Calvinism on the Rise in America?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ATraveller
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Presbyterian church near me and you would swear it was just a bit of feel good Christianity “light” mixed with a dose of prosperity Gospel.
The pastor could be the reason just as much as ‘rogue’ priests some here occasionally complain about or it could be the denomination. PCUSA is much looser than the more confessional PCA and other smaller denominations.
 
It’s nothing new. Calvinism and America are deeply intertwined. “Today, I choose to be saved!” folds neatly into the American illusion of “Today, I choose to do whatever I want! Freedom! Liberty! Greed!”

It’s why Monergistic approaches to salvation (like Lutheranism) and even semi-Pelagian theories (like Roman Catholicism) don’t seem to resonate with the public. They’re at a dissonance with the core Enlightenment ethos on which America was founded – the advancement of “me!”
 
Calvinism is monergistic. Calvinists believe in irresistible grace and predestination.
 
It claims to be, and the Classic Calvinist might be. But the sort of Calvinism that’s taken root in America (and to which the OP seems to be referring) ultimately reduces the whole point of Monergism -that God does all the work- to “my” decision to follow Christ.
 
Maybe, but I think it would be good to use a different word for it, then. 🙂 Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism are a specific type of heresy that the Church has denounced.
 
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