As Christians, should we believe in fate or destiny?
Really interesting question. We sing "He's got the whole world in his hands..." We trust the Lord, and rightly so. Providence, the outworking of God's sovereign purposes according to this will, sounds a bit like destiny, so maybe we believe in destiny: a divine destiny.
Fate is a heavy word. Fatalism implies that, despite our hopes and noblest efforts, we are trapped, victims of an uncaring deity in a heartless world. This must be rejected.
It may be significant that the words moira (fate) and heimarmene (destiny) never once appear in the Greek New Testament. And yet these were common in the pagan literature of the first century. Then, as now, people are often paralyzed by anxiety. Jesus Christ came to set free all who were enslaved by their fear of fate, meaninglessness, and death itself. That's great news!
