Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine

by Peter J Thuesen (Author)

• New

  Illustrated
  2009

  $78.21

  Predestination-the idea that God foreordains one's eternal destiny-is one of the most fascinating and controversial doctrines in Christianity. In this groundbreaking history, the first of its kind, Peter Thuesen shows that far from being only about the age-old riddle of divine sovereignty versus human free will, the debate over predestination is inseparable from other central Christian beliefs and practices-the efficacy of the sacraments, the existence of purgatory and hell, the extent of God's providential involvement in human affairs-and has fueled theological conflicts across denominations for centuries. Thuesen reexamines not only familiar predestinarians such as the New England Puritans and many later Baptists and Presbyterians, but also non-Calvinists such as Catholics and Lutherans, and shows how even contemporary megachurches preach a purpose-driven outlook that owes much to the doctrine of predestination. For anyone wanting a fuller understanding of religion in America, Predestination offers both historical context on a doctrine that reaches back 1,600 years and a fresh perspective on today's denominational landscape.