Alithianism: Difference between revisions
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===Salvation===
===Predestination===
Predestination is not taught or supported by the Alithian Church on the grounds of scriptural truth and incompatibility with the personality of God. The concept of predestination was originally hotly debated by the nascent clergy for the denomination of Alithians, with the prevailing belief of the time being that God had already established the life of a Christian long before their birth. This was, however, contested by the majority of Alithian priests, who believed that if one's life had been predestined by God, then the restrictions on certain behavior and the punishment for sins would have been counterproductive at best, or malicious at worse. There would be no point to the rules and regulations of the Bible if one's life was planned to be opposition to God and his will, or if they were to be a paragon of Biblical virtues. As such, the ruling on the topic was that predestination could not be in harmony with Christian doctrines, and was thus unscriptural. It was understood by the church that predestination offered parishioners an explanation for the evils in humanity, that humans were by nature good, but could have their lives drawn in such a way that they performed evil acts as a way of testing good believers and strengthening their faith. Without the crutch of predestination, one would now be responsible for their own relationship with God, and could no longer point to the concept as a way of obfuscating the wrong in their actions.
===Justification===
Alithians believe that to maintain their good standing with God, all adherents of the Christian faith must continuously perform good works in the form of preaching, teaching, and baptizing, all in the manner of the first Christian and Teacher, Jesus Christ. They point to Matthew 28:19, 20, in which Jesus commanded his followers to "make disciples of all the nations", with emphases on the part where Jesus also explicitly stated "teaching them to observe all the things ''I have commanded you''". With this statement, Alithians view themselves as not only have to practice good works through the act of ministering to others, but also by observing all of the teachings of Christ before they can minister to others. Justification for one's salvation is not a "one-off" instance in which an individual is saved perpetually by virtue of their baptism alone. Rather, all good Christians in the Alithian sense, must practice what they preach and preach what they practice, so as to remain in line for salvation an everlasting life.
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