Eastern Orthodox Calvinist
Wayne has gotten himself engrossed in a discussion of Calvinism when a Calvinist posed this question to his youth group.
In the comments of Wayne's most recent post (linked above), someone asks:
Is there dogmatic positions within Orthodoxy that makes the "Five Points of Calvinism" incompatible?
Now, friends, I've never been a Calvinist and I'm certainly NOT an Orthodox Theologian (though I play one on the internet) but the I think the quickest answer to the question is a resounding YES!
But specifically I would say a couple of things in regards to the question. First, beyond the Creed and the council decisions, where can one find the dogmatic positions of the Orthodox Church? Well, really I'm not sure that there is a definitive detailed collections of our beliefs...at least not that I am aware of? Certainly there is nothing "official" with every Patriarchs stamp of approval or anything. So, in that sense the question is rathered skewed somewhat...though the questioner would certainly not know this. However, this is not to say that Orthodoxy and Calvinism are compatible...far from it.
In reading through the Five Points, much of it and the detailed explanations therein just don't seem to connect with me and what I have learned from the Orthodox Church. It almost seems like the Five Points are answers to questions that we have never and generally do not ask. They are outside the box of our understanding of salvation. I suspect that the only one that I would categorically outright deny is Total Depravity The other four just seem weird to me now. As a former protestant follower of Arminius I would be inclined to try and argue point for point, but now I just feel liek saying: Huh, I don't get it?
perhaps more later....
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