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[–] mostlyfriendly 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

I'll try.

Calvinism emphasizes that faith alone is the source of salvation. But also, that the those who would trust in Christ were predestined to do so by God. Specifically - that God is all-knowing and knows who will have the faith to be saved ... therefore it follows that the believer is predestined to be saved.

One 'side effect' of Calvinism is there tends to be less evangelism. Similar to some of the Orthodox church beliefs there can be a bit of fatalism, "why bother trying to witness to people or do mission work ... God will save those who he chooses."

Everyone would argue until the end of time what 'original Christianity' is, so I'm not sure if I can answer that question.

I guess you might say that most Christians look to hold the balance of (A) yes - God is all knowing and knows who will follow Him, but ALSO (equally true) (B) we must make the choice to be saved therefore it is still our decision and will.

To be honest, I don't lose any sleep trying to sort this out. Guess, you might just call it faith...

Does this answer your question?

For further reading, you can look up the "5 points of Calvinism" which is a distillation of the thought process.

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[–] FriendofAbe 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

Its just the concept of predestination, the bible has a few verses on it that a lot of churches ignore. The idea being that God knows who will and won't be saved before they are ever born.

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[–] KILLtheRATS 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Nihilism for Christians

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[–] AngelofDeath ago 

T.U.L.I.P.

The ORIGINAL FAITH of the Bible is not 'christianity' nor 'judaism'. 'christianity' is a product of the "wolves" that entered to devour the flock, gnostics, Constantine & friends ... the MOTHER HARLOT birthed daughters. Is the true faith from the beginning to the end of the bible.

https://yliyahmessagetime.wordpress.com/

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[–] Newmemba ago 

I recall it was a jewish fork on Christianity

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[–] zxcvzxcv 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago  (edited ago)

Think of it in terms of dimensions. If humans are 3-dimensional, then God is 4th-dimensional, giving Him access to options that are not available to lesser beings. In other words, due to our limited natures, humans are unable to reach up to understand God, but that does not limit God from reaching down to make himself understandable to us. In this sense, from the human's limited perspective, humans really do have freewill, but from God's greater perspective, humans really are predetermined.

In this sense, both Calvinism and Arminianism views are correct, but it depends on whether you are trying to understand God from God's 4th dimensional perspective of Himself [Calvinism], or if you are trying to understand God from your own limited 3rd-dimensional perspective of God [Arminianism].

In a nutshell, Calvinism says that God is all-powerful (because He really is all-powerful), but Arminianism says that humans have freewill based upon the limiting rules of our reality (because we do have freewill in this reality).

This topic only becomes complicated when people fail to make a distinction between 3rd-dimensional thinking and 4th-dimensional thinking.

[–] [deleted] 3 points -3 points (+0|-3) ago 

[Deleted]

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[–] olltre [S] ago 

ok just watched it.....now im an atheist so my OP doesnt even matter anymore

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[–] 19281258? ago 

But there were 2 girls and only one cup. Instead of fighting, they shared. It shows the giving nature of humanity even in the darkest depths of depravity. This should reinforce your faith.