Antinomy
Illustration
by J.I. Packer

J. I. Packer uses the following illustration of the antinomy of divine sovereignty and human responsibility: “Modern physics faces an antinomy, in this sense, in its study of light. There is cogent evidence to show that light consists of waves, and equally cogent evidence to show that it consists of particles. It is not apparent how light can be both waves and particles, but the evidence is there, and so neither view can be ruled out in favor of the other. Neither, however, can be reduced to the other or explained in terms of the other; the two seemingly incompatible positions must be held together, and both must be treated as true. Such a necessity scandalizes our tidy minds, no doubt, but there is no help for it if we are to be loyal to the facts.”

InterVarsity Press, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by J.I. Packer