Free Will or Predestination: Who Controls Our Fate?
“If you can hold it in your hands then you can fold it by commands but if its fate to understand , fate cannot wait and is unmanned, the decisions you make will lend fate a hand.”- Unknown
After analyzing the manuscript ,Macbeth, it can be said that fate is not determined by pre-destination but by free will. This is proven when Macbeth takes his fate into his own hands by killing his cousin, King Duncan, in order to become king of Scotland. It is a dispute started by Christians that has traveled throughout different time periods, races, and religions. Are our lives already planned out or do we hold the key to our own fate? The King James bible says that pre-destination and free will can Co-exist but many choose one extreme or the other. In the story of Macbeth, the main character is visited by three witches who prophetize that he will become king of Scotland but do not give details as to how or when he will take the throne.(p.17 lines 59-63) Under the influence of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth does not wait for the prophecy to unfold and freely kills his cousin King Duncan in order to take control of Scotland. Throughout the play, his ambitions and insecurities lead him to freely become a murderer in order to get what he wants in life. As previously stated, the argument of free will or predestination has been around for centuries and is rooted in religion. The theory behind predestination is that God has already predetermined who will get into heaven and has planned everyone’s life out for them. Every decision made, no matter good or bad, was determined by God before you were born.(David Bennett.) Those who believe in predestination are often classified as Calvinists, after John Calvin who is the man behind many of the predestination theories, or Reformed theologists. Free will is defined as, “The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.” (Merriam-Webster dictionary) In terms of religion,
After analyzing the manuscript ,Macbeth, it can be said that fate is not determined by pre-destination but by free will. This is proven when Macbeth takes his fate into his own hands by killing his cousin, King Duncan, in order to become king of Scotland. It is a dispute started by Christians that has traveled throughout different time periods, races, and religions. Are our lives already planned out or do we hold the key to our own fate? The King James bible says that pre-destination and free will can Co-exist but many choose one extreme or the other. In the story of Macbeth, the main character is visited by three witches who prophetize that he will become king of Scotland but do not give details as to how or when he will take the throne.(p.17 lines 59-63) Under the influence of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth does not wait for the prophecy to unfold and freely kills his cousin King Duncan in order to take control of Scotland. Throughout the play, his ambitions and insecurities lead him to freely become a murderer in order to get what he wants in life. As previously stated, the argument of free will or predestination has been around for centuries and is rooted in religion. The theory behind predestination is that God has already predetermined who will get into heaven and has planned everyone’s life out for them. Every decision made, no matter good or bad, was determined by God before you were born.(David Bennett.) Those who believe in predestination are often classified as Calvinists, after John Calvin who is the man behind many of the predestination theories, or Reformed theologists. Free will is defined as, “The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.” (Merriam-Webster dictionary) In terms of religion,