Christian Liberals & Progressive People of Faith

caught my interest. I don't have enough background in philosophy, biology, or psychology to discuss various views of consciousness but I do have some experience of different religious beliefs on free will vs predestination. I think there might be some misunderstandings of what predestination means in some religious contexts.

Predestination vs free will in Christianity refers to how free one is in accepting or rejecting the offer of grace from God in becoming a believer. It does not mean that people do not have responsibility to make choices and decisions about their actions and day to day behavior. People will make good or bad decisions. People, including believers, are not capable of all knowing wisdom even when making what they think are good and moral decisions. That is what forgiveness is for.

Regarding denominations that have doctrines of. predestination. They include Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. Many Catholics don't realize that it is part of their faith but it comes from Augustine. Luther was an Augustinian monk at the time of the Reformation so it influenced his own teachings. Ironically, it was the Catholic humanist and scholar Erasmus who debated the issue with Luther and supported a more midway view leaning toward some choice. Too complex to get into here.

The early Calvinist Puritans in colonial America taught a more extreme version of God arbitrarily saving some and condemning others without rhyme or reason. Some were chosen. Some were not. Presbyterians were founded in Calvinism but have evolved since then. They prefer the term "Reformed."

Most Protestant denominations today have various branches as was mentioned in an earlier post. I have extensive experience with both Missouri Synod and LCA Lutherans, less so after the LCA became the ELCA. Missouri Synod teachings are rather narrow and literalist on many issues vs the more liberal ELCA. But both of them hold Luther' s view of predestination. Neither one emphasized it in my experience. They simply said an all knowing God knows what we will do but.that does not relieve people of responsibility for actions.

I also have some experience with Presbyterians who also have conservative and liberal branches. Conservative ones hold more to the selectivity of God on predestination. The liberal PCUSA is influenced by 20th century theologian Karl Barth on the topic. He proposed salvation extended to all, not selectively. There is more to his view than that but in summary it opens the door to all.

Baptists and Methodists favor free will. They both also have various branches.

I don't know much about the beliefs of various evangelicals on this topic. I don't know when we started calling them that. I know people who call themselves evangelical but are not conservative politically or socially. To them the term means they are enthusiastic in embracing their faith and open to all who want to join.

I prefer the term "fundamentalist" for the more narrow literalists in Christianity. Fundamentalist can also refer to people of other faiths besides Christian who hold to ultra conservativism, exclusivity, and literalism.