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From: cng@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Albrecht)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Free Will vs. Omnipotence
Message-ID: <1497@burdvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-Feb-84 11:06:25 EST
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Posted: Wed Feb 22 11:06:25 1984
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From Byron Howes:

>> Incidentally, this isn't a new problem for christianity.  The Calvinists
>> hit it dead-on and came up with a rather unique perception of grace
>> and salvation that is still held by some flavors of Baptists today.
...
>> 
>> The Calvinists, seeing this, allowed that any individuals state of
>> grace had been determined and was unchangeable.  To question one's
>> status, however, tantamount to blasphemy -- challenging G-d.  One
>> worked as hard as one could, however, do *demonstrate* one's status
>> in this world as material possessions were seen to be a sign of
>> grace along with success.  Needless to say, Calvinism did not enjoy
>> extreme popularity among the poor.
>> 
>> In this sense, the notion of predestination exists irrespective of
>> free will.  It isn't that G-d has set people down and wound them
>> up like little automatons to make preset choices, but that the outcome
>> of the choices -- in fact the choices themselves -- are seen as are
>> the knots and tangles of a string of yarn.  
>> 
>> I hope this helps and I welcome corrections to the Calvinist notion
>> of grace described above as it has been a while since I studied it.

Calvinism is also the view of salvation held by most flavors of Presbyterians.
The central theme of Calvinism is that God is sovereign over all His
creation including salvation, i.e. because man is dead in his
trespasses and sin, God must resurrect him from the dead in order that man
may have a new relationship with God.  Since man is spiritually dead he can
do nothing to affect his own salvation, therefore God must choose to save
some and pass by others.  If God chooses those Whom He will save, then it
follows logically that Christ need only have died for those Whom the Father has
chosen and the Spirit need only quicken or make alive those who are chosen
and for whom Christ has died.  It should be noted that most of the
objections to Calvinism have come from within the Christian community, not
because it doesn't make sense (logically), but because many Christians just
don't care for these doctrines.  The Anabaptists in Europe made the
strongest stand against Calvinism.

Calvinism develops the doctrine of predestination found in the Bible.
Concerning predestination, the Westminster Confession of Faith (the
expression biblical truth used by most Presbyterian and Reformed churches)
says:

	God from all eternity did by the most wise counsel of His own will,
	freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so
	as thereby neither is God the author of sin nor is violence
	offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or
	contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

Calvin had the following to say:

	Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which He has
	determined in Himself what He would have to become of every
	individual of mankind.

Regarding Byron's observations concerning Calvinism and the poor, I have been
a student of the teachings of Calvin and other Reformers for a
number of years I was not aware that material goods were a sign of
divine blessing.  In fact most of the Reformers, including Calvin, lived
very simple lives and lashed out at the gaudy opulence of the Roman
Catholic church.  In fact, history shows that in those instances where
the tyranny of the Roman church was thrown off the populace flocked to the
Reformed churches.  This was true in Switzerland and also in Germany and
Scotland.

It is true that Calvinism teaches ones condition here on earth should
reflect the eternal relationship which God has provided, however, this
condition is not judged in terms of one of material wealth, but of spiritual
wealth.  Doing good to others is the sign that one has been justified and
is being sanctified by God.  Calvinist see the acquisition of material goods
as a means to helping others.  We do not acquire things just to have them, but
that we might provide for the needs of others and show God grace to all.

For more information on the teachings of Calvinism and its practical side I
suggest:

	"The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" by Loraine Boettner
	 Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Phila., PA


Tom Albrecht
-- 
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