Predestination Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Wesley

In his Sermon 128 on "Free Grace," John Wesley outlined his objections to the doctrine of predestination as maintained by the Calvinists. Wesley's views were Arminian, that is, he maintained that God did not predestine in an absolute sense, but rather knew who would freely choose him and so chose them.
Predestination is, Wesley claimed in that sermon, "a doctrine full of blasphemy" because it presents God as "worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust." Whatever the scriptures generally interpreted to support predestination mean, he says, they cannot mean predestination is true: "But this I know, better it were to say [these scriptures] had no sense, than to say it had such a sense as this. It cannot mean, whatever it mean besides, that the God of truth is a liar. Let it mean what it will, it cannot mean that the Judge of all the world is unjust. No scripture can mean that God is not love, or that his mercy is not over all his works; that is, whatever it prove beside, no scripture can prove predestination."

In his Sermon 58 on predestination, Wesley suggests that God's election is based on his foreknowledge of our response to his grace, that is, we are free to choose to believe or not to believe, but God already knows what we are going to choose. In that sermon, he takes a softer line in response to the doctrine of predestination, saying that "[w]hatever we propose, may be proposed with modesty, and with deference to those wise and good men who are of a contrary opinion." He does not show nearly as much "deference" to those of "contrary opinion" in Sermon 128.

Answer: "He is the propitiation, not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2)

The other three verses are typically used to support some form of the doctrine of predestination. Christ as the propitiation for the "sins of the whole world," however, offers no obvious connection in support of the doctrine of predestination and is in fact used by some Christians to argue against at least one version of the doctrine. Certain versions of the doctrine of predestination suggest "limited atonement," that is, that Jesus' work on the cross is limited to those who are predestined to salvation. 1 John 2:2 is frequently used to contradict the doctrine of limited atonement, because it calls Jesus the propitiation for the sins of the "whole world."

Answer: Anglican

This article has traditionally been interpreted to reject the doctrine of "double predestination"; that is, it suggests that God has predestined only unto life, not unto death. Objectors point out that if there are only two choices - life and death - and God predestines unto one for some, then he must necessarily predestine unto the other for the rest. Nevertheless, most branches of Christianity reject the idea of double predestination and insist that God predestines only to salvation, not to hell.

The 17th article also warns against developing further theories from this doctrine beyond what is stated in Scripture; that is, for example, forming philosophies of determinism based on the doctrine.

Answer: Augustine of Hippo

Most denominations of the Western church, both Protestant and Catholic, have adopted some form of Augustinian predestination into their theology. Pelagius, who lived in the late 4th century AD, denied that divine aid was necessary for performing good works and rejected the doctrine of Original Sin developed by Augustine. He was declared a heretic at the Council of Hippo.

Answer: Thomas Aquinas

The Thomist view of predestination is the most predominant in Catholicism. Thomists teach, among other things, that God's election is based on his foreknowledge of people's choice.

Answer: Unconditional Election

The other points are total depravity (T), limited atonement (L), irresistible grace (I), and the perseverance of the saints (P).

Unconditional election means that God does not base his decision to save on any condition of the individual, whether his actions or his future beliefs. (This is in contrast to conditional elections, which maintains that God chooses whom he chooses because he already knows that they are one day going to choose Him.)

Perseverance of the saints is sometimes referred to as "once saved, always saved," that is, there is no possibility of falling from grace. This is in contrast to the Arminian view, in which believers can lose their faith and therefore be eternally lost. In maintaining irresistible grace, Calvinists claim that it is impossible for anyone to reject God's grace.

Answer: Paul

Although other parts of the Bible are used to support the doctrine of predestination, including especially Genesis, Exodus, and Peter, the doctrine is primarily drawn from Paul's epistle to the Romans.

Answer: Catholic

At this point the catechism reads "To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of 'predestination', he includes in it each person's free response to his grace."

Answer: The Westminster Confession

Written in the 17th century, The Westminster Confession places predestination among God's "eternal decrees" and defines it thus: "By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to everlasting death."

Answer: God is not omnipotent

Nearly all Christians would maintain that God is omnipotent, but they might object to the doctrine of unconditional election on other grounds. John Wesley, in his sermon on free grace (#128), objects to this doctrine on the grounds that it "destroys the comfort of religion, the happiness of Christianity" as well "our zeal for good works." It also, he argues, "has a direct and manifest tendency to overthrow the whole Christian Revelation" and "makes that Revelation contradict itself."