What details are you talking about? Did I ever doubt any details? I simply stated that God foreknows our decisions (because God exists outside of time), without forcing us to make them.
Somehow you feel that our decisions affect, or even "diminish" His plan! Our free will affects us, and not God.
Otherwise, you have "open theism" where God just sits there amazed at how things are turning out and "wow" it is similar to what He planned,/I>
Open theism? I am Eastern Orthodox. Orthodoxy and 'open theism" or Armenianism have nothing in common; just as we have nothing in common with the Reformed variety. There is no "open theism" in Orthodoxy.
"I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life." [Isa 38:5] Seems pretty clear to me that God switched to Plan B.
The only people who had "free will" were Adam and Eve; every one else's decisions were based on the negative influences of sin, from their parents to the fallen and cursed creation
And they picked evil although they were not 'slaves' to it. There are two possibliities: God made them pick evil, or God knew and allowed it. But how was God affected by this? Did God lack something because His creation decided to shoot itself in the foot? No! Adam and Eve and all subsequent generations lost something.
Our free will affects us, BD, not God. We have choices.
Where is love lacking?,/i>
Robots don't love, BD, I hate to break it to do. Love is not the same as blind obedience.
He chose those He wanted to spend eternity with and brings things about to make sure they are with Him. (Rom. 8:28-33)
That is almost exlcusively +Paul's idea. In fact, I don't think anyone but +Paul (assuming Acts are also his distation, or closely influenced by him) uses the term "predestinated" or "predestination."
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren
Um, it is not the image but the likeness of God that we lost. We are created in His image; it's just that after the fall we are not like Him any more.
They get what they want, separation from God
That makes no sense, BD, if they don't have free will. How can you want anything if that which you want is God working through you?
I sometimes think that the insistance on absolute hyper predestination in all respects etc.
NEGATES GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY
rather than 'bolsters' it.
It ASSUMES that God cannot quite beyond our finiteness created a . . .
space . . . say . . .
wherein the authentic opportunity for true FREE WILL would exist for say mankind
WITHOUT diminishing God's all-knowingness at all.
Parents have the power to be very aware of every detail of planning of the kids for the parent's surprise birthday party. But loving parents will typically insure that they are thoroughly ignorant of such plans. Not because they lack such 'limited omnicience' but because they choose to lay some of it aside for a limited time in a limited way.
I think it's an imperfect analogy given my finiteness. But I think this pokes in the direction of what MAY be going on with a truly robust degree and nature of a truly authentic measure of free will allowing for a truly robust and authentic FREEDOM TO LOVE, or not.