Thanks for the invitation Matronyx. I shall seek to make this discussion as interesting as possible. I guarantee that your eyes will be opened afterwards ;D
Before we go into the discussion, let some things be clear:
1 - God is
All-Knowing
2 - God is
All-Powerful
3 - God is
All-Present
4 - God
never changes
Ok. Now that we have those definitions out of the way, let's proceed to the meat of the matter.
CAUTION: Opening up a can of worms - Read no further if you lack an open mind. You have been warned. Take the red pill and continue reading. I will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes - just make sure you can handle the truth!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You choose because you're a product of the universe. God is the author of the universe. He doesn't
need to choose. He wills, or predestinates (same thing). Since he is the author of all things, He can decide how the story should go and how the story should end, before the story is even written. That's why there is PROPHECY
Now for:and - Yes, that's
exactly what I'm saying. You must remember that the Bible is Man's interpretation of God's inspiration. To man, it would
Appear that God chose. But
before creation, God had
already scripted it that the Children of Israel would be His people. He had
already scripted it that David would be king. There is no alternate universe of possibilities with God. Everything is linear. Everything is predestinated. This is why we say that God is all-knowing. If that were not the case, then He would not be God. Again, He doesn't choose. He
predestinates.