Is Scripture fatalistic?

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve (Lk 22:3).

For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed! (Lk 22:22).

Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (Jn 13:27).

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and prior choice of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23).

27 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, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place (Acts 4:27-28).

Arminians brand Calvinism as “fatalistic.” The charge is equivocal, for “fatalism” has more than one meaning.

However, the ultimate question isn’t whether Calvinism is “fatalistic,” but whether the word of God is fatalistic.

There are different ways of defining a word. One way is to define a word in reference to a paradigm-case. In Greek literature, two Classical examples of fatalism involve Croesus and Oedipus.

In these instances, a father is given an oracle of doom concerning his son. The father takes precautions to sidestep the oracle. However, his very precautions fulfill the oracle.

On this definition, fatalism involves the following elements: (i) the dire outcome is predetermined. (ii) The effort to escape one’s fate is the very means by which the fateful outcome is achieved. Put another way, a protagonist facilitates the dire outcome against his will.

Let’s compare this to the crucifixion. According to Scripture, God predestined the crucifixion. And not merely the event itself, but the means.

Agents like Satan, Caiaphas, and other members of the Sanhedrin end up precipitating the polar opposite of what they intended. The religious established viewed Jesus as a threat to their authority. A threat to the religious loyalties of the rank-and-file. But by their actions they created an unimaginable following for Jesus which continues to this day.

Why did Satan possess Judas? Presumably, Satan thought that engineering the execution of Jesus would defeat Jesus. He would die a failed messiah.

In fact, I imagine that Satan had been spoiling for an opportunity like this for millennia. This was his greatest coup. To strike a crushing blow with one masterstroke. A decisive victory for the dark side. It fell right into his lap.

Well, Satan had his plan, but behind Satan’s plan was God’s plan. God planned Satan’s plan, and God planned it to backfire.

Before Jesus could rise from the dead, he had to die. Satan becomes the unwitting instrument to thwart Satan’s designs. The very means by which he defies God turn out to be the means by which Satan suffers an irreparable setback.

That’s a classic form of fatalism. You bring about the very thing you fear through your efforts to cheat fate.

Calvinism is no more or less “fatalistic” Scripture.