Hegel and History as a Necessary Process
Hegel saw history as a necessary process. Individuals, eras, and powers were necessary steps in world history. In that process, there is over and over again a position (thesis) that calls up an opposing viewpoint (antithesis). Thesis and antithesis are then resolved in a synthesis, which in turn becomes the new thesis. According to Hegel, this dialectical process is not only necessary but also logical. With this as his point of departure, Baur saw the doctrine of predestination as a synthesis between the idea of God’s free acts (thesis) and human freedom (antithesis). This opposition then necessarily led to the doctrine of predestination.
Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism
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Asselt, W. J. V. (2011). Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism. (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books)