Some thoughts on the fate vs free will (Calvinism vs. Arminianism) debate. Calvinism teaches that people are predestined to be saved and those who are not elected are pre-determined to be damned. Arminianism teaches the opposite, that everyone has a choice and that God is not 100% in control. There is more to this, and both are true on different levels. God’s “elect” people are known from the beginning because God can see the past, present, and future, and therefore knows who will choose life and receive Jesus. Meaning that God didn’t cause our choices but allowed the circumstances for the choices he knew we would make. Thus, his elected people are simply those whom he knew would receive the New Covenant, but he didn’t make them believers directly. We can predict the behavior of a child because their behaviors are more easily predictable compared to those of an adult. Having that knowledge doesn’t mean we can make the child behave in a certain way.