In an article titled “Determinism,” an unknown author describes different types of determinism and gives definitions and critiques of each type of determinism. The author states that there are two basic types of determinism. These two types are naturalistic and theistic. Naturalistic determinants believe that all human behavior is encoded in us genetically and behaviorally. Naturalist determinants included people like atheist B.F. Skinner. Theistic determinants believe that God is the ultimate cause who determines everything. 

The author then goes on to state that there are many arguments for determinism. He makes statements regarding the sovereignty of God, stating that he must be the ultimate cause of everything. Then author also states that there are two different types of determinists within the naturalistic and theistic determinists. These two subgroups are hard determinists and soft determinists. Hard determinists believe that God is the only cause for everything and that every act is cause directly by God. The author states that hard determinism completely takes human choice out of the picture. Soft determinists believe that God is the primary cause for everything but that actions are not directly caused by God. The author states that God is the primary source and humans are the secondary source. This means that human free choice is compatible with sovereignty. 

I think that this is a good article because although it may not have totally answered my question, I may have found out what type of person I am. I think that I may be a soft determinist. I am a strong advocate of free will, but I do believe in God and believe that he has some guidance over our lives. I believe that he chooses when we are born and when we die. I do not believe that he is the cause of every action like a hard determinist would believe. I believe that God holds the world in his hand but I don’t believe that he makes any human do or fail to do anything that he or she does or does not do. I think God made us and guides us spiritually but I do not believe that he has any direct affect on the choices that we make as people. 

I don’t like to associate myself with any type of determinism, but soft determinism seems more acceptable to me than hard determinism. Hard determinism is just too extreme for me. As I said before, the only reason I would say that I am a soft determinist at all is because I feel that God does control some things that we cannot. Everyone is born with out choice and everyone dies.  These two things are inevitable. God may give us morals to follow but he does not pick us up and place us into a situation. God is the primary cause because he is our creator. He has created everything that could affect us. He gave us the ability to choose. Humans are the secondary cause. We have the God given ability to make choices. Sometimes we choose the right things and sometimes we don’t. 

As far as genetics go, I think it is absurd. B.F. Skinner stated that genetics are the primary cause and that we are locked into decisions due to our genes. Our genes may affect our abilities to make good choices or even our ability to choose at all, but there is no serial killer gene. People still have to actively choose do participate in a certain action. Naturalistic determinism is the answer atheists choose to explain human reasoning because they do not believe that God has any power over his people because they do not believe in God. However, the idea of naturalistic determinism and fate seem to go hand in hand to me. If atheists do not believe in God, I don’t see how they could believe in fate. Therefore, I don’t know how they can justify believing in naturalistic determinism.

Unknown. “Determinism.” The Protestant Apologetics andTheology Page. The Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. 11 Apr. 2007 <http://www.ovrlnd.com/Apologetics/Determinism.html>.