Thursday, April 23, 2026

The Blazing World (Not Execution By Grizzly Bear This Time)

I am learning a lot reading this book. I was never terribly clear on all the religious disputes behind the English Civil Wars but this gives details that are new to me. Calvinists dominated the Church of England and were therefore advocates of predestination--the idea that God chose which persons were doomed to Hell and which were from before the beginning of time guaranteed salvation. (This has/always struck as a weird idea but let's not get distracted.)

Arminianism is the belief that we have free will and choose to follow God and thus salvation through belief in Jesus as Son of God. 

The Calvinists, including the emerging cranky Puritans and Pilgrims, considered this crypto-Catholicism for reasons that are unclear, but may just have been that Anglicans who favored high liturgy (lots of robes and ceremonies which just smacks of Popery) leaned towards Arminianism. 

Like I said, I am learning a lot.

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