"The pagan has a fatalistic outlook on life. He believes that the individual is helpless; that he is wholly at the mercy of relentless forces outside of himself; that there's nothing he can do to improve his lot."
- Henry Grady Weaver, [The Mainspring of Human Progress (1943)]
A persistent criticism of Gentile religions is the belief that the Gods predetermine life via fate.
It is odd that this criticism persists, considering primary sources easily refute it. But, it continues because very few apologists defend the orthodox Gentile position. To make matters worse, many pagans have accepted the deterministic fate or destiny concept and tried to protect it.
To clear up this misunderstanding, we will reference the Platonic Sage Alcinous:
"On the Subject of fate, Plato's views are roughly as follows. All things are within the sphere of fate but not all things are fated. Fate in fact has the status of law."
Alcinous here relates fate to law. In the case of law, all things are within the sphere of law; even crime which is unlawful, is still the subject of the laws. To follow Alcinous' argument, we could say, 'all things are within the sphere of law but not all things are lawful.' Fate similarly holds sway over all things, but that does mean all things are determined by fate alone. This makes fate a principle that operates within the cosmos rather than a fixed record of all things that will happen.
"It does not say, as it were, that such and such a person will do this, and such and such another will suffer that, for that would result in an infinity of possibilities, since the number of people who come into being is infinite, and the things that happen them is also infinite; and then the concept of what is in our power would go out the window, and so would praise and blame, and everything like that."
If fate were a fixed record of things that will happen, i.e., deterministic, then the concept of virtue and vice would dissolve completely. How can someone do any good or evil if they have no choice? Deterministic fate would create a universe where we are nothing but puppets for the Gods.
"But fate consists rather in the fact that if a soul chooses a given type of life and performs such-and-such actions, such-and-such consequences will follow from it."
Here, Alcinous confirms that every soul has free will and chooses the type of life and actions. Fate has no control over these choices, but it has dominion over the consequences of these actions.
"The soul, therefore, owns no master, and it is in its power to act or not, and it is not compelled to this, but the consequences of the action will be fulfilled in accordance with fate."
Alcinous follows this by showing that Paris, who abducted Helen and took her to Troy, then fated that a War between the Trojans and Greeks would ensue. The Gods did not fate this but rather Paris and his poor choices. The Gods set the laws of fate in motion. We see here that the law of fate is not a law creating fixed outcomes but instead governs the principle of cause and effect. This means fate, as understood by the Sages, was not deterministic but rather probabilistic. In short, fate mixed with free will limits the number of possible events that could happen.
"The nature of the possible falls somewhere between the true and the false, and being by nature undetermined, it becomes the sphere of operation of our free will. Whatever results from a choice on our part, on the other hand, will be either true or false."
Fate itself can only determine what is possible but not what is in actuality. Every action we take collapses what is possible into the actual moment by moment, choice by choice. Even choosing to do nothing will be a choice that produces an inevitable fate.
So what does this mean for ourselves and our relationship with Jove and the Gods? We have the free will to choose what we do in this life. That does not mean we will always choose wisely. The Gods do not predetermine our outcomes but rather set the laws by which consequences arise naturally from our actions. Thus Jove, who is all-seeing, can know all ends that we could choose for ourselves and what the results would be if we did.
The omniscience that Jove possess is the ability to see all possibilities. However, He gives us the free will to choose our path. He understands that we may have to learn life lessons the hard way. Rather than dictate how our journey will go, He joins us in our journeys and guides us if we are willing to listen. Sometimes we do, and sometimes we don't. Regardless, Jove grants this freedom so we can learn by experience and because He knows the greatest truth; even if we hurt ourselves or others in this life, no damage can come to our immortal souls. We will all return to Him in the end. He is infinitely patient and will wait until we are ready to surrender to Him and follow His guidance.
For the Glory of Jove