User:ChristTrekker/list of Christian denominations

This is a overview summary, primarily for my own reference, as an attempt to understand the distinctives that divide as well as the commonalities that unite Christendom.

Arminius vs Calvin vs Luther vs Wesley
The debate is primarily on how God's grace works in the believer to effect salvation, and what role (if any) man's will has in the process.

Terms

 * soteriology
 * The study of salvation and redemption.


 * monergism
 * The view that the work of salvation is solely on the part of God's grace working in the sinner.


 * synergism
 * The view that the work of salvation is jointly done by God's grace working within a sinner who accepts it.


 * antinomianism
 * The belief that moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation. It is the the belief of justification through faith alone in Christ taken to an extreme. It can be seen as the polar opposite of legalism or "works righteousness". It does not necessarily endorse ethical permissiveness, but rather stresses the inner work of the Holy Spirit over written law.


 * TULIP
 * An acrostic for the five points of Calvinism: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistable Grace, Perseverance of the Saints. These points were developed as a codification of Calvinist beliefs in response to Arminius' Five Articles of Remonstrance.


 * Total depravity
 * The notion that, because of original sin, everything that the unregenerate man does is tainted. Even the "good" things are faulty in premise, false in motive, and weak in implementation.  This view is shared by Catholics and all Protestants, but not by Orthodox churches.  (Pelagianism was an alternative view that holds that original sin did not completely corrupt man's nature, and was deemed heretical in 431.)


 * Unconditional election
 * The Calvinist teaching that before God created the world, He chose to save some people according to His own purposes and apart from any conditions related to those persons. God predestines those "elected" to receive His mercy.  This belief emphasizes the importance of God's sovereignty.


 * Conditional election
 * The belief that God chooses for salvation those whom He foresees will have faith in Christ. The doctrine of conditional election derives from the view that Jesus's death on the cross was for all humanity (unlimited atonement). This belief emphasizes the importance of a person's free will.


 * Limited atonement
 * Christ's substitutionary atonement on the cross is specifically designed for the elect only. God foreknew/foreordained whom He would save, thus the act of atonement atones only for them.  There are some "four point" Calvinists that exclude this one.


 * Unlimited atonement
 * Jesus died for all without exception, but while that atonement is available to all it is only effective for those who accept it.


 * Irresistible (or efficacious) grace
 * The idea that it is God's grace that overwhelms our sinful predilection to resist the call of the gospel. The willingness and ability to do God's will are seen as evidence of God's own faithfulness to save us, since because of man's corruption by sin we are unable to choose Him in our own power.  Regeneration precedes faith.


 * Prevenient (or preceding) grace
 * This is the aspect of God's grace that precedes salvation, enabling but not ensuring that man's free will may choose to accept God's gift of salvation.


 * Perseverance of the saints
 * Also called "eternal security" and sometimes characterized "once saved, always saved" though that can be subtly different dependent on what you take "saved" to mean. The Calvinist view says that since God has predestined some to come to faith in Him, once His grace has irresistibly drawn them to Himself, they necessarily persevere (remain) as Christians.


 * Conditional preservation
 * The Arminian view says that perseverance of salvation is conditional upon the believer persevering in faith.

Positions
Lutheranism holds a monergistic soteriology that man in his unregenerate state cannot choose spiritual righteousness (though he may be able to work civil righteousness) without the work of God's grace. The corrupted natural power of man can do nothing to aid in his own salvation, it is entirely through God's grace. They believe that some are predestined to salvation (not because of the predestination itself but because of what Christ would do on the cross), but not that others are predestined to damnation. Damnation is a result of sin, rejection of forgiveness, and unbelief. "Falling away" is possible, but God does give assurance of preservation.

Calvinism

Arminianism

Wesleyanism differs from Arminianism primarily in that Wesleyans believe that Christians who have fallen away can regain salvation.

Another position, called Free Grace theology, states that the "call to believe" in Christ as Lord and Savior (and thus receive justification to salvation) is distinct from the "call to follow" Christ as a true disciple (and thus begin the process of sanctification). This allows for "carnal" or even "unbelieving" Christians who are saved but who don't display fruit. It could be characterized with the phrase "once saved, always saved". This is seen as wholly monergistic in that it is solely God's effort that brings the sinner to salvation; he need not respond at all. (By contrast, a Calvinist would say it is God's grace working in the sinner that allows him to choose faith—even though that grace is irresistable, and hence responding that way is the only possible choice. They would characterize free grace as antinomianism.  Arminians reject this view because they believe that salvation can be lost by those who later turn away from Christ.)  Some in this view say that "repentance" from the Greek means simply "to change one's mind", so changing your mind to believe in Christ is the repentance that assures salvation. Others say that repentance is distinct but still not necessary for salvation, that there is only one answer to, "What must I do to be saved?"