The debate between predestination and free will is one of the most pivotal in Christian theology. For many Protestants, especially those influenced by John Calvin and Reformed traditions, predestination means that God preordains who will be saved and who will be damned, rendering human free will essentially powerless in matters of salvation. In stark contrast, the Eastern Orthodox Church affirms that human beings possess real, meaningful free will—a gift that is central to both our dignity and our salvation. This post will explore why the Orthodox Church rejects the doctrine of predestination as taught in some Protestant circles and upholds the synergy of divine grace and human freedom as the true path to salvation.
6 minutes
Created in the image of God: Dignity and freedom
From the beginning, the Church has proclaimed that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26–27). This likeness is not static, but dynamic: it includes our rationality, our creativity, and above all, our capacity for free choice. God is supremely free, and He shares this freedom with His creation. As St. John of Damascus teaches, “The good that is done by force is not good.” If God were to predestine some to salvation and others to damnation without any regard for their own choices, He would violate the very dignity He has bestowed upon His creatures. True love and genuine virtue can only exist where there is freedom to choose either for or against God.
The Scriptural basis for free will
Scripture is replete with affirmations of human freedom. In the Garden of Eden, God gives Adam and Eve a commandment, and with it, the real possibility for them to obey or disobey (Genesis 2:16–17). Moses tells the Israelites, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Throughout the Old Testament, God continually calls His people to repent and return, which makes little sense if they are utterly incapable of heeding His call.
Furthermore, in the New Testament, Christ’s repeated invitation to “Follow Me,” His calls to repentance, and His assurance that “whosoever will” may come (Revelation 22:17) all presuppose genuine human freedom. St. Paul proclaims, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Moreover, St. Peter declares God “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). If God’s will is truly for all to be saved, the doctrine of double predestination—whereby God predestines some for Heaven and others for Hell—cannot stand.
Synergy between God and man
A cornerstone of Orthodox theology is the concept of synergy—the cooperation between divine grace and human will. St. Paul exhorts believers to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13). This is not an either/or between God’s grace and our effort, but a both/and. God initiates, empowers, and sustains, but never coerces. He calls us to respond. The notion that human beings are entirely passive in salvation reduces the relationship between God and humanity to that of a puppeteer and his puppets. This is a far cry from the loving communion God desires!
The Church Fathers consistently reject both determinism (the idea that God or fate predetermines all) and the notion of an autonomous free will that acts independently of grace. Instead, they maintain that we find true freedom in communion with God, and that grace never violates the integrity of the human person. As St. Gregory of Nyssa writes, “Our salvation does not depend on compulsion, but on our own will.”
The problem with predestination
The Protestant doctrine of predestination, especially as articulated by Calvin, leads to several theological and ethical problems:
- It undermines human responsibility. If salvation or damnation is entirely God’s doing, then moral exhortations in Scripture become meaningless. Why call people to repentance if they cannot respond unless irresistibly compelled?
- It makes God the author of evil. If God predestines some to damnation, then He is ultimately responsible for their fate, which is incompatible with the Orthodox understanding of God as all-good and all-loving.
- It diminishes love. Love that is compelled or irresistible is not genuine. The very nature of love requires freedom—freedom to say yes, and freedom to say no.
- It contradicts the experience of the Church. The Orthodox life of prayer, repentance, ascetic struggle, and sacramental participation all presuppose that our choices matter and that our response to God’s grace is real and vital.
The fall wounded our freedom, but did not destroy it
Orthodoxy teaches that the fall of Adam and Eve wounded, but did not destroy, human free will. Our will is weakened and inclined toward sin, yet it is not obliterated. St. Maximus the Confessor distinguishes between the “natural will” (our innate desire for the good, which persists) and the “gnomic will” (our deliberative faculty, which is darkened by sin). Even in our brokenness, we are capable—by grace—of turning to God or resisting Him. The Protestant doctrine of total depravity, which holds that humans are incapable of any good or of freely turning to God without irresistible grace, is alien to the Orthodox tradition.
Christ as the model of free obedience
In His incarnation, Jesus Christ reveals what it means to be truly human and truly free. He freely submits His human will to the Father, even unto death (Luke 22:42). This is the archetype of synergy—the perfect cooperation of human and divine will. The saints, following Christ, were not automatons with a predestined fate, but freely chose to love God. And they often did so at great personal cost. Indeed, as St. Silouan the Athonite writes, “Where there is love, there is freedom.”
The life of the Church: A living refutation
The sacramental and ascetical life of the Church is itself a living refutation of predestination. Baptism, confession, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are all acts that involve the free alignment of the human will with God’s. The journey to theosis (union with God) is a process of ever-deepening cooperation with grace. If salvation were irresistibly predetermined, such struggle and participation would be pointless.
Conclusion
Eastern Orthodoxy stands firm in its affirmation of human free will as essential to salvation. We reject the doctrine of predestination as incompatible with Scripture, the patristic tradition, and the lived experience of the Church. Instead, Orthodoxy proclaims that God’s grace is always offered, never forced. Our faith proclaims that love must be free to be real, and that our response to God’s call is both possible and necessary. In freely choosing God, we discover the true glory of our creation and the path to eternal life.
Keep Reading: Do Angels Have Free Will?