before they happen...sometimes he interviens, sometimes he allows us to go through whatever we need to in order to learn something from it. I don't think it can be one or the other...it's a little of both. Ok, FLAME away...

Though I am not a presbyterian, I do believe in predestination of people. The the scriptures do justify it. Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Ephesians 1:5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— Ephesians 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out EVERYTHING in conformity with the purpose of HIS WILL Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them . And there are several more scriptures stating as such. But does this contradict the "free will" of man? If free will were taken out of the equation then there would not be any contradiction. In this I have all confidence to say that man has NO free will. I can give scriptures on this as well. When studying the many beliefs in Christendom, things begin to become confusing, and "free will" is one of them. There are many more beliefs like these. Beliefs that cause many different denominations within Christendom. Sadly most are incorrect.

Most Christians believe in predestination, after all it's in the Bible. But different groups define predestination differently. Presbyterians are Reformed - sometimes called "Calvinist". They see predestination as God choosing individuals who He determines to save. The people God choose go to heaven. The ones He rejects do not. People are not chosen because they do good works, they are chosen by God without regard to anything they have done. People who are chosen will certainly be saved. Those who are not chosen will not be. Free will works like this: God works in the hearts of those he determines to save, so that they want to believe. In their mind they freely decided to believe. In reality God has arraigned their life in such a way to ensure that they will believe. Romans 9 and Ephesians 1 are sometimes used in support of this view. Non-Reformed (like Catholics and Methodists) see predestination as God looking into the future and choosing those who He knows will believe in Him. In other words, God knows everything that happens, so he knows who will believe in him. Those who he knows will believe are predestined. This system allows for free will pretty easily. You decide whether or not to believe, God just already know what you will decide. Romans 8:29 and 1 Peter 1:1 are sometimes used in support of this view. Some groups also see predestination as "corporate". In other words God predestines the group of people who follow Christ. For example Eph 1:4 states "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Notice the word "us"). Hope that helps. :)