History definitions needed!?

Question

what do the words....

-doctrine of a calling

-"visible saints"

mean?

they deal with completeing the thirteen coloonies, in 1619-1700.

so define the words and historical significance.

Answer 1

The two terms of somewhat interlinked.

They deal with the calvinism of the early Massachusetts settlers.

They did NOT believe in a separation of church and state. as many claim.  Those original Pilgrims wanted a Calvinist theocracy.

Calvinism believes in predestination, which states that God has determined before you are born whether or not you are going to heaven or h**l.  Your life merely confirms that fact.

The moral, religious, and righteous, or the "visible saints," will be those predestined for heaven.  Those who fall away from those high standards, (think Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter) are predestined for h**l.

Society itself needs to reflect this preference for the "visible saints" by being a theocracy.  The righteous must rule, to bring about God's reign on Earth.  A leader's private life, necessarily, reflects his predestination, so therefore there can be no separation between one's private life and one's public life.  And there can be no separation between the spiritual and civic life of a community.

Once that calling to heaven is given to a people, they must seek it out at all times.  That would be the doctrine of calling.