Please, discuss. I'm interested in others views on this. I personally am an Arminian.

2492349

Calvinism, Lutheranism, or Arminianism?

Erm. None of the above?

AMERICAN!

2492349 what's an Arminian.

2492349 ummm I'm a Lutheran--what is there to discuss? Your thread sounds more like an essay test question rather than a discussion. No offense.

2492358
2492361

http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/reformed-theology/arminianism/calvinism-vs-arminianism-comparison-chart/

http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-lutheranism-and-calvinism/

Some helpful links.

2492396 They're the largest branches of Christian belief, dealing with free will, salvation, etc. I find it rather poignant to discuss.

2492349 I'm a Christian. No more, no less.

Unless we're adding the fanbases I'm apart of.

In such a case, I am a brony, gamer, Whovian and an Otaku.

2492419
2492456

These aren't denominations, I too am non-denominational, they're doctrines about free will, salvation, whom Jesus died for, etc. They're systems of Christianity if you will.

Calvinism? Why is THAT even considered Christian? I don't think it is at all. In fact the creator of Calvinism was heretic idiot and should've died a horrible death at the hands of the Catholic Church. I mean look at the Westboro Baptist Church. They adhere to the five point's of Calvinism, and they're considered to be a cult.

2492476

should've died a horrible death

That wasn't a very Christian thing to say.

2492469 I still don't really understand why Christianity has to follow a sort of "system".

God tells us through the Bible pretty much everything you need to know about what to believe.

2492401
First link seems okay, second link is poorly sourced and glaringly incorrect.

I guess I'd come closest to Arminian (with Free Will and needing to work towards God rather than just be saved by "faith alone" or predestination), but I don't fit that descriptor either.

2492514 I agree, but many have disagreed on what the Bible means by certain things. I wish there was just one church, without denominations and classifications, that operated on the Bible, but alas people will always have opinions.

2492543 Good point. I use NKJV, NIV, or ESV, ESV being my preference.

2492493
DUH!

2492547 Exactly. Exactly my point.

2492583 ...Then why did you say it?

God said to love others, not wish death on them.

2492591 That is actually the best description of God and human free will that I've heard. *applauds*

2492349
Calvinism: They kinda forgot the forgiveness part of Christianity. Also, boo predestination.

Lutheranism: Luther was an okay guy, and this is coming from a Catholic. Couldn't have the counter reformation with out the regular reformation after all!

Arminianism: Never heard of it.

I now eagerly await being torn apart enlightened.

2492476 Hey hey, easy now, they believe Christ is and was the savior of mankind, albeit only certain parts independent of faith, and their earliest adherents wanted to throw adulteresses into the river... Yeah, history class has not given me a positive image of them.

2492519 And yeah, Arminianism seems agreeable.

2492476
Reel it in bud.

None. I'm Catholic.

2492654
You think!? Yet they believe Jesus died only for the "elected". Not what every Christians believes that Jesus died for all.

2492349 Well, I lean towards the T.U.L.I.P. model in Calvinism. Don't mean I'm Calvinist, just think it's a nice model.
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

Honestly, election only sounds bad on the surface. Plus, it's literally stated in the Bible many times.

2492756 no. They believed Jesus died for all, but not all would be saved because they refuse that gift.

2492408 The largest denomination in the world is Catholicism with about 1.2 billion members. Protestants are second with 600-800 million and of the protestants those 3 groups when split by percent are smaller then the Eastern Orthodoxy - 225–300 million.

So the 3 main Christian denominations would be Catholics, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Baptist in that order.

2492349
Well, I don't like any of them at all.
Especially not Calvinism. If there is predestination, then why would a supposedly loving God predestine people for undeserving eternal torment?
It just boggles my mind.

2492591

I disagree with this as I find a deterministic world incompatible with free will.

I believe that I actually had a choice in my life, and that I am not simply a product of circumstance.

Its harder to comprehend, but I believe that God exists beyond the limits of time while we exist within them, so he at once exists in all times and before time.

2493189

Obviously I disagree with predestination, and I think it makes no sense for the reason you stated.

Justice doesn't make any sense unless we have the free will to make our own decisions.

2492654

Calvinism: They kinda forgot the forgiveness part of Christianity. Also, boo predestination.

Lutheranism: Luther was an okay guy, and this is coming from a Catholic. Couldn't have the counter reformation with out the regular reformation after all!

Arminianism: Never heard of it.

Pretty much my views. Worth noting that, as a British Atheist, I'd never even heard of Calvinism before joining this group.
Of all the reasonably sized Christian denominations, this is probably the one I have the most issues with (reasonably sized meaning we ignore outliers, like the WBC).

2492349

I'm not familiar with those terms. Mind giving a summary?

2492349

>"Which are you?" thread devolves into attacks about whose Truthy Truth(tm) is truiciest (filled with the juice of truth).

Meanwhile I'm just having my heretic's morning coffee and thinking about how it's a beautiful morning outside.

Not really sure how lutheranism fits in (haven't taken the time to study it) but as far as calvinism and armenianism, they are both right and wrong

it's a paradox, but you cannot deny predestination or free will without getting in the way of clear biblical teaching. The best I can understand it is that God has planned out the full course of history while somehow preserving out freedom to choose. From God's perspective, all of time and space is sitting on a table in front of Him, but from our perspective, we only see a narrow view of the past and nothing of the future.

as to the whole idea of Jesus only dying for the elect, I think it is very likely that the sins laid on Jesus were only those from believers, but He died for us all in the sense that each and every one of us have access to it and it is only by our choice that it does not apply to us. The converse would be that Jesus had all the sins of all of us laid on Him, which makes rejecting Him even worse.

to those of you who don't like labels, I understand, but I do consider labels to be an easy way to define yourself so you don't have to have a gigantic spiel like this every time you want to tell someone where you stand

and my understanding of predestination is one of the most comforting things I have. It means my salvation was not caused by me and therefore cannot be undone by me. He will never write me off as no longer worth it (though He will use whatever means necessary to bring me back to Him)

2493875
It's just based off the names of those group's founders. Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Jacobus Arminius. You should search up these figures by yourself though on Google.

I'm Lutheran (specifically Missouri synod, but I'm not sure what the differences are)

I believe that Jesus died for all, even those that do not accept Him.

I believe that we do have free will, but God is a very good chess player and will accomplish what he needs to one way or another.

2492349 *Didn't know anything.* 2492401 *Now knows something.*

Arminianism 5/5
Calvinism 0/5