Understanding Predestination vs. Free Will Through Star Wars
I grew up in the 80's and so my childhood was filled with lot of Star Wars movies, toys, etc.. When the new Star Wars movies came out when my children where little in the late 1990's early 2000s. I was disappointed except for episode 3, which I thought had the same feel of the originals. After watching the new Star Wars movies in the last few years,The force awakens and the last Jedi I am so geeked up again.
I have been studying the book of Romans for the past month or so and I came across this scripture that I just was stuck on and I couldn't understand. Romans 8:29...For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. I called people I thought would be able to explain it to me and it just was not clicking. The whole "foreknew" thing was not a easy concept to grasp. The word "predestined" is clearly in scriptures, so I started researching predestination. I started watching debates on Calvinists vs. Armenian. I was leaning more towards Armenian because I believe in having a degree of free will. Calvinists believe that God preordained certain people to go to hell or heaven without any choice in it. A quote from Calvin made me flaming hot after I read it and I will share it with you."Individuals are born,who are doomed from the womb to certain death, are to glorify him by their destruction".
This statement does not fit in with the God I have personally gotten to know over the past 20 years. Death and going to hell glorify's him? Even though I lean more on the non reformist side I am back stuck on Romans 8:29 with no answers. Trying to research this and get answers in like going into the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland coming up with nothing solid. Everybody is completely one sided, either pick the red pill(Calvinist) or drink the blue pill(Armenian). Give me a break!
Time is another thing concerning this. Einstein said,"For we convinced physicists, the distinction between past, present,and future is only an illusion, however persistent. Time is a big thing in the understanding of predestination and time can be a complex thing. I remember in lots of Dr. Who episodes how there was parallel worlds and time was not how we usually comprehend time. God transcends time. Understanding that God's perspective on time is not how humans perceive time. Time could be a big equation in the mystery of predestination.

There is also the issue of Intimacy with God. I don't think God would enjoy a world of Automata as C.S Lewis describes it. Of creatures that worked like machines, would hardly be worth creating. Or we could be like Stephord Wives robots, programmed to do exactly a certain thing without any free will. Does not sound like a plan of redemption but a sci-fi Horror movie.

I do believe in predestination, not in the way John Calvin does. Not doomed to hell from the time God created a soul. I could be wrong, these are only mere opinions I have. Then what would the use of praying be, and sharing the gospel, and training a child in the way he should go, so that he would not depart in it? I think all these things stated are super important and mixed into the formula of predestination and the mystery of how God's salvation all works together.
All of that studying makes my head spin. Then finally I got the only answer that makes somewhat sense to me. It started the day I went to see the Last Jedi with my family. It had predestination themes all woven through out the movie! Who would have knew? Spoiler Alert! Rey felt Kylo's hand and wanted to accept him from what she thought she forknew through the force. Rey had vision from the force about the balance of life. In the vision death and life work together. I was listening to a Calvinist-Armenian debate. As I was dozing off, I heard the Calvinist explaining why their was evil and about glorifying the child doomed to destruction and I thought he said it was to bring forth balance. In the morning I was like "whoa" this is all fitting with Star Wars.

I even looked up some forums related to Star Wars and Predestination vs. Free Will. These forums made more sense to me then the non Star Wars related!! haha. So for now what I came up with is that I will not go with what Calvinist or Armenians believe but what Obi-Won Kenobi believes.....He says in one of the Original Star Wars, "Divine Will and Free Will are intertwined".Yes! That is the only thing that makes sense to me. Logic and reason can fail us. We often say God is incomprehensible. Maybe, just maybe, God does not fit into our neat little categories. Why can't we have free will and predestination!? It's like a theological paradox. There are paradoxes in creation itself like wave-particle duality of matter. Why not on this?

I don't think I will ever understand this completely. I am like a goldfish in the ocean. These thoughts are to big for me. I am not God, I do not have the mind and complete understanding of his divine mind. This fish looks like me after I am done studying this subject.
So in conclusion, I have nothing against you if you are a Calvinist or a Armenian. I am choosing to believe a Paradoxical theory, that just as Obi Won has said "Divine will and Free Will are intertwined".
Who knows maybe in the future I will change my mind and join the dark side or the Rebellion as for now forget the Calvinists and the Armenians, I am sticking with the wise Obi-Won!!
May the Force be with you!