Christianity · branch
Reformed Christianity (Calvinism)
God’s sovereignty pressed further than anywhere else in Christianity: election is unconditional and grace is irresistible, so nothing whatsoever on the human side earns the outcome. Worship is stripped to what scripture positively commands.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescueFurther toward "fallen and in need of rescue" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as graceFurther toward "given as grace" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E1 Exclusivityone true pathFurther toward "one true path" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixedFurther toward "revealed and fixed" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 1.00 | 0.02 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.96 | 0.04 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | strictly oneWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.03 | 0.04 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | leaning wholly beyond the worldWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.35 | 0.12 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | revealed and fixedWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.10 | 0.08 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and bindingWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.20 | 0.10 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | leaning clergy and tradition decideWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.32 | 0.14 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.98 | 0.02 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | one life, then judgmentWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | fallen and in need of rescueWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.05 | 0.06 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | given as graceWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | between essential and prescribed and optional or absentWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.45 | 0.15 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplinedWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.20 | 0.12 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | one true pathWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.12 | 0.10 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | between a people, inherited and an individual choiceWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.55 | 0.15 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | leaning creation, given for useWestminster Confession of Faith (1646) | 0.28 | 0.13 |
Further reading
- Westminster Confession, ch. III and X — Election and effectual calling — the source of the D1 and C3 extremes.
- Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, book III — The doctrine argued rather than confessed.
Compared with
- Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) and Lutheranism
- Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) and Evangelical and Baptist Christianity
- Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) and Anabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite)
- Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) and Philosophical Daoism
- Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) and Pantheism
- Reformed Christianity (Calvinism) and Secular Humanism
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.