The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 6 of 10)

p>This begs the question: if one is elect and predestined to eternal paradise, are the best cars and knickknacks even important? br> -- Steve Shaver /p>

You are correct in that there is more to it than what you've presented. That there are those who are anxious about their salvation implies certain truths about their spiritual condition that you fail to consider: the lost do not care about the things of God and, therefore, are not in a state of anxiety about it. Conversely, those who are anxious are in that state only because they are under conviction of sin with a corresponding loss of the assurance of their saved state. Not that they are now lost -- that is the Arminian line of thinking -- just that they are depriving themselves of the blessing of assurance that derives from repentance and a humble exercise of their faith.

More importantly, though, you err when you assert that this anxiety drove some to pursue success as a means to reassure themselves of their saved state. You have it reversed: from the Calvinist perspective, the pursuit of virtue is a result of one's saved condition, not a means to it. Further, possession of worldly wealth is by no means an indicator of favor in the eyes of the Most High God. Capitalism, as a practical expression of the tenets of biblical and reformed faith, generally results in prosperity. It is not, in and of itself, designed to be purely a means to wealth.

p>A thorough consideration of Calvinism and its influence on our history would be quite a profitable discourse; I encourage you to take this to a higher level. br> -- Mark Brown /p> p> KERIK AND STICK br> Re: The Washington Prowler's Kerik Moves :

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