Does It Really Say That in the Bible?

Whether we talk about it or not, all humans find themselves contemplating the meaning of life at one time or another. Picking up a book about the Bible is bound to stir up some of that thinking in your mind. So, before we begin, I’m going to suggest that instead we think about two words that color our understanding of the “meaning of life” from a different angle: fate and destiny. At first glance you will say, but aren’t these synonyms, and I will agree that they are in this respect—they both direct our attention to the question of how much control we have over our lives. Are we masters of our own fate or are we merely the pawns of destiny, having no real ability to determine the shape or outcome of our lives? Let’s look at each word separately and see what associations we make with each. When we speak of fate, our thinking runs along two tracks of thought. In one vein, fate simply equates to chance—the randomness of life that puts us sometimes in the right place at the right time or, just as easily the reverse. When we think of life’s unpredictable disasters – like the tornado that hits some homes and spares others – we don’t say that the person who was spared or was hurt has actually done something to deserve this result. Rather we chalk it up to good or bad luck. Since this idea of fate can be used to explain the very existence of life, it carries with it the notion that much of life is under no one’s control. In this sense the word fate connotes neutrality – the universe is neither for us nor against us – it just is.

But there is another nuance to fate. Events that appear to be random but come to a negative end are often deemed ill-fated. We would more often say that it was someone’s fate to be in one of the Twin Towers on September 11 rather than his or her destiny. All thinking that “the world is out to get us” falls into this category. Of course, it is illogical to blame “the universe” for these events, but our emotions take us down that path from time to time. We have established that the neutral sense of fate and its synonyms chance and luck bring us no particular help in discovering a meaning to life except a relative one where each individual can assign his own significance to life, but has no standard by which to call his better or worse than another’s. What about the word destiny? Generally, destiny carries a more positive connotation than fate. Destiny has embedded within it that Someone/Something has a plan, a purpose and destination in mind with regard to our lives. Just who/what this Person/Force is makes for a great debate among people of different ideologies and religions. It could still be a random plan, as within Greek mythology where the Fates are imagined as three women: one who spins the thread of life, a second who passes out the lots of destiny, and the last who mercilessly brings death with her shears. It could also be a plan over which we have no control as in the idea that some are destined to Paradise and others to Hell. Or it could be that the Someone with the plan is actually rooting for us but has left the choice of destination in our hands. I lay out these possibilities for you as you begin to look at what the Bible really says. It will of course be valuable to anyone to know what the Bible says as part of one’s education, but I’m guessing that the most interesting question the Bible can answer for you runs more along the lines of these musings. If so, the Bible stands ready for your inquiry.