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just because i'm interested...
So I know that the big movement amongst young Christians right now is the Reformed tradition, which, being Arminian, I find really interesting. And just because I'm wondering, I was hoping those of you on my flist (and random lurkers!) who identify as Christian would mind telling me how you feel about the whole Free Will vs. Predestination thing.
If I haven't made it abundantly clear at this point, I'm Arminian, and frankly, Calvinism really scares me. But! I am all about grace, so I'm definitely not looking to start any arguments or judge anybody or anything. I'm just really, really interested as to where you fall, theology-wise.
So! Christian friends of mine! Take a poll, please!
[Poll #1771737]
And btw, this poll is pretty much just about how you feel about the nature of salvation. For instance, I don't assume that all of you who pick Arminianism will be dispensationalists or anything like that. Basically what this comes down to is your feelings on the whole TULIP thing. I'm not going to assume anything further about your wider theological thoughts. I'm using these labels because they're straightforward.
The point of this was not to prompt one of those late-night-college conversations where we're all just trying to win points. I'm just interested, so never fear: everyone will play nice! My flist is excellent.
If I haven't made it abundantly clear at this point, I'm Arminian, and frankly, Calvinism really scares me. But! I am all about grace, so I'm definitely not looking to start any arguments or judge anybody or anything. I'm just really, really interested as to where you fall, theology-wise.
So! Christian friends of mine! Take a poll, please!
[Poll #1771737]
And btw, this poll is pretty much just about how you feel about the nature of salvation. For instance, I don't assume that all of you who pick Arminianism will be dispensationalists or anything like that. Basically what this comes down to is your feelings on the whole TULIP thing. I'm not going to assume anything further about your wider theological thoughts. I'm using these labels because they're straightforward.
The point of this was not to prompt one of those late-night-college conversations where we're all just trying to win points. I'm just interested, so never fear: everyone will play nice! My flist is excellent.
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What's an Arminian? What's a dispensationalist? What's the Arminian view of Free Will vs. Presdestination, and what's the whole TULIP thing?
I realize I could probably Google and find out, but I'd rather hear it from you if you wouldn't mind explaining. I know very little about any religion at all and your post made me curious.
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TULIP is an acronym summing up the Calvinist viewpoint:
Total depravity (the nature of man)
Unconditional election (the saved were chosen by God before time)
Limited atonement (only the sins of the chosen were atoned for via Christ's sacrifice)
Irresistible grace (if you're one of the ones God chose, you can't reject grace)
Perserverence of saints (saints meaning Christians--those who are called can never fall away from God; if you fall away you were never among the chosen in the first place)
It all comes down to how you read certain scriptures and how you view God as relating to humans. Make any sense?
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TULIPS! ARMENIANS! THE KARDASHIANS! JESUS CHRISTO! So many things I know nothing about.
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I went into a little bit more detail upthread, so maybe that'll help?
HAHAHA! I know NOTHING about the Kardashians except that during lunch today some people were talking about how one of them had a wedding? And I was like, "Am I supposed to know anything about this at all?"
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hahaha! I was kidding about the Kardashians, because I think they're of Armenian descent--so I was just teasing because I had no idea what Arminian meant.
*goes to read your explanation*
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Oh, okay! I thought you were just throwing out totally, totally random stuff, so that one flew over my head. Now I'm giggling though!
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I am the WORST CATHOLIC EVER and thus in no way qualified to answer this, but I think, yeah, that's basically it. It's more toward the free will side of things in that anyone can choose to become Catholic and thereby be saved. But that still isn't a guarantee you'll go to heaven, because you can LOSE that grace if you fuck up. Most Protestants would say it's not really a free offering of grace if you still have to do x, y, and z to be worthy of heaven (see also: Martin Luther).
But y'all are going to hell anyway for not being Catholics.no subject
And, wow, this is a serious discussion for lj! ♥
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I think that God knows everything that's going to happen, but that he gave us free will for a reason; predestination doesn't ring true to me, not when I believe in a merciful, loving God. We're all given the chance for salvation; it's up to us whether we choose to take it or not.
My thoughts exactly!
Ha! It is a bit heavy, isn't it? I was just with some people from my flist last weekend and we went to church together and did some talking about God-ly things, so I knew there were a few people who might be interested in the discussion. I just get curious!
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My basic theology comes down to: Jesus is the son of God and he died to save me because he loves me that freaking much.
It's always fascinating! I've had to do a lot more theological research in the past few years as a youth leader at my church and it always interests me, I just hate when people use it as a tool.
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I love talking about theology (I have a cousin who went to seminary, and I love to look through all her big textbooks!), but I totally agree when people use it in a particular way it can become so destructive.
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I once sat through a talk that gave me a headache so bad it took hours to go away, but otherwise I love theology. It's completely fascinating.
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"goes off to burn Lutheran card... not that I didn't already do that..."
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And actually, now that I think about it, Lutherans are somewhere in between? I think they're more complicated, so I should have rephrased the bit about being Protestant above. Oh, well! Too late now!
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Generally speaking, I'd say so as well.
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By the way, I chose "This isn't a debate I'm interested in/I honestly don't care" and would also like to tick "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just love hot chocolate, okay?"
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. . . and then I turned out to be a godless pagan anyway. :P I mean, if I were Christian, I'd probably Arminian because I hate the idea of arbitrarily denying Heaven to people, but that's also a reason I ended up not connecting with Christianity in my teens- I tried, but the idea of having to answer for everything to a higher power bugged me, so I figured that particular religion wasn't a good fit.
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hey look at that! a buffy icon!
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In other words: I would like to join the hot chocolate party!
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Yay hot chocolate, too!
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Btw: Catherine of Siena and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are AWESOME. AND I'VE SEEN HER HEAD!
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*loves RHE*
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:-)
(Also, not a Christian so didn't tick any of your options in the poll.)
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