Puritans

Yes, and the path to get there was in their belief of 'Predestination.' This belief developed by John Calvin stated that mankind was predestined before their births to go to either heaven or hell. Puritans deduced that since no one knew which they were predestined to go to, they had to work diligently hard to insure they would be found worthy in God's eyes to go to heaven. Hence, the wealthy members were thought to have found favor in God's eyes already and were surely going to heaven. Many have said that these beliefs were the results of their isolating the group and over the generations, perverted the meaning of Scripture into the interpretations of men. The Scripture states that the only sure way to receive eternal life and be with the Family of God is to keep the Commandments:

21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

Additionally, the Bible is replete telling us that God is not impressed with what a man has or looks like, but rather what a man does with what he has been given. God looks for a humble and meek spirit in mankind. He has given all free will to chose His way or the way of this world. Jesus died for all mankind so whoever believes in Him may receive eternal life in the God Family - any and every one.

2 For all those things My hand has made,

And all those things exist,"

Says the Lord.

"But on this one will I look:

On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,

And who trembles at My word.

This is certainly a philosophical question. Are we really in control of our own destiny, or are we meant to feel we are in control of our own destiny, but when, in fact, it is destiny leading us where we should be going? LOL This gets complicated because in pops religion for some people. I'm a Christian and feel that God has a plan for me (and for others) and I do know I'm here to be the best person I can be, yet I find as I get a little older there is a gnawing that there is something I MUST do before my life on this earth is ended. This is a great debate and everyone will have their opinions on this one. ==new answer== The destiny for all of us is that we grow up to be like the one who created us. This plan is housed within the superconscious mind and is always seeking a way to draw it to our conscious attention through subconscious mind.

The feeling of, meant to be, usually comes from the decision we made before we entered this physical body and no matter how hard you try, you will not make it go away. Most do not remember.

Beyond this, we create in our thoughts the reality we will experience which is then re-created through subconscious mind. It seems that someone else is pulling the strings but actually, we are.

The best way is to make our goals in life count toward our real progression. In religious philosophy, this question is related to that of free-will vs. predestination i.e I make a choice vs. I was meant to make a specific choice. The answer varies somewhat depending on the interpretation however, many of those variances are due to a basic misunderstanding of the question itself. It is better understood as a question of the difference between our perspective on reality and God's (or fate's). The simple explanation is this: "I" am a linear being. I experience reality as a sequence of events. I come to a choice, make it according to my own judgement, and proceed onward along that new path. Hence the concept of free-will. "God", fate, or destiny is a non-linear being, concept, or whatever, existing outside of the flow of events, experiencing all points of time simutaneously. Hence, all choices that will be made, are made, and were made. Hence, predestination. As such, these concepts are not mutually exclusive but instead indicate varying perspectives.

Answer2: The "Logic" of Predestination

Some who believe in predestination reason basically as follows: God is omniscient. He knows everything, even what is going to happen in the future. He knows what each person is going to do with his life, and he already knows the exact moment and manner of each person's death. So, according to their thinking, when the time comes for an individual to make a decision, his choice cannot be other than the way God has foreseen and foreordained it; otherwise, God would not be all-knowing. Does this reasoning seem sound to you? Consider what its logical consequences would be.

If some force has already determined your future, then trying to take care of yourself is useless. Choosing to smoke or not to smoke would make no difference to your health or that of your children. Wearing a seat belt while riding in an automobile would have no effect on your safety. But this is faulty logic. Statistics show that people who take precautions suffer fewer fatal consequences. Carelessness can result in tragedy.

Consider another line of reasoning. If God chooses to foreknow everything, then even before he made Adam and Eve, he would have known that they would disobey him. But when God told Adam that he must not eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and bad" or he would die, did God already know that Adam would eat from it? (Genesis 2:16, 17) When God told the first couple: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth," did he know that their wonderful prospect of life in a paradise was doomed to failure? Of course not.-Genesis 1:28.

Taken to its logical conclusion, the idea that God foreknows all decisions would mean that he is responsible for all that happens-including wars, injustices, and suffering. Is that possible? A clear answer is provided by what God says about himself. (Taken from 5/07 Awake magazine on Jehovah's Witnesses official website)