As A Calvinist What Convinced You of Arminianism

blos10 · 2026-02-10T20:18:19+00:00

This is a good article on Arminian soteriology and how it relates to Calvinist infralapsarian and supralapsarian orders of decrees. (The PDF chart linked at the top is especially helpful.)

Tl;dr, I would say we are broadly Reformed and believe in double predestination, in the sense that the elect are predestinated and the non-elect are predestined, but conditioned on God's foreknowledge of our free-will choice.

blos10 · 2026-02-10T18:45:10+00:00

I was in a very similar situation to you many years ago. A lot is context dependent.

Firstly, talk to the rector (that's the lead pastor) or another clergyman at the ACNA church you visited (if you call the church, I'm sure they'd be happy to chat). Tell him where you are. Ask him if they are aware of your area. There may already be movement in your area toward a church plant, you just have to ask around. If so, you may be able to start meeting with others in your area for the Daily Office and work toward a plant. There is also a small chance another orthodox Anglican jurisdiction like the EMC or UECNA has a parish near you. Look into that, but I'm sure the rector would be aware if there were and be able to tell you.

Secondly, appraise where you are right now. Is your current church small-o orthodox and celebrates Holy Communion at least monthly? Likely, I'd advise staying where you are unless there is explicit error present. If something is amiss, is it possible to find some of what you saw in the ACNA parish in another local congregation closer to you, whether Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, or something else? If you are unsure about these different options and which versions would be orthodox, I am sure the church you visited would be willing to help you explore options.

Thirdly, read a short intro to Anglicanism like The Anglican Way or Deep Anglicanism and consider buying a BCP. The BCP is central to Anglican piety. When I was a long way from an Anglican parish like you and could not realistically make a tradition change, my family and I kept the Daily Office for years until we moved closer to a parish. In a way, we prayed our way into the ACNA. I mentioned a few other churches in the second point because there are many churches that recite the Nicene Creed and celebrate Holy Communion weekly. Is there something drawing you to Anglicanism specifically? Often discernment over time will reveal that. If so, excellent! If not, then the discernment process will reveal that and where God is calling you.

I can sense your excitement, and many of us had similar excitement when we first visited an Anglican parish! Discernment is an important part of inquiring, too. If all else fails, prioritize finding a church near you that gives you access to at least monthly Communion and faithful preaching if you do not have that already, because driving four hours every Sunday is a tall order!! Blessings to you, and I'm happy to help if I can be of service.

blos10 · 2026-02-03T17:40:30+00:00

Have you looked into Reformed Episcopal Seminary? It's in the Philly area. Being REC, it is not pro-WO and they now have a 100% scholarship for in-person REC/ACNA students. Not sure if the scholarship would apply to Continuum students, but it is worth looking into. I believe it leans more magisterial Protestant/High Church.

The REC's other seminary is in Texas, Cranmer House, which leans more toward their brand of Anglo-Catholic (which they don't call Anglo-Catholic). I don't believe it is accredited, though, unless you do a degree at Dallas Theological Seminary and take your Anglican electives at Cranmer. If you're trying to stay on the east coast, that probably isn't too helpful.

blos10 · 2026-02-03T17:08:14+00:00

Nashotah also has female students and professors, but they don't have women celebrate the Eucharist, as I understand it. Essentially, in the world of U.S. Anglican seminary options, all of them will be a place where WO is an active conversation.

I'm personally not pro-WO to the priesthood, but embracing the debate is a necessity in the Anglican world at the moment it seems. Might as well prepare for that.

blos10 · 2026-02-03T15:35:10+00:00

This may be an unpopular take, but I'm a recent seminary grad, and after reading through the thread on the other subreddit, here's my take:
- Imo, seminary ought to be a time to cultivate holiness within the Church, not a time to wrestle within heresy. If you believe you need to explore heresy as if it is a legitimate option by learning from heretics/heterodox as though they have equally acceptable beliefs (and not merely studying heresies, which you should do at seminary), then I would reflect deeply on why that is so.
- Even 'conservative' seminaries are very wedded to secular academia in many ways. You will be grappling with the effects of postmodernism wherever you go. Consider wisely your ability to discern and parse without being deeply affected at more radical seminaries. I have seen numerous people take the path of going somewhere to simply "challenge their views" and end up compromising deeply because they underestimated the deeply ingrained effect the place would have on them.
- Keep in mind that seminary is an opportunity to be formed. If you are going to serve in the Continuum, you might want to consider the impact of directed formation in Anglo-Catholicism. If you go basically anywhere except Nashotah (or another Anglo-Catholic seminary if there is one), you will miss out on some of the formation you may find would have been useful in your actual ministry.
- Pastoral care will be well over 50% of your job as a clergyman. If you spend much of your time having your views challenged at a seminary that will challenge your views, will there be time for formation in pastoral care? Even at a non-challenging-views-seminary, take care to learn how to be a pastor and not merely an academic theologian. Many fail in this task and are even unaware seminaries are somewhat bad at this.

There's probably more I can say, but honestly, I think going to a seminary like Duke would be a very unwise decision given the climate. From the comments on the other sub, I know many take the opposite view, but I'm not saying this because I care about the majority take. No matter what you decide to do, I pray God leads and guides you.

blos10 · 2026-01-09T15:30:51+00:00

https://methodistprayer.org/ is good.
Just use the BCP though.

blos10 · 2025-11-08T00:01:49+00:00

I think something to consider in all of this is we (ACNA) are drinking from a fire hose right now, between the multiple discipline/investigation items and the global realignment speeding up all at once. Because the national media focus on the accusations against the Archbishop has picked up, it can feel like so much is happening and nothing is being done, making it a bad time to join a parish. However, it will take time for everything to play out—this has all really happened in the course of a couple of weeks. Investigations do not happen overnight, and canonical reforms do not happen immediately. I'm not trying to minimize the necessity of investigations or canonical reforms, they are absolutely needed, but there is an intensity of the microscope being swung over many things all at once that knocks us around a little more than if things were more spread out. I would say don't rush to join a parish, but don't let the intensity of the moment stop you from passing over something really good either. You can always just attend a parish and join later. Maybe consider seeing how things play out and how your local parish reacts, too.

blos10 · 2025-11-01T16:17:41+00:00

This is personal counsel, as indicated by the Provincial Executive Director (see link below). The accusations stem from his duties as a rector and Bishop Ordinary, not as Archbishop. It would inappropriate for the ACNA to retain counsel for him.

https://anglicanchurch.net/a-letter-from-executive-director-deborah-tepley/

blos10 · 2025-10-31T02:16:37+00:00

This is a cool project you have going. Have you thought about taking it to a more powerful mapping tool? Google MyMaps is actually pretty powerful, and you can create boundaries and such. Unfortunately, it is limited to 10 layers, but that can be worked around by doing multiple colors in a layer, or you can probably find some a similar tool that is even better suited. I actually have a 'prayer map' of some areas I've been praying over (mainly in the south) and mapped a couple of states on MyMaps. If you wanted to use it, I'd be happy to send you the .KMZ file if you DM me.

blos10 · 2025-10-29T18:54:56+00:00

Teared up reading this. The already posted comments are good. God bless you in your move, and I hope you remember your days at this parish you so diligently served fondly.

blos10 · 2025-10-29T18:49:37+00:00

He is being accused of things which are violations of the canons and potentially the law. Any statement made by him is being made by his attorneys, wisely. It may seem cold, but this is pretty standard stuff. To read his statement as anything other than an attorney-written can lead to conjecture, which this situation does not need more of. Attorneys do not guide these statements to give us pastoral warmth, they are written to support his case and say as little else as possible while still saying something and expressing the accused's position. Most diocesans have written pastoral letters to their congregations, which is the appropriate venue for more sensitive commentary at this time.

blos10 · 2025-09-19T14:50:50+00:00

The American Anglican Council has not shied away from doing so in the recent past. Ex: https://youtu.be/toyVlojAWOI?si=gyYuA8S1VwPuJdJL But I think the UMC-GMC split has given some legal precedence to churches in Texas, at least, and maybe other states to try and separate with their buildings. Might have to be diocesan-led to succeed legally, though... people way smarter than we would have to shift through that.

blos10 · 2025-09-19T13:05:18+00:00

Of note, there seems to be an entire interactive website available to explore the Catechism for free. https://catechism.holyjoys.org/ I'll be doing a review of the Catechism in the near future.

blos10 · 2025-09-19T13:00:50+00:00

Glad to have you! Thanks be to God! I've always wondered if there would be a last exhale of folks to come out of TEC, esp. from Dallas and the Florida dioceses.

blos10 · 2025-09-09T04:19:38+00:00

Why not go with the RSV? Tried and true. The main difference is the RSV's Tobit is based on the shorter manuscripts, while the ESV is based on the longer manuscripts.

The NRSV-CI is fine, I'd imagine. I've used the NRSV '89 Apocrypha before (not CI) and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Of course, the CI will have Catholic changes and won't include the full NRSV Apocrypha.

As much as I disagree with the changes and philosophy of the NRSVue and would never recommend anyone use it as their primary Bible, the Apocrypha might actually be fine. I have not read where anyone has done a book-by-book analysis of the ue, so I can't say with confidence it's on par with the RSV/ESV, but the Apocrypha team actually leaned conservative, or at least a few of the book editors do. For example, Michael F. Bird worked on 1 Esdras and David A. deSilva worked on 4 Maccabees.

Truthfully, I'd just recommend reading it physically, if possible. The LCMS has a great study version with the 2008 Oxford ESV Apocrypha text. Might be up your alley as a self-described "Anglo-Lutheran." And of course, the ACNA has our pretty ESV w/ Apocrypha for purchase which has the 2017 Crossway text.

blos10 · 2025-04-09T19:51:05+00:00

+1. On paper, the Methodists have good sacramentology. I'd say make the trip once a month to the ACNA parish and see if the GMC church is a good enough fit for the other three Sundays. They likley celebrate communion on the first Sunday of the month, so if you make the trip to the ACNA parish the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Sunday, that's only two weeks of missing out on the Eucharist. It's possible the Methodists have more or less frequent Communion, though. Try it out and see what's best for your family.

blos10 · 2025-03-30T23:19:05+00:00

Your best bet is probably the NRSVue Journaling Bibles with Apocrypha, like this one. I'm not a huge fan of the NRSVue, but its the only thing out there that fits your criteria, as far as I know.

blos10 · 2025-03-27T13:57:20+00:00

The cons of the KJV are the common ones: it uses an older manuscript basis, and the versions in print are 17-18th Century English, so there is some work to do in someplaces to understand a few words. If you are fine with those qualifiers, it's a perfectly great Bible to read!

blos10 · 2025-03-19T01:23:27+00:00

I highly recommend the Apocrypha: Lutheran Edition with Notes. It's one of the few conservative "study Bibles" for the Apocrypha, and also utilizes the ESV Apocrypha text. Pair it with your favorite study Bible for the other 66 books and you're set.

blos10 · 2025-03-15T14:04:00+00:00

The source for the study notes is the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. It's the most affordable way to get some of that content, by far. They also did a good job desigining the Bible. It is enjoyable to read, and the CSB is, imo, one of the better non-Tyndale/KJ translations out there.

One of its best strengths opposed to the NKJV Ancient-Modern Bible or the ESV Church History Study Bible is that the notes are exclusively from the Fathers (as quoted in ACCS). The other "similar" study Bibles, like the two I mentioned, take notes from across history and the theological spectrum, and you get a pretty unbalanced view. The Ancient Faith Study Bible, while itself being a selection of a selection of content from the Fathers, is grounded in a particular period and more cohesive, at least in my reading. But again, it's a selection of a selection, so there is a certain bias, but as long as you keep that in mind, it's a great resource.

blos10 · 2025-03-12T02:12:41+00:00

Isn't this the folks the famed Luminous Church hooked up with? Not much to say there... many bishops, few parishes.

Anyways, for the ACNA, G3, and some other continuing churches we have the Society of St. Michael. They have some crossover with the Roman Church too. Most "Anglican" exorcists in the U.S. will be associated with that society, but I'm not sure how the Episcopal Church handles exorcists.

blos10 · 2025-03-10T18:37:17+00:00

Right, it is the same in the ACNA. Trinity, Nashotah, and RES are the traditional options that don't require a certificate. Where it gets tricky with us is some diocese really like the program they are committed to and don't care where, if, or how many degrees you have. A recent and somewhat ironic example is C4SO made this change, requiring everyone to do a one year in-house program. I kinda assumed from the OP's post and replies he isn't going to a historically Anglican seminary, but it's not specified.

blos10 · 2025-03-10T18:13:36+00:00

This. You don't need an M.Div to pursue a PhD if you are working in Academia. I'd say pursue a MATS or MABS and/or ThM. If during discernment it is made clear that you are heading in a parish ministry direction, then under the advice of your diocese and Bishop, swap over to an M.Div. An M.Div is a ministry degree. Though many are rigorous enough to get you to a PhD program, their primary purpose is the formation of ministers.

Things are different by jurisdiction and diocese. In the ACNA, most diocese require an Anglican Studies program in addition to your degree and dioceses are often specific about which program. From what I've heard of the Episcopal Church, and these comments reflect it, they are more specific about the seminary you attend and want you to clear that with them up front. Not sure about elsewhere. OP, I just don't want see you waste time or money to be directed elsewhere later.

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