I think your Pentecostal friend’s viewpoint denies the eternal and omniscient nature of God. God is not bound by our concept of time–He exists eternally and all that happens is seen by Him in that light–God’s plan of salvation is an eternal plan–it never was not there, and Mary was included in that plan. Mary had freewill like all of us, but God, who is omniscient, “knew” she would say yes. Otherwise He is not omniscient. This is difficult to understand (and I don’t anyone who does), but it is like us–we have free will to choose God or reject Him, but ultimately, God already knows what we will choose. Thus, God would not merely have moved down the street to find someone else. There is no one else.
Now to me this is almost incomprehensible, but I have to accept the fact that we are both given free will and that God is omniscient. I will have to wait until I enter that realm to get a grip on this, but in the meantime, I will accept what the Church teaches as a matter of faith. And I will also say that I could be wrong on this, but someone will have to give me a good argument as to why. I’m not a philosopher or theologian, it’s just my understanding of what the Church teaches.
BTW, this is not the same as the predestination of Calvinism, but that is another discussion altogether, and I’m not going to derail the thread.
Thank you for all of your answers; they have been great. I did notice that not one non-Catholic responded to the question. Of course, it’s no secret that my question is aimed at them. But no matter. I really don’t care if people answer or not. All I ask is that they consider what the Bible means when it says that God did great things for Mary. My question proves nothing regarding any particular Marian doctrine, but it is not supposed to prove anything. It merely asserts that God did great things for Mary as she, inspired by the Holy Spirit and as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, said that He did.
I noticed when I re-read my post describing my encounter with a Pentecostal that my first sentence was not clear. What I meant was that I wish I had asked him the question at that time, not that I had posted here to find out some responses to the question so I could go back “armed” with them the next day.
“Thus, God would not merely have moved down the street to find someone else. There is no one else.” Yes, that’s true. As Mary and her “yes” are, in fact, as we know now, part of God’s eternal plan for the salvation of mankind, then, as you said, “there is no one else.” But, if it had not been part of His plan, then He would’ve moved down the street, to the Woman who He (fore)knew would answer “yes.” That would’ve been his “plan” and Mary’s “no” would’ve been a part of it. But from God’s point of view, there weren’t two options, a “Plan A” and a “Plan B” that depended on Mary’s response. However, we marvel at the great things God has done; what He “might’ve done differently” is not important. By the way, does anybody know if there is a theological term for this “plan” for creation that God has? I, too, am neither a philosopher nor a theologian.
I agree that God’s omniscience/free will/predestination is a very heady subject. I can’t think of one more so. My poor little brain doesn’t go very far down the road when I start to consider these topics before it hits a roadblock. But what should I expect? God is God and who am I? It’s all a mystery. I often remember something Fr. Benedict Groeschel said in the course of a series of talks he gave regarding the nature of God. It is, “If anyone says to you that they have it all figured out, run the other way, because they don’t know what they’re talking about.” One of his central points was that God is mystery. Anything having to do with God is, ultimately, mysterious. We can ponder the points of theology but, ultimately, our probings and insights are only finite. We will see Him much more clearly in heaven than we do now, but still finitely. He spoke of mystery as something that can be known but never entirely understood (I’m paraphrasing here - it’s been 9 years since I watched it).
Peace
