The Anchor Gospel Ministry

2 responses to “I could not agree more with this statement on Calvinism”

1. 

   Anonymous

   January 5, 2026 at 3:26 am

   Do realize that determinism is a philosophical category that includes all Christians (under theological determinism)?

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   1. 

      Nathan A. Hughes

      January 6, 2026 at 6:52 pm

      While it is true that some Christian traditions hold to forms of theological determinism (e.g., certain streams of Augustinian, Thomistic, or Reformed thought), Christian theology is not monolithic on this point. There are multiple well-established Christian positions that do not fit classical philosophical determinism, including:

      Libertarian Free Will – Affirmed by many such as Wesleyan, and other non-Calvinist traditions, holding that human choices are genuinely free and not causally necessitated.

      Molinism (Middle Knowledge) – Proposes that God sovereignly orchestrates history using foreknowledge of free creaturely choices, without determining them.

      Compatibilism – Held by many in the Reformed tradition, but importantly, compatibilism is not the same as philosophical hard determinism. It affirms divine sovereignty alongside real human agency, albeit understood differently than libertarian freedom.

      Eastern Orthodox Perspectives – Typically emphasise synergy (co-operation between God and humans), explicitly rejecting unilateral determinism.

      Even within traditions that stress divine sovereignty, many theologians avoid the philosophical label. God’s will is not treated as an impersonal causal chain, but the purposeful, relational action of a personal agent. Human responsibility, moral accountability, and meaningful choice are still affirmed. The philosophical category of determinism often carries materialist or mechanistic assumptions that Christianity does not accept.

      So while there is theological determinism in Christianity, it is not accurate to say that it applies to all Christians, nor that Christian views collapse neatly into the broader philosophical determinism category without qualification.

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