Re: [TruthTalk] Fw: Rikk Watts on Genesis 1

[Terry Clifton]

Debbie Sawczak wrote: I don't subscribe to double predestination, but I don't think Calvin's followers are idiots or deceived, at least no more than the rest of us! And probably less so. There is a great deal more to Calvinism than this. To return to a previous analogy: our careful theologies are like various cartographic projections of a spherical earth onto a flat sheet of paper--they all entail distortions, especially at the edges. Double predestination is in the corner of the "Calvinist Projection"; at the same time, it's only one short logical step from the idea that our being at the Table is God's grace and choice, not earned by any act or attitude of ours (even faith being a gift). If it is false, it is a good warning of the results of boxing God in logically.   On the other hand, this view prevents us from judging people and thinking ourselves superior to those who are not believers. It leaves people and the whole question of their eternal destiny in God's hands where they belong. I also sometimes wonder to what extent our righteous horror at predestination is due to our thinking being permeated by the secular liberal doctrine (liberal in the social philosophical sense, not theological) of the free choice of the individual.   More than any other single group of Christians I know, Calvin's contemporary followers have a profound understanding of: 1. covenant 2. the unity of Old and New Testaments in a single redemptive story 3. grace as the ground of our salvation 4. community 5. the ministry of reconciliation and restoration, involving all aspects of personal and public life and all of creation.   They are, among the Christians I know (and I know them very well), the most whole-heartedly and consistently engaged in this ministry. They believe God is for the world and they therefore live hopefully in the world. They do not compartmentalize and do not take a narrow, moralistic stance on social issues. They make it their task to really understand the culture we live in and be salt and light in it, working on solutions instead of just talking. They know the value of Christian scholarship and are responsible for a great deal of it. And they were doing this long before it became cool among other evangelicals.   By comparison, I find the theology and practice of other evangelicals to be rather dilettantish a lot of the time.   Check out this link: http://www.crcna.org/whoweare/beliefs/ourworldbelongs_01-06.asp   Debbie I nstand by my original declaration. Terry