Understanding Predestination
Ξ February 26th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Theology |
In Christianity, there is a theological division amongst Protestants that roughly breaks down into two camps – those that believe in John Calvin’s Predestination and those that believe in Jacob Arminius‘ Free Will. Having been raised in the tradition of the latter, it always struck me as the most obvious thing in the world – that is through our actions and decisions we are saved or condemned. The concept of Predestination – that God has already assigned to us our salvation or damnation – was completely odd to me. What does it matter, then, if we do good or evil if the outcome will not change?
The sheer peculiarity of it has always struck me, so I’ve thought about it quite a bit, to try and understand it. People accept and believe in it for a reason, obviously, even if that reason aludes me. So I began to think of the origins of Calvinism.
