Predestination and Human Cooperation in Prayer Theology
The relationship between predestination and human cooperation in prayer theology is a contested topic among Christian traditions. At its core, the debate revolves around how God's sovereignty in predestination interacts with human agency in prayer.
Predestination and Prayer: Competing Views
The Reformed tradition, represented by Charles Hodge, understands predestination as compatible with prayer, seeing the two as interrelated aspects of God's sovereign plan [1]. According to Hodge, "prayer and the answer of prayer, are simply... the preferring of a request upon the one side, and compliance with that request upon the other" [1]. This view posits that God's predestination includes the means by which prayers are answered.
In contrast, the Catholic Scholastic tradition, as represented by Thomas Aquinas, also affirms the compatibility of predestination and prayer but emphasizes that predestination can be furthered by the prayers of the saints [2]. Aquinas argues that the prayers of the saints are not contrary to predestination but are rather a means by which God's predestined outcomes are achieved.
The Eastern Orthodox tradition, as seen in the writings of John Chrysostom, focuses on the synergistic nature of prayer and God's will, emphasizing human cooperation with divine grace [3]. While not directly addressing predestination, this synergistic view implies that human prayer is an integral part of God's plan.
Shared Ground and Diverging Hermeneutics
Despite their differences, all these traditions agree that prayer is a vital aspect of Christian life and that God's sovereignty is not diminished by human prayer. The disagreement lies in how they understand the interplay between divine sovereignty and human agency.
The divergence in views stems from differing hermeneutical commitments and prior doctrinal premises. Reformed theologians like Calvin emphasize the sovereignty of God in predestination, which they see as encompassing all aspects of salvation, including prayer [6]. In contrast, Catholic Scholastics like Aquinas, while affirming divine sovereignty, also highlight the role of human cooperation through prayer in achieving God's predestined ends [2].
The biblical basis for these positions is found in passages such as Ephesians 1:5 and Romans 8:29-30, which speak of predestination, and texts like Philippians 4:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which exhort believers to pray continually [5, 4]. The interpretation of these passages and their relation to one another drives the theological differences among Christian traditions.
Sources
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 73: This doctrine is presupposed in prayer; for “prayer and the answer of prayer, are simply . . . . the preferring of a request upon the one side, and compliance with that request upon the other. Man applies, God complies. Man asks a favour, God bestows it. These are conceived to be the two 695 terms of a real interchange that takes place between the parties — the two terms of a sequence, in fact, whereof the antecedent is a prayer lifted up from earth, and the consequent is the fulfilment of that prayer in virtue of a mandate from heaven.” ”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), Of Predestination, Art. 8: Article: Whether predestination can be furthered by the prayers of the saints? I answer that, Concerning this question, there were different errors. Some, regarding the certainty of divine predestination, said that prayers were superfluous, as also anything else done to attain salvation; because whether these things were done or not, the predestined would attain, and the reprobate would not attain, eternal salvation. But against this opinion are all the warnings of Holy Scripture, exhorting us to prayer and other go”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Galatians–Colossians–Thessalonians: Index of Scripture References Genesis 1:11 1:11 1:26 1:26 1:26 1:27 1:27 1:27 1:31 1:31 2:2 2:7 2:17 2:17 2:18 2:23 2:24 2:24 2:24 3:5 3:16 3:24 4 4:9 4:14 6:2 6:3 6:4 6:9 6:12 7:7 8:21 12:1 12:4 12:16 13:10 13:10-11 14:14 14:21-23 15:16 16:5 16:6 17:8 18:11 18:12 18:14 18:21 19:13 19:14 19:24 21:10 21:12 21:12 22:7-8 22:16 22:18 22:18 24:1-67 24:22 24:65 25:21 25:21 26:4 27:46 28:1 28:13 31:42 31:45 32:48 35:18 37:9-10 37:20 39:1 39:6 40:4 40:7 40:8 40:14-15 40:22 41 41:16 42:36 43:14 43:30 45:5 48:15-16 49:9 64:28 Exodus 2:11 2”
- 1 Thessalonians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Thessalonians 1:4: Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. Which intends not an election to an office, for this epistle is written not to the officers of the church only, but to the whole church; nor to the Gospel, the outward means of grace, since this was common to them with others, and might be known without the evidence after given; nor does it design the effectual calling, sometimes so called for this is expressed in the following verse as a fruit, effect, and evidence of the election here spoken of, which is no other than the eternal choice of, them to everlasting”
- Ephesians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ephesians 1:5: Having predestinated us,.... Predestination, taken in a large sense, includes both election and reprobation, and even reaches to all affairs and occurrences in the world; to the persons, lives, and circumstances of men; to all mercies, temporal or spiritual; and to all afflictions, whether in love or in wrath: and indeed providence, or the dispensations of providence, are no other than the execution of divine predestination; but here it is the same with election, and is concerned with the same persons, and has regard to a special blessing, the elect are appointed to”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 76: step, in accommodation to our weakness. Those, however, who are so cautious and timid, that they would bury all mention of predestination in order that it may not trouble weak minds, with what color, pray, will they cloak their arrogance, when they indirectly charge God with a want of due consideration, in not having foreseen a danger for which they imagine that they prudently provide? Whoever, therefore, throws obloquy on the doctrine of predestination, openly brings a charge against God, as having inconsiderately allowed somethin”