Ok a question. If God is predetermining things then why give Torah for instructions? why bother giving instructions if you know who will and who won't accept them (because in fact they can't accept or deny the instructions, they can only do as God made them do)? It would seem more beneficial to have no instructions, merely punish the wicked reward the righteous (who are predetermined to be whichever they are).... who is wicked who is righteous is up to God anyway, and since a person has no say in whether he will be righteous or wicked, there's no sense trying to explain to them which is which..... Why pass from generation to generation the books of instruction if no one had to follow them.... take for instance if I buy premixed koolaid... that is to say koolaid already mixed with sugar and water in a jug (instead of a packet).... but on the label it none the less explained "mix 1 koolaid packet with 1 cup of sugar and a gallon of water" (or whatever)... why bother putting that on there... it has already been done, there is nothing for me to do but drink.... furthermore having the instructions on the pre-mixed container may lead me to err in thinking "surely they wouldn't put these instructions there if I didn't have to do anything" and adding additional water/sugar to the premix jug I bought.... making a very unsavory beverage.... Contrarily if Koolaid doesn't come premixed because it *is* dependent upon people making the *decision* to add water and sugar to a level of their personal satisfaction then it'd be a perfectly good reason to leave instructions on the packet. If the packet lasts for thousands of years and the writing rubs off then the knowledge of how to mix the koolaid sugar and water would necessarily be passed from generation to generation (at least if you value koolaid). The same could be used to say that the evidence of the instructions of God being passed from generation to generation unto this day is proof that one must make the decision to follow the instructions on their own accord. If man had no part in the decision of whether or not to follow, then it would be a pointless venture by God to give instructions to those who can neither follow nor disobey. Furthermore there would really be no righteous or wicked, because no one had a choice in the matter... only God would be righteous *and* wicked simultaneously for each creation he made that was one or the other. The instructions say clearly that there are righteous and there are wicked.... so then the instructions would be lying because only God (the decision maker) can be righteous or wicked. If I am forced at gun point to shoot someone is it my fault? So how much less would it be my fault if I'm forced not at gun point but by divine inspiration to shoot someone? I would be blameless in the scenario... it's all God. Personally I know people tend to blame God for practically everything.... but some things are our fault not his.... in order for it to be our fault it means we had the free will to fault... and if we have the free will to fault we have the free will to be correct... and that's a pretty good reason to give instructions, whether you're God or a parent....