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Examining Evil From Augustine to CalvinAwake!—1987 | October 8
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In the 16th century, French Protestant theologian John Calvin, like Augustine, believed that there are those “predestined [by God] to be children and heirs of the heavenly kingdom.” However, Calvin took matters a step further, arguing that God also predestined individuals to be “recipients of his wrath”—condemned to eternal damnation!
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Examining Evil From Augustine to CalvinAwake!—1987 | October 8
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Calvin said that “man sins with the consent of a very prompt and inclined will.”—Instruction in Faith, by John Calvin.
However, the concepts of free will and predestination proved hopelessly incompatible. Calvin could only gloss over the embarrassing contradiction by claiming that “the crudity of our mind could not indeed bear such a great clarity, nor our smallness comprehend such a great wisdom” as predestination.
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