Calvinism: Existentialism And Predestination

Predestination is the aspect of foreordination whereby the salvation of the believer is taken to be effected in accordance with the will of God, who has called and elected him, in Christ, unto life eternal (Bromiley, 1979). Throughout Christianity, the various sects and branches of this religion often have their own understanding and notion of this doctrine.

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, in Protestant Christianity, specifically Calvinism or Reformed Protestantism, Predestination is seen as the eternal decree of God, by which He has decided with Himself what is to become of each and every individual. For all, He maintains, are not created in like condition; but eternal life ordained for some, eternal condemnation for others. In short, the definition of Predestination is Protestant Christianity is that each of our paths, whether

Existentialism is a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. It may be defined as the philosophical theory which holds that a further set of categories, governed by the norm of authenticity, is necessary to grasp human existence. To approach existentialism in this categorical way may seem to conceal what is often taken to be its “heart” (Kaufmann, 1968), namely, its character as a gesture of protest against academic philosophy, its anti-system sensibility, its flight from the “iron cage” of reason (Crowell, 2004). Existentialism has many different themes, one of which is Freedom and Choice.

If any single thesis could be said to constitute the doctrine of existentialism, it would be that the possibility of choice is the central fact of human nature. Even the thesis that existence precedes essence often means no more than that people do not have fixed natures that limit or determine their choices, but rather it is their choices that bring whatever nature they have into being (Borchert, et al.,