Predestination The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine [Paperback]

Winner of theChristianity Today2010 Book Award for History/Biography, and praised inChristian Centuryas witty...erudite...masterful, this groundbreaking history, the first of its kind, 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. Peter 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,Predestinationoffers both historical context on a doctrine that reaches back 1,600 years and a fresh perspective on today's denominational landscape.

Illustrations
Introduction: Doctrine of Discord: Presdestination in American Christianity
Chapter One: The Predestinarian Labyrinth: Historical Background
Chapter Two: The Agony and the Ecstacy: Predestination in New England Puritanism
Chapter Three: ''Shall the Hellish Doctrine Stand?'' Enlightenment Doubts and Evangelical Division
Chapter Four: From Methodists to Mormons: Attacking Predestination in the Young Republic
Chapter Five: Domesticating a Doctrine: Catholics and Lutherans
Chapter Six: Debating a Doctrine: Presbyterians and Baptists
Epilogue: The Purpose-Driven Life? Predestination and the Decline of Mystery
Glossary of Theological Terms
Notes
Index

Thuesen's impressive book ultimately demonstrates that pre-destination was damned from the beginning in America. Its Arminian denl³2