Death Date Predetermined?

[DoxieMama]

I know many Protestants believe God has our date of death predetermined in the Book of Life. Do Catholics believe this too? Is there a specific Bible verse about this?

 

[Micah11]

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.- Ecc 3

 

[anruari]

I know many Protestants believe God has our date of death predetermined in the Book of Life. Do Catholics believe this too? Is there a specific Bible verse about this?

I’m sorry but I don’t have the time to pull up the quotes.
I believe the Catholic position on this is as follows:

God is Outside time and Space. He Made the Universe (as opposed to existing inside it).
Time is a feature of our universe… any cosmologist can explain this to you.

God is Outside Time, and therefore to Him, yesterday, today and tomorrow are simply dimensions within His created universe the same way that up - down, Forward-Back, and Side-Side are dimensions.

He Knows. He Knows everything.
In His Word: “Before I formed you in the Womb I knew You” (the tenses may have been more complicated in the Hebrew… I don’t know but it may have been:
“Before I formed you in the womb I Know you”

He can see everything from the Big Bang to the Big Crunch or whatever will be the End of Time.
Therefore yes his Book of Life records the lives of every Human who has ever and will ever walk on this earth, and those who never make it our of their mothers wombs alive.

But that does not take away from Free Will and personal responsibility.

We live within Time. To us it is a linear path, and to us the outcome is not determined. We have Free Will. We are responsible for our actions, and to avail of our Redemption through Christ which is a Free Gift of Grace, we must co-operate in our own Salvation.

The theory of “Predestination”, being that we do not truly have free will, and god has chosen those who will be saved and rejected the others… all we can do is identify each-other… is heresy! God is not that cruel!

Others can link to bible quotes and catecism quotes

 

[anruari]

Here’s the quote from the Catecism:

II. CHRIST’S REDEMPTIVE DEATH IN GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION

“Jesus handed over according to the definite plan of God”

599 Jesus’ violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God’s plan, as St. Peter explains to the Jews of Jerusalem in his first sermon on Pentecost: "This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God."393 This Biblical language does not mean that those who handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario written in advance by God.394

600 To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of “predestination”, he includes in it each person’s free response to his grace: "In this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."395 For the sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed from their blindness.396

“He died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures”

601 The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting to death of “the righteous one, my Servant” as a mystery of universal redemption, that is, as the ransom that would free men from the slavery of sin.397 Citing a confession of faith that he himself had “received”, St. Paul professes that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures."398 In particular Jesus’ redemptive death fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of the suffering Servant.399 Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God’s suffering Servant.400 After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles.401

 

[littlestsouls]

I’m not sure what the Church says, but I can think of several instances in the lives of saints where God- in His great mercy- prolonged the time of certain individuals’ death (thus giving them time to repent). Two such instances occur in the lives of St. Pio and St. Mechtilde (I think). Philosophically speaking, one could say that these acts of mercy were always pre-determined, but I think such hair-splitting is unecessary (I am mindful of that dangerous fatalism which can diminish our faith; as in the case of St. Francis de Sales who once suffered from an extreme depression due to the fear that he was not one of the elect).

I was very moved to read in the life of St. Mechtilde (again, I think) of how God prolonged the lives of every soul that would have died unworthily one particular day. What a special grace!

 

[Gabriel_Serafin]

I know many Protestants believe God has our date of death predetermined in the Book of Life. Do Catholics believe this too?

Some analogies may help…

A man must walk through the woods. The man is destined to be killed by the wolf, provided the man forgets to carry his rifle. But the man is also destined to be saved from the wolf, provided he remembers to carry his rifle. The man is destined to carry his rifle, provided his wife prays he have a safe journey.

Likewise, a man who is a heavy smoker may be destined to die years before his time, provided he refuses to quit his addiction.

Christ Himself said: “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Matt. 26:52

 

[babs57]

Catholics can believe in predestination. Aquinas says:

“God wills to manifest His goodness in men: in respect to those whom He predestines, by means of His mercy, in sparing them; and in respect of others, whom he reprobates, by means of His justice, in punishing them. … Yet why He chooses some for glory and reprobates others has no reason except the divine will. Hence Augustine says, “Why He draws one, and another He draws not, seek not to judge, if thou dost not wish to err”.”
ST 1:23:5

We call this “unconditional election”. But remember that God bases His choice (or election) only on His will.

However, we are not to believe in what is called “double predestination” which says that God chooses some for glory, and the others for damnation. God doesn’t will anyone to damnation, He simply passes over them, because He knows they will not come to Him.

This is according to “The Salvation Controversy” by Jimmy Akin, which I found very helpful with this and other very confusing issues re:salvation.

 

[AlTheCollegeGal]

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.- Ecc 3

“Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds… sorry, couldn’t resist!

 

[babs57]

I know many Protestants believe God has our date of death predetermined in the Book of Life. Do Catholics believe this too? Is there a specific Bible verse about this?

These are some of the places the Book of Life is mentioned:
Ex 32:32
Dan 12:1
Phil 4:3
Rev 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:15, 22:19

None of these mentions anything about the date of our death.