The differences as I currently understand them after our dialogue last night:
The Reformed determinist sees the universe as unfolding involuntarily with a first cause and a final cause, namely God's will. If a person knew the mind of God he could project every detail of the universe throughout time. To him the mind, soul and spirit are real and not illusions. Nevertheless they cannot cause anything to happen. The murderer and the Christian are both personally responsible because it is their nature to sin. To him, man is an actor in a movie being played out, he is real but has no freedom of movement at all.
My view is that predestination and free will are not mutually exclusive. And I point to prophecies and commandments throughout Scripture as evidence. I perceive God is the first cause and final cause of all that there is. And I perceive God's will includes freedom of movement both physical and mental. In my view, God knows every detail of the universe throughout time, but it is a dynamic not static universe. He certainly could disallow freedom of movement (static) but He has chosen not to do so (dynamic.) For instance, I perceive that Mary could have said "no thanks" but that Jesus would have been enfleshed nevertheless by other means.
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. – Luke 19:40
To God be the glory, not man, never man.
That's not what atheists believe. Most atheists acknowledge reason and with reason responsibility. Morality is based on pragmatic social, not divine, set of rules but it still holds people responsible for their actions. We react to situations, some within and others outside of our control. But we still have a choice, and if we choose we carry the reposnibility for our action.
To me the mind, soul and spirit are real and can cause things to happen. For that reason, both the murderer and the Christian are personally responsible for all their thoughts and deeds. The movie is being played out, the actors will follow the script but they may also ad lib within each scene to their own reward or peril. But no one and no thing can thwart the will of God.
But ad libbing doesn't change the outcome of the movie or the way scenes play out. It "adds flavor" perhaps but that's hardly qualifies as "causing things to happen." If it doesn't affect the intent, story and the ending it counts for naught. It's a feel good illusion that we can make things happen.
Good post.
Another problem for the religious determinist is that we experience free will. We are deciding, for example, whether or not to post something to this thread. We experience choosing almost every moment of the day.
Denying this is real, makes our reality a huge illusion. Our foundation, not only for responsibility, but for cogent thought and discussion, disappears.
In addition, as has been often pointed out, it makes God the author of sin and the creator of beings who are created only for the punishment of hell.
And that makes Jesus’s ministry an exercise in futility.
Of course not. God's predestination is based on the foreknowledge of our freely willed acts.