…for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. — Acts 4:27,28

What is compatibilism? It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg of the ages. It is the idea that both of the following statements are true.

1. God is utterly sovereign but his sovereignty never functions to mitigate man’s responsibility.
2. Human beings are morally responsible creatures but their moral responsibility never functions to make God absolutely contingent.

Think about the cross. Was it just some “cheap political expediency in the first century in a minor near-eastern country?” Did God just make a better chess move and think, “Well if they are going to kill Jesus then I’ll use this mess to actually save people”?

On the other side of the coin, were Judas, Herod, Pilate, the religious establishment, and the crowd all just actors playing their part in God’s cosmic production? If so, how does He hold them responsible for the evil that lead to and embodied the crucifixion? Why does God still find fault? Who can resist His will?

The scripture teaches that God is both unfolding His plan and purpose and that He holds human beings morally responsible. Whether you are Calvinist or Arminian in your thinking, when you consider the whole of scripture you must agree with both of the statements listed above. Trying to figure out how they work together is where things get fun. D.A. Carson puts it this way to help me get a little closer.

“God stands utterly sovereign over all that takes place, but He stands asymmetrically behind good and evil … He stands behind evil such that the evil itself is always directly attributable to secondary causalities. He stands behind good in such a way that the good is always directly attributable to Him.” — D.A. Carson

This idea is just a small section of a lecture given by D.A. Carson on the topic of suffering and evil, check out the whole thing.