Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Questioning Predestination

Rev. William H. Smith, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church of Louisville, Miss., writes:
One of the doctrines people commonly associate with Presbyterianism is predestination. Actually, this is not a peculiarly Presbyterian doctrine - at least not historically. The Church of England (transplanted to America, the Episcopal Church) traditionally confesses this truth, as do all the Reformed churches of Europe. So do some Baptists (there is a movement, for instance, within the Southern Baptist Convention that holds this doctrine.

This is not the place, and I am not the person, for a lengthy treatise on predestination. Rather, I would like to set forth the doctrine in a brief series of questions and answers.
Well, here are his questions and answers, and I commend him for setting forth this doctrine in such a succinct, understandable, and pastoral way. If you are one of my friends who disagrees with the whole idea that God plans and causes everything that happens in creation ("but what about free will?!") I hope you'll give him the couple of minutes required to read this.
* * * * *
And, for a bonus, Pastor Smith explains the biblical teaching on divorce in the same way.
(h/t The Aquila Report)