[Minor mistakes of grammar and spelling have been fixed. – Funky]
Theomorph, my resident atheist gadfly, seems to be losing his cool. His latest tirade against Christianity lacks the kind of logical consistency and civility his previous posts had. Continue reading
Christian Conservative has an interesting
post on predestination.
Any of my Catholic readers want to refute his points?
There is no Christian doctrine that I’ve found to be more humiliating than “predestinationâ€, and no topic more difficult to understand. What is predestination? It’s the belief that God not only knows in advance who is bound for heaven or hell, but He is also in control over who makes the decision to seek God out in the first place.
[Folks should check out the comments, too. There’s an imaginative fellow who seems to think that all are destined for salvation. – Funky]
Since tomorrow’s Election Day in the U.S., I thought it’d be interesting to discuss
election of a different sort. I wanted to write a lengthy post about the Elect of
God and the Rite of Election, but didn’t have time. Perhaps when the latter occurs
during the course of RCIA, I’ll give it proper coverage. In the meantime, here’s
what the Catholic Encyclopedia has to say about issues related to election. I’d
be very interested to hear Protestants comment on these articles and tell me a bit
about how their churches define election.
Elect
Justification
Salvation
General Judgment
Particular Judgment
Predestination
Grace
I forgot to mention something yesterday. Marty Minto‘s been on a bit of an anti-Catholic tirade for the last week. One of his listeners wrote in to ask if anyone who truly loved Jesus could go to Hell, even Catholics. I sent the following as part of an email to him during his broadcast.
“I was saved when Christ died for man’s sins.
I am being saved as I attempt carry my cross daily.
I hope to be saved when I face final judgment.
I love Jesus. He is my Lord and Savior. I know you feel the same way. We should work with each other, not against each other.”
He responded by saying he doesn’t think I’m saved! He said that those who are truly born again in the Spirit have assurance of salvation and to think otherwise suggests a lack of rebirth. I sent the following as a rebuttal, but he didn’t respond to all of it on-air.
Paul spoke of running a race (1 Cor 9:24), working out salvation with fear trembling (Phil 2:12), and completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions (Col 1:24). Obviously, endurance is called for.
When I say that I was saved, I mean that Christ’s sacrificial act redeemed mankind. Through baptism by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are buried with Christ and are entitled to rise with Him. Salvation is a gift. In order to be saved, however, we must actively accept that gift. Furthermore, that gift is not irrevocable. If we accept Christ one day and reject Him the next, we cannot possibly expect to be saved.
When I say that I am being saved, I mean that every day is a struggle and I know I can be led astray, lose hope, and lose faith.
When I say that I hope to be saved at the last judgment, I mean that I hope to persevere in Christ until the day I die. I pray that I will be counted among the sheep, rather than the goats. Not all who say “Lord, Lord” shall be allowed into the wedding banquet of Heaven.” I pray to be one who is.
Do I have any Evangelical Protestant readers who’d like to comment on this exchange? Anybody of any denomination want to chime in? What part of what I said is incompatible with “mere” Christianity (c.f. C.S. Lewis)?