I'm an atheist, and it's remarkably easy to settle this debate. And it doesn't require twisting in the wind and hampering belief in free will or the power and authority of the alleged supreme being in the universe. All it requires is a look outside of complete linearity.
I mean, really. An omnipotent and omniscient being would be able to see the universe in all dimensions, which would allow itself to see all the evolutions (EVOLUTION, THE HORROR) your life takes with every choice, and every alternate path that would have occurred had another choice been made (and on and on and on). If none of those paths led to accepting said alleged supreme being, said supreme being would have knowledge of your damnation or whatever without negating free will in any manner - and this knowledge would necessarily arrive from its omnipotence and omniscience.
Sounds like Molinism, interesting philosophic view but unfortunately for the arminians its no where found in the Bible.
God knows the future, every single thing that will happen. This is so clearly taught throughout the whole Bible.
In Isiah 41 God puts the false gods / idols on trial and asks them to tell what has happened in the past and
why. He also asks them to tell him what will happen in the future.
"
21 “Present your case,” the Lord says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The King of Jacob says.
22 Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the former events, declare what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;
23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24 Behold, you are of [h]no account,
And your work amounts to nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination."
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In Psalm 139 it is shown how God knows every little thing the psalmist will do.
"
1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You."
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In John's Gospel, Jesus says that he knows who will believe and not believe in him,
"John 6
43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘ And they shall all be taught of God.’
...
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would [j]betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
"
No one can come to Jesus unless the father "draws" (in Hebrew it can literally mean "compel" and is used that way in other verses of the Bible) him.
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In Romans, Paul explains that God choose Jacob over Esau not for anything they did for they not yet even been born and had not done anything good or bad.
"Romans 9
10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “ The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “ Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “ I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “ For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."
"
God did so because of his own will and desire and not anything that man does.
You realize that you've just disproved your own point? The whole world represents the set of people that Jesus pulled the disciples out of. Exactly! So they were part of the world before He saved them! Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners in other words part of the world. In this instance Jesus didn't pray for the whole world. In some instances He didn't even pray for all of the disciples. He told Peter that He specifically prayed for him.
