John Lafayette Girardeau (14 November 1825 23 June 1898) was a

Reformed theologian Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

and minister in the

Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...

. He is notable as a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

defender of

libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...

, the teaching that people have

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

to choose between alternatives, and that they could have chosen differently than they actually did, rather than a

determinist Determinism is the metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping mot ...

compatibilist Compatibilism is the belief that free will and determinism are mutually compatible and that it is possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent. As Steven Weinberg puts it: "I would say that free will is nothing but our consci ...

view. He was a professor of systematic theology at

Columbia Theological Seminary Columbia Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Decatur, Georgia. It is one of ten theological institutions affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Columbia Theological Seminary was founded in 1828 in Lexington, Geor ...

in South Carolina.

Writings / Bibliography

C.N. Willborn - Who Was John Lafayette Girardeau?

Calvinism and Evangelical Arminianism (1890)

Discussions of Philosophical Questions (1900)

Instrumental Music in the Public Worship of the Church (1888)

Sermons on Important Subjects: Edited by George Blackstone (1907)

The Will in its Theological Relations (1891)

Sermons on Important Subjects: Edited by George Blackstone (1907)

Misc. Writings / Log College

References

1825 births 1898 deaths Presbyterian Church in the United States ministers 19th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians American Calvinist and Reformed theologians Presbyterian Church in the United States members 19th-century American Presbyterian ministers {{calvinism-stub