23
votes
Why make an effort to get saved if my life is pre destined by God?
Say, for the sake of argument, that free will is definitely real.
Now, consider some arbitrary person (for convenience, we'll call him "John"). Let's say, also, that John was born in 1000 AD....
- 6,678
10
votes
Accepted
How do Calvinists explain God's wanting no one to perish and electing some to judgement?
The typical Calvinist response to this question is captured well by Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology:
[1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9] speak of God's revealed will (telling us what we should do)...
- 42.3k
7
votes
How does the Roman Catholic Church interpret predestination?
Against the Calvinist doctrine on predestination, the Council of Trent's 6th session (Decree on Justification) says:
CANON IV.—If any one saith, that man's free-will moved and excited by God, by ...
- 38.4k
7
votes
Romans 9:14 to 9:24 and free will
Do all Christians believe in predestination? No.
Do all Christians
believe in free-will? No.
Does the Bible teach predestination? Yes
Does the Bible teach Free-Will? Yes
Romans informs us ...
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7
votes
Why does the debate over election/predestination matter?
The pastoral reason this debate matters so much is because of the related doctrine of assurance (which itself is intimately related to justification by faith alone). To put it bluntly, if our ...
- 1,579
7
votes
Why make an effort to get saved if my life is pre destined by God?
Why make an 'effort' ?
Because he is God. Because he made me. Because he gave me the gift of an existence.
And the gift of a humanity ; of thought ; of feelings ; of abilities ; of mind ; of heart ; ...
- 23.6k
6
votes
Did John Bunyan believe in predestination and irresistible grace?
It's clear from the writings of John Bunyan that he believed in the Reformed doctrines of predestination and irresistible grace. He makes an extensive defense of these and related doctrines in his ...
- 42.3k
6
votes
Accepted
How does the Roman Catholic Church interpret predestination?
TL;DR
We could summarize the Church’s teaching as follows: God has perfect foreknowledge of who will be elect (which is the same thing as to say that he predestines them). However, although salvation ...
- 13.2k
6
votes
How can God be loving and just whilest creating people for His wrath? I cannot wrap my head around Calvinism!
"Please help me understand how God can be characterized as merciful,
just, and righteous within the Calvinist framework."
I will do my best, for I have studied Reformed/Calvinistic theology ...
- 1,031
5
votes
To the Calvinist, does Phillipians 1:29 mean that all the Philippians will go to heaven because all of them have already been elected?
Calvin says in his commentary on Philippians 1:28.
but Paul in another instance, too, speaks of them as a manifest token or proof, (2 Thessalonians 1:5,) and instead of ἔνδειξιν, which we have ...
- 3,650
5
votes
How do Christians who believe in libertarian free will respond to R.C. Sproul's critique in the article "What Is Free Will?"?
The first view is what I’m going to call the “humanist” view of free
will, which I would say is the most widely prevalent view of human
freedom that we find in our culture. I’m sad to say that, in my
...
- 31.3k
5
votes
Can we say that all those who the Father draws are those who Jesus draws unto himself by his death?
Various verses in John's gospel show that the key point is that - first - the Father has given certain ones to Christ. And Jesus said that all whom the Father had given him would be saved. None would ...
- 26.8k
4
votes
Accepted
What is a special sign of predestination? (Catholic)
Part II, §4 "Synthesis," ch. IV "On the Certainly of Predestination," § "Signs of Predestination" of Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.'s Predestination: The Meaning of Predestination in Scripture ...
- 38.4k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the basis for Calvinist double predestination, as opposed to single predestination?
To begin, let's be sure that we understand what double predestination means in Calvinism. You have it right, that God chooses both who is elect and who is non-elect, but it's important to note that ...
- 42.3k
4
votes
What does John 3:16 mean according to Calvinism?
From John Calvin's Commentary on John chapter 3
John Calvin made much about the love of God in John 3:16 arguing that the cause is the love of God for us, not any good in ourselves, or any quality ...
- 121
4
votes
How does election work according to mainstream Presbyterian thought?
Theology has the idea of the Ordo Salutis, or Order of Salvation. A Christian branch like Reformed Theology (of which Presbyterianism is a part) will have a particular way of organising the various ...
- 19.7k
4
votes
Accepted
How do Calvinists understand the argument that only the Ephesian church were elect in the context of Ephesians?
John Calvin makes a comparison between this verse and Romans 9:11, asserting that the same principal was being described. Thus restricting the scope of application to just the Ephesian church is not ...
- 11.4k
4
votes
When scripture says, God "knows all things", does that include every action and decision every human will choose to make in the future?
Does God already know every action and decision every human will choose to make in the future? How does this correlate with the objective truth that He has included free-will in the design of His ...
- 1,655
4
votes
Accepted
Why make an effort to get saved if my life is pre destined by God?
Free will
God created a perfect world, yet gave Adam and Eve a way to reject him by accepting something that would remove their innocence. Why offer them a choice? Why not leave it perfect?
Because ...
- 1,394
4
votes
Why make an effort to get saved if my life is pre destined by God?
God appoints the means as well as the result. If the result for you is to be in Heaven, God supplies everything needed to accomplish this. Ephesians 1:3-14 lists many of the separate steps that are ...
- 11.4k
4
votes
Why make an effort to get saved if my life is pre destined by God?
The question as to who will be saved is for God to know the answer to, and for us to discover. But if we can't be bothered making any kind of effort or even attempt to sort out the question of ...
- 26.8k
3
votes
To the Calvinist, does Phillipians 1:29 mean that all the Philippians will go to heaven because all of them have already been elected?
Phillipians 1:1
1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops[a] and deacons:
The letter is addressed to those who are ...
- 1,514
3
votes
Accepted
What is the basis for Lutheran single predestination, as opposed to double predestination?
I'll try to answer in two parts: first by summarizing the Lutheran belief concerning salvation, secondly by summarizing the Lutheran belief about who is saved.
First, the Lutheran belief concerning ...
- 1,061
3
votes
Accepted
To the Calvinist, is Romans 9:21 potter story based on Jeremiah 18:4?
Paul writes of the potter making a vessel to dishonor and another to honor. This is more akin to making an ashtray (dishonor), and a wine flask (honor), than to "ugly" and "not ugly".
It is true that,...
- 12.5k
3
votes
How does free will fit with the doctrine of predestination?
According to the definition of free will that you provide, Calvinists do not believe in free will. The basic text for this question is Calvin's Treatise against Pighius, but it is also addressed in ...
- 2,300
3
votes
Accepted
What level of will-power do humans have according to Luther?
To what extent Luther thought human's have 'free will' is actually not fully disclosed in any of his writings. In general Luther opposed all notions of free-will, as those espousing the term always ...
- 31.7k
3
votes
What happens if someone who is not elect tries to seek God?
The tough part of answering this question is understanding your meaning of "seek God." Of course the Reformed perspective on salvation (soteriology - study of salvation) is that no one with true ...
- 41
3
votes
To whom the Election applied according to the Calvinist (TULIP)?
God’s Sovereign Election applies to every human being ever born. That does not mean that every human being ever born will be saved, and universal salvation is not supported within the Five Points of ...
- 29.7k
3
votes
Accepted
Is there a Christian philosopher who has published a book challenging compatibilism from the point of view of hard determinism?
I'm not aware of any Christian philosophers who take a hard-line determinist point of view. Of course, no one has read everyone, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like a Christian philosopher who ...
- 66
3
votes
Thomistic Predestination and Free Will
The view of Norman Geisler, who was a Thomistic scholar, is that free will and election are not innately contradictory. Geisler wrote the book "Chosen but Free". He explains that while God's choosing ...
- 51
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