God could presumably bring a sinner to a point, just short of actually determining the sinner's choice, where the sinner would see the choice between horror and bliss with such clarity that the probability of repenting and submitting to God would be extremely high.
To feel genuine regret for wrongdoing and commit to changing your behavior.
Sinner(as used in Christian theology)
In religious terms, a person who has committed moral wrongs or broken God's laws.
Submit (to God)(as used in Christian theology)
To accept God's authority and obey God's will rather than following your own desires.
The problem of free will and divine omnipotence(as underlying tension in this statement)
A classic philosophical puzzle: if God knows everything and can do anything, can humans still make free choices, or does God's power eliminate human freedom?
free will(Kant's practical resolution of the third antinomy)
An exemption from the laws of nature; the power of doing and forbearing
So why, one may wonder at this point, do the Augustinians believe that anyone—whether it be Judas Iscariot, Saul of Tarsus, or Adolph Hitler—actually deserves unending torment as a just recompense for their sins? The typical Augustinian answer appeals to the seriousness or the heinous character of even the most minor offense against God. In Cur Deus Homo (or Why God Became Man), a classic statement of the substitution theory of atonement, St. Anselm illustrated such an appeal with the following example. Suppose that God were to forbid you to look in a certain direction, even though it seemed t...