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To: kosta50; Cronos
So, why keep me guessing? Which protestants, pray tell.

I needed to refresh my memory with some reading before responding to your question with specifics. My survey on the history of Protestantism took place many years ago.

The majority of Methodists believe in free will, including the many churches derived from Methodism, such as Pentecostals and Assemblies of God. The same is true of those churches derived from the Brethern and Anabaptists movements in Europe. This includes churches as diverse as Mennonite, Amish, Church of the Brethern, and Quaker.

The situation is more complex among Baptists, but many do believe in free will, including General Baptists and Free Will Baptists. As for those churches founded on the theology of Luther and Calvin like Lutherans and Presbyterians, some members do believe in free will. And whatever the beliefs of the early churchmen of the Church of England, today many Anglicans--perhaps a majority--believe in free will (mainly I think from the influence of Methodism on the one hand and the Oxford Movement on the other.)

In Protestant theology, a belief in free will is called Arminian, named after Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch Reformed churchman who rejected much of Calvin's theology, including predestination. In Arminianism, grace is a gift that can be accepted or rejected. It can also be lost without a renewal of the will.

You might find it interesting to note that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism and an Anglican priest who never left the Church of England, took much inspiration from the theology of the Orthodox Church.

The majority of Protestants today subscribe to a belief in free will.

2,483 posted on 02/10/2006 10:38:02 AM PST by stripes1776
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To: stripes1776; Cronos

Thank you. Very informative. Perhaps the mistaken idea on my part comes from the fact that those who deny free will are the loudest (on the FR at least). That impression is perhaps only reinforced by the very low number of Protestants who come out on the side of the Orthodox or Catholic when it comes to discussions on free will.


2,488 posted on 02/10/2006 3:21:09 PM PST by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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