There were / are many theological concepts in the West that diverge from what the early Church taught due to the Schism of Rome, so I view some of that as sympt

There were / are many theological concepts in the West that diverge from what the early Church taught due to the Schism of Rome, so I view some of that as symptoms of working within a broken chain of knowledge to begin with, but I do agree that the idea of Predestination as rigidly defined within Calvinist tradition undermines the notions of free will both of humans and of the Creator Himself. That being said, of all the Western Churches, it was the Puritans (specifically John Winthrop) who had the intelligence and courage to secure the Massachusetts Charter from King Charles I, providing both the intellectual and legal basis for liberty from the Continental monarchies.