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> Secular Humanism is effectively a reinterpretation of Calvinism along atheistic lines. Considering that predestination is a central theme of Calvinism, I hav
by humanrebar 10y ago
> Secular Humanism is effectively a reinterpretation of Calvinism along atheistic lines.
Considering that predestination is a central theme of Calvinism, I have a hard time understanding this thought. Removing God from Calvinism doesn't leave one with much at all.
- einhverfr 10y agoWithout a mechanistic view of things, predestination is impossible. So without God, Calvinism gives us a sense of the universe as a great machine. Other cultures may see the universe as a great mountain or a great tree.....
- humanrebar 10y agoA mechanicistic view is only necessary if God is mostly "hands off". Alternatively, God could be regularly be tweaking things to make sure his plan happens.
- einhverfr 10y agoAnd yet Calvin himself rejected such a tweaking view regarding predestination. His argument for predestination was simply that some people are good enough and others aren't, and God knows who is good enough and who isn't. It's also worth noting that both Thomas Hobbes and JJ Rousseau came from Calvinist circles. So I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that the Hobbes/Rousseau (and those closely influenced by them, such as those of Locke) are effectively Calvinism as applied to society and clothed in secular rhetoric.