Building off of the verse, “No one comes to the father except through me,” (John 14:6) Luther preached that although Jesus was the only way to attain salvation, this salvation was not limited, and could be attained by anyone. Luther rejected the notion of predestination, and instead focused on the importance of grace over works. Calvin on the other hand, said that there is an elect group of people chosen by God that will go to heaven. He did not entertain the possibility for a person to choose to turn to God to be saved, rather that if God chose someone, they had absolutely no possibility of turning away.
If one acknowledges that God is good, and that when he created the world He said it was good, how then could one claim that only the chosen will be redeemed? Doesn’t this belief suggest that Jesus died on the cross only for these specific, selected individuals?
If someone truly believes in the infinite, all-knowing, merciful, just, compassionate, loving God characterized in the bible, why then would they think that He would create humans in his own image, and put them on earth, just to sentence them to eternal damnation? Do believers in Calvinism think that God has to prove his power by making an example out of those sent to hell?
Beyond all of these questions about the nature of the Christian God, predestination also contradicts the pivotal aspect of free will. Without free will faith in Jesus can be boiled down nothing more than forced control.
The idea of Calvinism absolutely blows my mind. I can not wrap my head around how someone can call themselves a follower of Jesus and yet believe in predestination. In my opinion, Calvinism limits not only the power of God to save everyone, but also His love, compassion, and essential good nature
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