what is predestination? who taught about predestination?

The notion of Predestination was put forth first by the reformer, John Calvin, and this belief became a tenant of Calvinist Protestantism, which was practiced and preaches by the Puritans, among others. The Doctrine of Predestination, as it became known, said that people were either damned to hell or destined to go to heaven even before they were born. Moreover, only a finite number of people would ever get into heaven. Most controversial of all...

The notion of Predestination was put forth first by the reformer, John Calvin, and this belief became a tenant of Calvinist Protestantism, which was practiced and preaches by the Puritans, among others. The Doctrine of Predestination, as it became known, said that people were either damned to hell or destined to go to heaven even before they were born. Moreover, only a finite number of people would ever get into heaven. Most controversial of all was the belief that people who had been chosen by God would be recognizable by the fact that God smiled down on them in life as in afterlife. In other words, if a person was rich and successful, and healthy, that person was most likely good, and had been chosen by God for eternal salvation. However, if a person was sick, impoverished, or had many miscarriages, or his or her children died young, then that person was damned, and had been marked by the devil even before he or she was born.

Based on those religious tenets, Calvinists did not need to do good works or be compassionate to the sick or poor, as the teaching of Jesus taught in the bible. These so-called "good works" were superfluous. One could engage in charitable works of not; it made no difference to whether that person went to hell or heaven. Of course, a chosen person was more like to exhibit a charitable nature, according to Calvinist Theology, but that did not mean that a man who blamed the poor for their poverty or turned a blind eye to the sick was not a man of God. This theology of Predestination has had a profound affect on American culture, because the predominant religion of many New England colonists was Puritanism. The doctrine of Predestination gave license to those shaping American culture to revere the rich and powerful, and kick the poor and sick to the curb. Indeed, the Salem Witch Trials, in which many innocent, often poor or sick women and elder people were put to death for Witchcraft, was a direct manifestation of Calvinist Theology. Victims of poverty and illness were simply viewed as the Devil's Children, and they got what they deserved.

Even though the Framer's were not very religious, they had been raised in a culture dominated by the notion that wealth and power was a sign of goodness, and poverty a sign of evil. It is therefore not surprising that in this country, most people worship wealth and often blame the poor for their poverty. These beliefs are the sad legacy of the Doctrine of Predestination.