Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 9 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Historic Christianity vs Calvinism  /  Lecture 10: Implications of Calvinism Today  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 9
Finny quotes Austin Fischer that meaning depends on choice (flowers, the cross, “what do you do with your will?”) and says Calvinism leaves you on a “treadmill” pretending your choices matter; where do you see that “suspending your theology in order to live faithfully” temptation in church culture, and what changes if you actually believe your will genuinely matters?
Another way to ask: Finny says choices give things meaning, but Calvinism can make you feel like your choices don’t really matter. Where do you see people acting like they must ignore their theology just to live faithfully, and what changes if you truly believe your will matters?

Direct Answer Finny argues that if people truly believed Calvinism’s denial of meaningful choice, everyday Christian language about obedience, surrender, and discipleship would become incoherent—so church culture often keeps talking as if choices matter while the theology says they don’t. If you believe your will genuinely matters, then questions like “what will you do with your will?” regain real weight, and discipleship becomes a meaningful, responsible response rather than treadmill performance.

Support from Transcript:

  • Austin Fischer: “in the human mind, choice is deeply tied to meaning… we don’t know how to find meaning without choice.”
  • Illustration: flowers matter because “he didn’t have to. He chose to do that.”
  • Cross illustration: we find meaning because “we believe He didn’t have to. If Jesus had no choice… it didn’t mean anything. It just happened.”
  • Finny: “In Calvinism, you simply do not have a choice… your will does not matter… God’s will is the only game in town.”
  • He states the implication: “God has already decided whether or not you will follow Jesus… Your will does not matter.”
  • Resulting hypocrisy/strain: “you are expected to act as though it does… pretend you’re running the race of faith… suspending your theology in order to live faithfully.”
Discussion Follow-ups Where do sermons or testimonies assume real choice while the underlying doctrine denies it? How would church discipleship shift if we emphasized genuine responsibility, urgency, and the “significance of our choices”?

Jumpstarter 9 of 10
Back Questions Next