Determinism
Among some gnostic schools, it was
believed that, from its origin, the self was a spark of light entrapped in the
material world and in need of awakening in order to be aware of its true source
and destiny. This awakening occurs through the redeemer’s revelation. For these
Gnostics, one might speak of redemption being ‘determined’.
It is true that, in the Gospel of
John . . . there are statements that would seem to imply a predestination of
the individual by God. At the same time, the Gospel contains other statements that
would seem to indicate a kind of determinism with regard to those who will
receive the Spirit. In 6.37, Jesus says that only those whom the Father ‘gives’
will come to Jesus (cf. 6.65; 17.2). In 10.26-30, Jesus explains that ‘the Jews’
are not ‘of his sheep’ and that no one is able to take anyone ‘from the hand of
the Father’ once that person has been ‘given’. But this is simply the Gospel’s
way of affirming that an individual manifests by means of his/her belief or unbelief
whether he/she has been given by God. The context . . . makes it clear that all
are responsible for their acceptance or rejection of Jesus, but that at the
same time even the rejection of Jesus does not take place outside the providence
of God. In Jn 6.44, Jesus says, ‘no one is able to come to me unless the
Father who sent me draws the person’. This could appear to express a kind of
determinism. However, this expression is clarified by the context, where
Jesus goes on to say (6.45): ‘it is written in the prophets, “And all will be
taught by God”. Everyone listening to the Father and learning comes to me.’
Thus, while no one can come to the Father unless the Father draws the person,
it is clear from the Scriptures that all will be taught by God
and all that is needed is to listen to the teaching of God the Father. Nowhere
does the Gospel present a view of the believer as someone endowed by nature
with a destiny. (Urban C. Von Wahlde, Gnosticism, Docetism, and the
Judaisms of the First Century: The Search for the Wider Context of the
Johannine Literature and Why It Matters [Library of New Testament Studies
517; London: T&T Clark, 2015, 2016], 45-46, italics in original, emphasis
in bold added)
In a footnote to the above, we read that:
Valentinians held to a somewhat
different view and understood this divine spark to be at times something freely
given to the individual by God even if not possessed by nature. In such a case,
it was necessary to conduct oneself properly in order to achieve the final
redemption. At one part of the Tripartite Tractate, each person is said
to contain elements of the pneumatic, psychic, and hylic (I.5,
104.4-118.14-122.12). Perhaps the meaning here is that the reaction to the
coming of the savior causes one or other elements of the individual to
predominate. The concluding statement of On the Origin of the World (II.5,
127.16) illustrates the relation of behavior to nature: ‘For each one by his
deed and is knowledge will reveal his nature’. (Ibid., 45 n. 58)
