[Iarwain]

Yes, I agree with you, oh Hopeful one. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] By the way, welcome to the Downs, and may your corpse rot in peace. I can't wait to hear more.

Providence is definately a better word than predestination when dealing with the Catholic Church, but not with everyone. Providence suggests that God is in control, and can change events in anyway He should see fit. It is the concept of Divine Omnipotence. Predestination is taking providence a step further, by suggesting that we are all headed in one direction, to a goal that has already been chosen, or reached. Also, this means that we are bound to take certain actions towards that goal of our own choice, but our choices will in some cases be more or less limited. Double Predestination, a step further than Predestination, is the belief that each person has already been chosen (before birth) for a path that they cannot diverge from, and will end up damned or redeemed, all by the will of God. Personally, I hold Double Predestination to be a tad on the dark side, but do consider Predestination a logical possibility that can be explored. My personal theology is not the topic at hand however, and thus all three options (and more) are available. To add to the list, we can consider the idea of a benign Eru, but my feeling is that we can instantly disprove this theory with solid proof from the texts (i.e. the sinking of Numenor).

Iarwain