Nuanced
Arminian: salvation freely offered to all who yield to God in faith
Hutterites affirm an Arminian view of salvation: God desires all to be saved and grace is genuinely available to all. The voluntary nature of Hutterite baptism and community commitment is incompatible with Calvinist unconditional election. Each person must freely yield to God (Gelassenheit) and choose to enter the community of faith and the community of goods.
The Hutterite practice of accepting members who leave the colony and return in repentance also presupposes that faith and salvation are not unconditionally secured but require ongoing faithfulness and willingness to return to community life when one has strayed.
Key Distinctions
- Election model:
- conditional election — God elects those he foreknows will believe (Arminian)
- Double predestination:
- denied — God does not predestine any to damnation
- Free will teaching:
- libertarian free will — prevenient grace enables genuine choice
Scripture References
Sources
- Peter Riedemann, Rechenschaft (1542)