Alternatives to the acronym TULIP

[robustheologian]

I've noticed the acronym TULIP to many is synonymous with Calvinism. However, the acronym and the terms associated with it were not in use until after the 1930's. Moreover, the terms that TULIP represent aren't the best terms such as total depravity, limited atonement, and even irresistible grace. I would even think that better terms for the points of Calvinism would help cure some of the misunderstanding concerning them.

So what are some alternatives to the acronym TULIP?

I know Roger Nicole uses the acronym GOSPEL for:

Grace is:
Obilgatory
Sovereign
Particular
Effectual
Lasting

Are there any others?

It would even be interesting to hear an acronym for the points of Arminianism or Wesleyanism.

 

[Reformed]

I'm sure there are more precise acronyms than TULIP, but TULIP has the benefit of being accurate (when the terms are properly understood) and of being first to the party.

 

[robustheologian]

I'm sure there are more precise acronyms than TULIP, but TULIP has the benefit of being accurate (when the terms are properly understood) and of being first to the party.

I agree. The issue I've found though is that people misunderstand the "total" in total depravity, the "limited" in limited atonement, and the "irresistible" in irresistible grace.

 

[convicted1]

Saved
atoned for
vessel of mercy
eternally secured
dead to the love of sin

 

[robustheologian]

We also have Daniel Montgomery's and Timothy Jones' PROOF:

Planned grace
Resurrecting grace
Outrageous grace
Overcoming grace
Forever grace

 

[Revmitchell]

Putting lipstick on a skunk does not make it any less a skunk.

 

[Rippon]

Putting lipstick on a skunk does not make it any less a skunk.

While your inanities still stink even when all-dolled-up.

 

[Iconoclast]

Putting lipstick on a skunk does not make it any less a skunk.

Posting Biblically unsupported ideas over and over as you do does not magically make them come true.You posting against the truth is not wise.

 

[Rippon]

I'm sure there are more precise acronyms than TULIP, but TULIP has the benefit of being accurate (when the terms are properly understood) and of being first to the party.

Well, not the first to the party.

As I have often said, Cleland Boyd McAfee is responsible for the mnemonic device known as TULIP. He presented it for the first time in 1905 before fellow Presbyterian ministers of the Presbyterian Union of Newwark.

It began to catch on with Lorain Boettner's book The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination back in the 1930s.

I don't necessarily think the Fathers at Dort would have approved.

 

[Rippon]

R.o.s.e.s.

Dr.Timothy George came up with :

Radical Depravity
Overcoming Grace
Sovereign Election
Eternal Life
Singular Redemption

 

[annsni]

I like to call myself a BACONist.

 

[Rippon]

I know Roger Nicole uses the acronym GOSPEL for:

Grace is:
Obilgatory
Sovereign
Particular
Effectual
Lasting

He doesn't use "Particular" but Providing Grace.

I will quote a paragraph from his book Our Sovereign Saviour :The Essence of the Reformed Faith. It clarifies some things for those of the non-Calvinist persuasion.

"We now need to review our terms: 'radical and pervasive depravity', 'sovereign election and preterition', 'definite atonement', 'effectual grace', and 'the perseverance of God with his saints'. Those are the terms I suggested. Unfortunately, the terms do not provide acrostics in English, French, German, Latin, or any other language I know of. So we have lost our 'tulip', that beautiful mnemonic device to remember these five points in a simple manner. Well, I think it may be worthwhile to lose it, if those other terms mislead people as to what it is we actually hold. We certainly don't want to sell our birthright, which is the truth, for a mess of pottage, which is an acrostic. If that is what has to be done, let it be done." (p.54)

 

[Rippon]

I like to call myself a BACONist.

I like the words --it conveys the essence without any pork!

 

[InTheLight]

Total Misanthropy.
Uncertain salvation.
Luck of the draw.
Irresistible damnation.
Probably one of the saints.

(As seen on the internet)

 

[Rippon]

Total Misanthropy.
Uncertain salvation.
Luck of the draw.
Irresistible damnation.
Probably one of the saints.

Well those items certainly do not reflect the Canons of Dort or its much abridged form of TULIP.

 

[Jerome]

A tulip by any other name would smell so.

 

[tyndale1946]

A tulip by any other name would smell so.

Foreknowledge
According to Gods
Irresistible atoning grace
Through the redeeming work of
His only begotten Son Jesus Christ alone

Brother Glen

 

[JonC]

TULIP does not accurately reflect the 5 points of Calvinism (as stated at the Synod of Dort) but instead reflect one interpretation while isolating other positions within Calvinism. Alternatives that I’ve seen strive to pull a bit closer to the 5 points, but they are less narrow and defined (like the actual 5 points which were composed as a response to a heresy)… I don’t think they’ll catch on. TULIP is here to stay, but from a historical point of view it is unfortunate so many see it as representative of what was affirmed at Dort.

That said….I’d add one - “God Centered.” I think that this is often what causes division. Some fail to understand that salvation is God centered rather than man centered….but that’s another issue. Here’s mine:

God Centered
Overcoming Grace
Spiritually Dead
Paticular Redempton
Elected by God
Life Eternal

 

[convicted1]

Foreknowledge
According to Gods
Irresistible atoning grace
Through the redeeming work of
His only begotten Son Jesus Christ alone

Brother Glen

Ding ding ding!!!

 

[robustheologian]

I like to call myself a BACONist.

That's clever lol