The Different Beliefs (Unlimited Atonement vs Limited Atonement)

[Tyler35]

Hello siblings,

I will first start by stating that I believe in unlimited atonement.

I came across an article:

The Church Fathers on Limited Atonement

This week, I came across an interesting post by Charlie Ray who posted a series of quotations from the Early Church Fathers documenting how they believed in Limited Atonement (a.k.a. particular ato…

davidtay81.wordpress.com

This article quotes early Church members, and some of these quotes seem to hint that limited atonement may not have been rejected by some well known figures.

Are these quotes taken out of context? Can someone explain them to me?

I look for someone who is more knowledgeable than I on the quotes that were used.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @Tyler35, while I did see that one of the ECF quotes strongly supports the "P" petal in TULIP (Perseverance of the Saints, that is), I did not see that kind/level of support for the "U" and/or the "L" petals in any of the ECF quotes. What the ECF quotes do indicate (generally) is that the atonement was/is applied to those who "believe", which is, of course, the truth of the matter.

So, I don't think that those on either side, be they Arminian or Calvinist, would reject the wording of any of the ECF quotes that you posited for us above (save the one about all of the saints persevering in the faith, which would be rejected by true, 5-point Arminians, of course) because, just like John 3:16, each side agrees with what is said (at least broadly or generally, if not specifically).

God bless you!!

--David