Modern Christianity is rooted in the Old Testament and the following events of the New Testament, recorded by the disciples chosen by Jesus Christ. Although the Christian canon was closed in the third century AD, interpretations of chapters from the Bible are widely recognized both in Catholicism and in later confessions that appeared after the Reformation. One of these branches was the Protestants who accepted the ideas of Martin Luther and Puritans, the followers of John Calvin.
Both reformers had their specific views on the Holy Scriptures and relied heavily on the opinions of St. Augustine. One of the central ideas of their teachings was the doctrine of predestination. This paper aims to describe the concept underlying the doctrine of predestination in its historical context, identify the proponents of the tradition, and the consequences of its influence on Christians.
The Essence of the Doctrine
The idea had the most important historical meaning for the reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin in the 16th century, but it came about much earlier. The Manichaean Augustine Hippo first formed the doctrine of predestination in the 4th century. The essence of the concept was that God chooses people for salvation and reprobates them, regardless of their merits, but relying only on his goodwill.
Another aspect and a logical continuation of this idea is the existence of irresistible grace, which God distributes to the elect. One famous opponent of this approach was Pelagius, who also lived in the 4th century, and was recognized as a heretic by the Catholic Church and freedom fighter by the Anglican Church. Unlike Augustine, he believed that every individual has free will and is capable of doing well regardless of the presence of God’s grace. Pelagius believed that the pursuits of grace and personal efforts, as well as merit, are the main prerequisite for salvation. Martin Luther and John Calvin interpreted the doctrine of destination in slightly different ways, but on the whole, Calvin was a follower of Luther’s ideas.
St. Augustine himself formulated the idea of predestination – that God prepared salvation for some people and a curse for others, depending on his providence. Moreover, creators of the doctrine knew that it was based on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, chapters 9–11. In these chapters, Paul refers to the Jews and says that God chose some of the Jews for salvation because they accepted faith in God in their hearts.
In the Epistle, Paul cited an example from the Bible, from the prophet Malachi, where God favors Jacob over his brother Esau since he loved Jacob and hated Esau. Paul also quoted God’s words to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” He compared people with clay in the hands of a potter as well. The reason for these arguments was Paul’s sympathy for the Jews since he was a Jew. Paul wrote this Epistle for the sole purpose of invigorating those Jews who chose Jesus and freeing them from doubts that he accepted them.
Calvin and His Interpretation of the Doctrine
To understand why the idea of predestination seemed attractive to Calvin, the historical context in which he lived had to be explained. Calvin lived during the Reformation, when many European priests and public figures, inspired by the idea of independence, tried to create their churches, independent of the Catholic Church. In particular, Calvin, who did not have church education, after experiencing Divine inspiration, decided to serve God and left his native France, where the rulers did not recognize the new movement.
In Geneva, Switzerland, he became one of the ministers of the new church. The city became a haven for exiles, supporters of the ideas of the Reformation, who saw Calvin as a leader who could unite them. The popularity of the doctrine of predestination and election became popular among people who were persecuted for their views. Because, according to this idea, God elected those whom he decided to illuminate with the light of grace, and reprobated them. This perception facilitated the fate of refugees, gave them confidence, hope, and assistance.
It should also be noted that the doctrine of predestination has never been a central part of Calvin’s Christian worldview. He devoted only 5,000 words to this idea in his book Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559), while 14,000 words in the same book were dedicated to the topic of civil government. Calvin was also a supporter of Luther’s ideas regarding the sacred Eucharist and believed that during the sacrament of bread and wine, the Christian has the opportunity to perceive God’s grace. He assumed Jesus himself is present with his spirit during this sacrament.
Both Luther and Calvin were opposed to the idea of Huldrych Zwingli, who believed that during communion, bread and wine only symbolize the body and flesh of Jesus Christ. It is interesting that Zwingli was a voluntarist and supported the ideas of Pelagius. That is, he believed that the life of people is determined not by destiny or God’s election, but by their free will and good deeds, and that salvation is reached through merits.
The Doctrine of the Predestination in England
After Calvin’s death, his books and ideas became so popular that many considered him one of the foremost leaders of the Reformed Church. In particular, the English clerics, hiding from the wrath of King Henry VIII in Geneva, proclaimed themselves Calvinists upon returning to their homeland. They took the doctrine of predestination as the main idea that distinguished their worldview from the worldview of the Catholic Church. Henry VIII was succeeded by his son Edward, who reigned very briefly and died at a young age.
Then Queen Mary ascended the throne, which was also called the Bloody Mary, for her cruel treatment of heretics, whom she persecuted and sent into exile. The persecution allowed the reformers to establish themselves as people elected by God and subject to his reprobation. Mary was Catholic and executed 282 men and women for heresy. Scientists note that at least 800 cleric exiles settled in Geneva, where they created the Geneva Bible (1560). These were small-format publications, the central message of which was Paul’s letter to the Romans.
After Mary’s death, Elizabeth I, who adopted Protestantism as the official religion, ascended the throne. At that time, Actes and Monuments (1563) was published by John Foxe, where he depicted the lives and deaths of the Protestant martyrs. Another equally famous author during the reign of Elizabeth was the Cambridge theologian William Perkins. His book A Golden Chain (1591), which gave the most detailed interpretation of the predestination doctrine, became the practical tool for converts. In particular, in this book, he described the process of God’s election of people whom he prepares for salvation in five stages – election, effectual calling, justification, sanctification, glorification. His ideas originated in the schemes of the famous theologian Theodore Beza, who was also a follower of Calvin.
No less wide-known were the ideas of the reformist Jacob Arminius. According to Arminius, “God appointed Jesus Christ as Savior, determined to save all those who repented of their sins and believed in Christ, provided the means necessary for repentance and faith.” He also believed that God “elected to salvation those persons he foresaw would believe and persevere.” The movement of Remonstrants gained popularity after the publication of the Arminian Articles of Remonstrance (1610). Another sacred text of English Protestants was the Canons of Dort (1618–1619) that used the acronym TULIP, a Dutch flower, to present the predestinarian ideas. These were “total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.” After the death of Elizabeth, the Scottish king James I ascended the throne.
He was ordered to burn the books by Conrad Vorstius, a follower of Arminius’s at Leiden. James died in 1625, and his son Charles I, who married Princess Henrietta Maria of France, ascended the throne. James was a supporter of the Arminians, who, unlike the Puritans, were more loyal to royalist traditions. Therefore, in 1633, he made Arminian William Laud the head of the English Church. This move led many Puritans to feel rejected, and after Laud began to pursue them, they escaped to explore American lands.
Spreading the Doctrine in New England
The first American pastor to preach the doctrine of predestination was Thomas Shepard, who joined more than 20,000 people and settled in New England. He was a pastor of the North Church in Boston for nearly 60 years since the foundation of the city. Another notable American Christian thinker was William Twisse, who wrote the books Riches of God’s Love, Vessels of Mercy, and His Absolute Hatred or Reprobation of the Vessels of Wrath. Based on these books, other theological works were written by Francis Turretin in 1679–1685. Another major publication of the time is Complete Body of Divinity by Boston minister Samuel Willard, written in the 1690s and published in 1726. Thus, Boston became a sanctuary for the Puritans, just as before Geneva was a haven for the Calvinists.
Meanwhile, Presbyterians from Scotland who followed the principles of Westminster orthodoxy settled in Philadelphia. The Scottish Parliament passed a law requiring pastors to signify their confession in 1690, and the Synod of Ulster passed a similar bill in 1698. By the early 1720s, the Synod of Philadelphia took similar measures under pressure from conservatives. Jonathan Dickinson opposed the doctrine of predestination and suggested that no interpretation made by a person should be higher than the scripture itself. Therefore, Dickinson managed to reach a compromise in his Adopting Act of 1729. Despite the requirement to indicate confession, his Act enabled pastors to express their opinions on various articles.
Later, the Presbyterians became widely known for their persecution of heretics, which lasted until the 20th century. The Adopting Act only exacerbated the situation, as free expression made it possible to collect incriminating evidence on dissidents. One of the most famous trials condemned Pastor Samuel Hemphill in 1735. Even though he appealed to the Adopting Act, which allowed pastors to decide for themselves which articles were necessary for their congregation, Ulster and Philadelphia Synods both suspended him. They did not even consider the protests of Benjamin Franklin, who compared the synod with the Spanish Inquisition and claimed that they cherished their foundations more than the Holy Bible.
The Presbyterians had more power in Philadelphia than representatives of any other faiths. However, the trial on Hemphill provoked the anger of the masses, and clerics appointed Jonathan Edwards as the third president of the College of New Jersey, the first Presbyterian institution of higher education in 1757. Edwards was a Congregationalist and has written a book Freedom of the Will about original sin published in 1754. In the book, he condemned the concept of the original sin of English Presbyterian John Taylor.
Another well-known court was heresy proceedings against Pastor Albert Barnes in 1831, who was released after an appeal to the synod and the General Assembly. Barnes was again convicted in 1835 for his theological work of Notes on the Epistle to the Romans. Thanks to the General Assembly, he was freed in 1836. Controversies within the confession divided the Presbyterians into Old and New Schools, which subsequently also split within themselves, influenced by the events of the Civil War. After the war ended, four churches merged again into two.
The Old School had the most considerable influence in the south of the country, and eventually got the name of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. One of the controversial issues for this branch was the requirement of some clerics to soften the doctrine of predestination inherited from the Westminster Confession. These requirements were not taken from the air, since already in 1879, the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland adopted the Declaratory Act. This Act softened the severity of the doctrine of predestination.
The Formation of New Christian Confessions
To oppose Calvin’s ideas and the doctrine of predestination, new branches of Christianity arose, such as Methodists, Universalists, Restoration Movement Christians, Mormons, Adventists, and Christian Scientists. The main issues that sparked controversy among theists were humans’ freedom to act, salvation through the right actions, and the question of whether God predetermines each person’s eternal destiny. In particular, Thuesen notes that:
In the 16th and 17th centuries, this debate cut across the Reformation divide, with each position represented among both Catholic and Protestant scholastics. The New England Puritan clergy were the first major bearers of this scholastic tradition, which abounded with paradox and logical distinctions. The intensity of Puritanism’s predestinarian psychology generated a widespread anti-Calvinist backlash in the 19th century and contributed to the growth of several upstart denominations, including Methodists, Universalists, Restoration Movement Christians, Mormons, Adventists, and Christian Scientists.
According to the scientist, disputes over free will and predestination became a threat of schism for Congregationalists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Baptists. The particular importance of traditional doctrine lost its significance only at the beginning of the 21st century, with the emergence of many megachurches and a growing number of people who did not consider themselves to be believers and did not attribute to any confession. Nonetheless, the discord between the voluntarists and the supporters of the doctrine of predestination remained unchanged, just like in the times of St. Augustine and Pelagius.
Implications for Believers
Historical difficulties led to the formation of a unique worldview of Puritans. The vision of the supporters of the doctrine of predestination was significantly different from other Christians. Scientists note that in the minds of the Puritans and Anglicans, who left England in the 17th century and settled in Boston for subsequent centuries, there was a particular dichotomy, a division in the perception of God. These believers based their faith on the doctrine of predestination, which prescribed that God chose some people for salvation, and curses others. Such a view gave rise to constant uncertainty about whether God chose this particular believer.
The pastors of the church came up with an instrument of syllogism to overcome painful doubts. They began to convince their parishioners that since there is no temporal aspect in the mind of God, the Christian is chosen by God, as long as he believes. It was also argued that since Christ promised salvation for all, this was God’s purpose, and there is no doubt about his words. Such an approach gave believers support in their faith, but also left room for reasonable doubts as to whether they were worthy of being chosen by God. The doctrine of destiny also allowed converts to gain confidence in the future as it prescribed that the elect would be saved regardless of further circumstances.
Thus, it can be assumed that Calvin’s idea based on the assumption of St. Augustine resulted in a real curse for many Christians. This doctrine, lacking logic, instead of hope and faith in God, doomed many new converts to the search for a logical meaning where there was no any. Moreover, the first supporters of the doctrine considered it heresy to seek logical sense in it and recognized all those who disagree with the tradition as supporters of Satan and their enemies who do not respect the sacrifice and suffering of Christ.
Influence on the Perception of Contemporaries
One of the most famous contemporaries who became interested in the doctrine of destination was Max Weber, a sociologist, and economist who lived in the early 20th century. He tried to describe how the spirit of capitalism was born out of doubts about God’s chosen people and the despair that these doubts induced. According to Weber, the desolation caused by the idea that God elected some people for salvation and not others could provoke Calvinists to devote their lives to making money and abandon asceticism. The Calvinists were accustomed to a rigorous approach to life. Besides, unlike the Protestants, they allegedly believed that wealth is an expression of the grace bestowed by God.
Weber also mentioned that Calvinists thought this grace was given by God’s goodwill and cannot be achieved through the efforts of a human. At the same time, according to Weber, Protestants who were not supporters of the doctrine of predestination considered wealth accumulation to be the result of hard work carried out in gratitude to God and regarded such action to be their duty. Thus, Weber concluded that the spirit of capitalism was born from faith in God and a complicated relationship with him.
This interpretation has elicited a response in the scientific community. Even today, scientists are discussing the phenomenality of the described approach. Some scholars criticize Weber and note that in his works, he used only those interpretations of Calvinism and the doctrine of destiny that he wished, fitting them to his theory. Others point out that Weber lost sight of the fact that the spirit of capitalism existed long before the doctrine appeared. Some scientists were inspired by Weber’s ideas and began to develop them, trying to extract from them a particular mathematical formula proving the validity of these ideas. Finally, some scholars were impressed by his thoughts as a valuable contribution to sociology. Therefore, the doctrine of destination received a comprehensive response among scientists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Thus, the idea underlying the doctrine of predestination was described. The historical context of its development was presented as well. The idea was conceived in the 4th century and developed during the Reformation period in the 16th century through the 20th century. Supporters of the doctrine were listed, the most famous of which are John Calvin, Martin Luther, St. Augustine, Theodore Bez, William Perkins, Thomas Sheppard, William Twisse, Francis Turretin. The effects of the doctrine of predestination on Christians are controversial.
On the one hand, these influences are favorable for the realization of the human right to self-determination. Based on the doctrine of predestination, reformers were able to create their church, independent of Catholic Rome. However, on the other hand, the consequences of a dogmatic approach to the interpretation of Christian ideas negatively affected the minds and psyche of many converts of Christians, since the doctrine, despite its historical utilitarianism, was utterly devoid of spiritual logic.
References
Adair-Toteff, Christopher. “Weber’s ‘use and abuse’ of Calvin’s Doctrine of Predestination.” Journal of Religious and Political Practice 4, no. 3 (2018): 336–353.
Alaoui, Larbi, and Alvaro Sandroni. “Predestination and the Protestant Ethic.” Journal of the European Economic Association 16, no. 1 (2018): 45–76.
Romans 9: 11˗21, Holy Bible. New International Edition.
Thuesen, Peter J. “Agency, Voluntarism, and Predestination in American Religion.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. 2017.
Thuesen, Peter J. Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine. UK: Oxford University Press, 2009.
van Wyk, Ignatius WC Natie. “Luther and Calvin on Predestination: A Comparison.” In die Skriflig 52, no. 2 (2018): 1–7.
Zafirovski, Milan. “Calvinist Predestination and the Spirit of Capitalism: The Religious Argument of the Weber Thesis Reexamined.” Human Studies 41, no. 4 (2018): 565–602.