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JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -<br />
PROF. M. M. NINAN<br />
CHAPTER EIGHT<br />
WHAT ANTI-CALVINISTS SAY ABOUT CALVINISM<br />
CALVINISM AND EASTERN ORTHODOXY<br />
Just as there is a serious difference between <strong>Calvin</strong>ism <strong>and</strong> the Lutheranism, there is much more<br />
serious difference between <strong>Calvin</strong>ism <strong>and</strong> Eastern Orthodoxy.<br />
On Depraved Nature<br />
In Eastern Orthodoxy Adam was created as the Son of God in order to partake of the Divinity of God<br />
himself <strong>and</strong> be co-creator with God. Just as we provide the privileges to the children in accordance<br />
with their maturity, God also does that. The disobedience of man brings wrath of God but it does not<br />
dispossess man of his sonship. Man still retains his freedom of choice <strong>and</strong> freewill (more so as Adam<br />
disobedience was an exercise of his freedom) <strong>and</strong> just as every father would care even for a wayward<br />
prodigal son God is waiting for his prodigals to come home of his own will <strong>and</strong> choice. Man still retains<br />
his sonship <strong>and</strong> the image of God he bears inspite of the fall.<br />
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