Deciphering a Calvinist Church's Statement of Faith
(This is taken from How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist, with some additions. Remember that this is only my opinion, my assessment, and my suggestions, based of what I've learned about Calvinism so far.)
A church's Statement of Faith tells you a lot about the theology of that church. But some Calvinist churches are careful to hide their Calvinist views because they know it's controversial and might scare people off. So they might be very careful with their wording and will not clearly identify themselves as "Calvinist" or "Reformed." Sometimes it takes reading between the lines - being able to identify the "covert Calvinism" - to know if the church is Calvinist or not.
1.First off, pay attention for one or more of these kinds of words and phrases:
election, predestination, decree, ordains or fore-ordains, sovereignty or sovereign control, "doctrines of grace," covenant theology, reformed theology
"Man is u…
A church's Statement of Faith tells you a lot about the theology of that church. But some Calvinist churches are careful to hide their Calvinist views because they know it's controversial and might scare people off. So they might be very careful with their wording and will not clearly identify themselves as "Calvinist" or "Reformed." Sometimes it takes reading between the lines - being able to identify the "covert Calvinism" - to know if the church is Calvinist or not.
1.First off, pay attention for one or more of these kinds of words and phrases:
election, predestination, decree, ordains or fore-ordains, sovereignty or sovereign control, "doctrines of grace," covenant theology, reformed theology
"Man is u…