Perspectives on Three Types of Election

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Three Views on Election

Table of Contents

Election Overview 3

Conditional Election 4

Overview 4

Conditional Election and Fatalism 4

Conditional Election and Semi-Pelagianism 5

James Arminius and John Wesley 6

Unconditional Election 8

Overview 8

Double Unconditional Election 8

Gottschalk of Orbais 8

Ulrich Zwingli 9

Martin Luther 9

John Calvin 10

Single Unconditional Election 10

Augustine 10

Thomas Aquinas 12

Conclusion 13

Election Overview

Gregory A. Boyd & Paul R. Eddy, in their book across the spectrum, pose a scenario:

“While driving drunk, a person hits and kills a little girl. A Christian friend of the girl's parents tries to comfort them by reassuring them that ' God is in control' and that somehow' all things work together for good.' The mother is comforted by these words, but the father becomes enraged.' If God is behind my little girl's death,' he insists, ' he's not all-loving and all-good. Any God who would purposefully snuff out our little girl's life and leave us in this nightmare is cruel!' A second friend of the family agrees with the father and insists that God was not behind the tragedy. ' The drunk driver alone is to blame for your little girl's tragic death,' he tells the father. ' God is as saddened by this event as you are. Now he just wants to comfort the two of you.'1”

As we approach this discussion, we have to ask the question, how does our interpretation of the sovereignty of God and the free will of man color our ability to counsel, encourage, and teach the lost and hurting? Is friend one in the example above correct, or is it friend two? If it is friend one, then how do you handle God controlling of tragic events (or unwillingness to intervene), such as the reckless and seemin...

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Zwingli, Ulrich, Samuel Macauley Jackson, and Clarence Nevin Heller. Commentary on true and false religion. Durham, N.C.: Labyrinth, 1929.Read 9p

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