Whatever happened to the grand old doctrine of predestination--the view that all of life has been predetermined, preordained, fixed in place with no possibility of alteration? Some of our younger folks may not even have heard of this time-honored view of life, but there was a time when it was a hot topic. It even produced humor.

Two pastors were good friends but had radically different theologies. Bob was a strong believer in predestination. He believed that everything that happens to us has already been determined by the hand of God. Jim was equally as strong in his belief in free will. Once they attended a religious conference together. As they were going down a long set of stairs, Bob, the predestinarian, stumbled and fell and rolled violently down the stairs, hitting with a thud at th…