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Unfinished
Guest
I see these Protestant churches all the time that say “Free Will Baptist” or “Free Will Pentecostal”. What is the “Free Will” about?
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deb1
Guest
Just a guess, but perhaps it means that they aren’t followers of Calvin? I know that some Protestant churches have a limited view of man’s free will. They believe that God decided before hand who was to be among the elect and that the rest of us are just out of luck. This is different then Catholic and a lot of Protestant churches. So, perhaps Free Will in front of Baptist or Pentecostal means that they follow the Catholic line of reasoning considering free will. I am just guessing of course.
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Phaedrus
Guest
Deb,
You are correct. Baptists and Presbyterians both follow Calvin, who claimed that we were totally corrupted as a result of the fall and that we could not even will to do good (thus, no free will). Thus God decides who is to be saved and who is to be damned, and there’s really nothing you can do about it if you are in either camp. This doctrine seems so repugnant that it’s odd that people would embrace it, but many do (or did). At any rate, the churches you mentioned depart from calvin on the doctrine of free will, and believe that we CAN choose to do good or evil.
Under the Mercy,
Phaedrus
You are correct. Baptists and Presbyterians both follow Calvin, who claimed that we were totally corrupted as a result of the fall and that we could not even will to do good (thus, no free will). Thus God decides who is to be saved and who is to be damned, and there’s really nothing you can do about it if you are in either camp. This doctrine seems so repugnant that it’s odd that people would embrace it, but many do (or did). At any rate, the churches you mentioned depart from calvin on the doctrine of free will, and believe that we CAN choose to do good or evil.
Under the Mercy,
Phaedrus
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