Free Will vs Presdestination-
Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:12 am
I'm assuming from all I've read and studied from Anabaptists (thus far) that they are "free will" contenders. A friend of mine who was seeking to become Amish for a LONG time, but not 'settled' on their interpretation & doctrine, and as you know, you have to say you agree with everything to be Amish- well he contends against predestination in our conversations- using Scripture.
Owning David Bercot's Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, while not exhaustive in all the early church writers & fathers had to say in the first 3 centuries, has been very beneficial to me on many many topics, a lot of what we discuss here.
Last night I discovered the section on free will. There was a lot to be said- the chapter was broken down like this:
1. Free Will in humans and angels
2. The Elect
3. Predestination
4. Synergism
I like the way Bercot presents all this, in this way- what I found remarkable is how the early church writers & fathers through the 3rd century expounds on this- really, it helped me understand that much more of what can seem confusing when trying to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
Would love to share it all with my Brother in the Lord, but unfortunately he doesn't like to use anyone's writings outside of the Bible, to validate 'opinions'. In actuality, the 'presdestinatin' doctrine, when I was young in the Lord, really hurt me as I considered in my failings, that maybe I wasn't one of the elect, got discouraged and went on very sad path for awhile.
It really made me realize how much the early church had to contend for pure Apostolic doctrine and how much heresy they really did have to deal with in contending for the faith- and I see great value in their enlightenment on interpreting the Scriptures- at the same time, I realize how they believe was also handed down to them in detail- and the Holy Spirit kept it as promised.
I don't know if anyone besides lesterb owns this book, but I find it has value and David Bercot sells it inexpensively these days- not sure if others would find it as helpful as I have, studying early church was never a priority until i met Anabaptists which sent me in a direction never ventured before.
God bless
Owning David Bercot's Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, while not exhaustive in all the early church writers & fathers had to say in the first 3 centuries, has been very beneficial to me on many many topics, a lot of what we discuss here.
Last night I discovered the section on free will. There was a lot to be said- the chapter was broken down like this:
1. Free Will in humans and angels
2. The Elect
3. Predestination
4. Synergism
I like the way Bercot presents all this, in this way- what I found remarkable is how the early church writers & fathers through the 3rd century expounds on this- really, it helped me understand that much more of what can seem confusing when trying to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
Would love to share it all with my Brother in the Lord, but unfortunately he doesn't like to use anyone's writings outside of the Bible, to validate 'opinions'. In actuality, the 'presdestinatin' doctrine, when I was young in the Lord, really hurt me as I considered in my failings, that maybe I wasn't one of the elect, got discouraged and went on very sad path for awhile.
It really made me realize how much the early church had to contend for pure Apostolic doctrine and how much heresy they really did have to deal with in contending for the faith- and I see great value in their enlightenment on interpreting the Scriptures- at the same time, I realize how they believe was also handed down to them in detail- and the Holy Spirit kept it as promised.
I don't know if anyone besides lesterb owns this book, but I find it has value and David Bercot sells it inexpensively these days- not sure if others would find it as helpful as I have, studying early church was never a priority until i met Anabaptists which sent me in a direction never ventured before.
God bless