Sadducees argued that the course of history was determined solely by human decision. Essenes believed everything was determined in advance by God and human will could not thwart the divine plan. Pharisees affirmed both free human choice and divine sovereignty in a carefully balanced paradox. Akiba taught, “Everything is foreseen [predetermined by God], but freedom of choice is given.”35 Josephus affirmed that the view held by this second-century Pharisee was also affirmed by those who lived during