He was raised Presbyterian, correct.
My comment, on "Trump being a Calvinist" was intended as a joke.
Calvin for some reason, not in scripture decided that humans are not free agents.
This is the basis of calvanism.
This is an old debate long before Christ.
Following is an excerpt on Causal determinism:
Causal Determinism
First published Thu Jan 23, 2003; substantive revision Thu Sep 21, 2023
Causal determinism is, roughly speaking, the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature. The idea is ancient, but first became subject to clarification and mathematical analysis in the eighteenth century. Determinism is deeply connected with our understanding of the physical sciences and their explanatory ambitions, on the one hand, and with our views about human free action on the other. In both of these general areas there is no agreement over whether determinism is true (or even whether it can be known true or false), and what the import for human agency would be in either case....
Determinism: Determinism is true of the world if and only if, given a specified way things are at a time t, the way things go thereafter is fixed as a matter of natural law.
The italicized phrases are elements that require further explanation and investigation, in order for us to gain a clear understanding of the concept of determinism.
The notion of determinism may be seen as one way of cashing out a historically important nearby idea: the idea that
everything can, in principle, be explained, or that
everything that is, has a sufficient reason for being and being as it is, and not otherwise, i.e., Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason. Leibniz’s PSR, however, is not linked to physical laws; arguably, one way for it to be satisfied is for God to
will that things should be just so and not otherwise. This does not require that physical or causal determinism hold. On the other hand, on a strict reading Leibniz’s PSR may be more demanding than determinism. Under determinism, particular facts and events are the way they are due to the laws and the particular facts of how things stood at an earlier time, for example at the beginning of time. But there need be no answer to the question “Why were things just
so at the beginning of time?”, and hence no
complete sufficient reason for all facts and events.[
1]...
Science/cosmology attempts to quantify the relationships and origins of our universe. They search for a cause. Causality...
Attorneys would prefer a 'someone' or something that can be held responsible. Free will...
If humans are foreordained or predetermined to be saved or lost, this human experience is rubbish. Humans are just pawns, but,
Calvin is wrong.
As humans, aspects of our character, appearance, and energy may be hardwired, but we do have a limited free agency.
If we believe in strict causality then we must agree with Trump.
If we have a limited free agency we make choices. To commit crime or refrain.
While there may be some, and perhaps you've run across them, they always seemed rotten to the core. As children perhaps their adults were unsavory worms.
Yet everyone makes choices. Though some never get much to choose from.
And that is my "He must be a Calvinist" remark. Sarcasm and jest.