John Calvin

I’m a Calvinist because of the Bible. It’s simply biblical

the only calvanist I am is for Calvin and Hobbes

I believe that God can control everything, and does, except that he gives us all free will. He knows what will happen, but can sometimes changes it.

Uhhhhm.... I guess Evangelical because Matthew 28:18-20.

That's not really what I was asking. I was asking if you believe in predestination or free will.

Ah. I guess a bit of both. Never given it that much thought.

Calvinist, read the book of Romans.

Protestant, my dad's a Protestant pastor.

Both Calvinists and Arminians are Protestants. The question is dealing with whether or not you believe that God has control over the choices humans make.

I am a Christian Fatalist, if you know what that means.

So, you're a Calvinist. Noice.

I don't know what a Calvinist is, so please explain further.

A Calvinist is one who believes that everything is predestined (including who becomes saved and who doesn't) and there's nothing we can do about it.

alright, then i'm arminian

Well, I don't like being labeled or put in a box with nothing to do about it. Aelfwine, like you, mine is a bit more complicated. My faith is not my parent's, my grandparent's, or my pastor's. It is my own, I have decided for myself, not anyone else. -S.C.

Right. Sorry if I made a pretense of putting you in a box.

I am a Calvinist, because I think that God re-determines everything. I know some people use the argument, "How can God be loving and destine people to hell." To that, I say, all things work together for the good of God's people. Everything that happens will in some way benefit the saints in the long term and work to bring more people to Him.

Good thing there isn't a god who creates people just to burn them alive.

Yes.

Look, I don't get to choose what God does. Sinful people deserve punishment, which means everyone does. I can't decide I'm not okay with what God does and because of that see Him however I want to.

No. I'm saying I don't control God. God does what He deems good. You can't decide that you want God to fit your pretty little picture. And do you realize that the reason Christians talk about this to unbelievers is because they want you to be saved? They don't want you to spend eternity in pain and suffering.

There are tons of people who have had experiences in the after-life. I know I'm not just an animal like a cat.

For myself, it's a bit more complicated. I believe that God has sovereign control over all things, and yet we still have free will. I don't think it'll ever been completely explainable how these can both be true (until we reach eternity), but they have to be, or else God is not who He says He is.

So, I have a couple theories. One is that God, being an infinitely greater being than us, would most likely exist on an infinite amount of dimensions (by dimensions, I of course mean things like height, width, and depth). Now, it's commonly accepted among mathematicians that time is the fourth dimension. So, for God, time is every bit as much a plane of reality as height, width, and depth are to us. Which means that He sees every moment in time simultaneously. So, although we still can make our own choices, He can see what they are before we make them.

Another theory I have involves multiverse theory. That is, for every possibility, a parallel universe is formed to accommodate it. So, God knows all the choices we'll make, because, well, we will make all of them.

If anything needs clarification, let me know.

Sincerely,
Ælfwine Elf-friend

I'm Southern Baptist because my parents are. However, I do still believe that, as a Christian, I should simply follow what the Bible says.