A Clarification on DAISY, Plus a Few Other Acronyms

A Clarification on DAISY, Plus a Few Other Acronyms May 11, 2017

This is one of the things I love about blogging. If you share something that’s inaccurate—or even something that just needs a bit of clarification—others will let you know about it.

Daisy
Image credit: GLady, Pixabay.com.

Since posting about the Beautiful Gospel of WHEAT, I’ve had multiple Arminians explain that they don’t approve of the DAISY acronym. I knew from the start that reception would vary on such things. (There are Calvinists who dislike TULIP too.) But I hadn’t realized that the version of DAISY I used was actually a Calvinist formulation, explaining Arminianism from their perspective. Thanks especially to @AndrewsWinnipeg on Twitter for not only pointing this out, but for also digging up some alternatives.

One alternative can be found from the same source I cited earlier, and it also uses DAISY but with different wording. Aaron Earls explains this alternate formulation:

D: Deliberate sin – Humans choose to sin based on their own will, not their sinful nature.
A: All-encompassing call – Salvation is available to everyone who seeks or desires it.
I: Infinite love – God desires for everyone to be saved, not just the “elect.”
S: Spontaneous faith – Faith, while a gift of God, is brought about by a human choice.
Y: Yieldedness of the Saints – It is possible for someone who is “saved” to lose their salvation.

Andrew on Twitter also pointed me to the FACTS acronym, which comes directly from the Society of Evangelical Arminians:

Freed by Grace (to Believe)
Atonement for All
Conditional Election
Total Depravity
Security in Christ

He also pointed out that Bruxy Cavey has done a series of sermons in which he uses GRACE as an Anabaptist acronym:

God’s Broken Image.
Reborn through Faith.
Atonement for All.
Chosen and Choosing.
Empowered to Grow.

I’m an Anabaptist, and I’m big fan of Bruxy, but I’m not sure whether it would be accurate to suggest a single Anabaptist view of such things. In my experience, Anabaptists tend to vary widely on their individual theological beliefs. You’ll find Calvinistic Anabaptists, Arminian Anabaptists, and Anabaptists like myself who hold to the Beautiful Gospel. That said, I do like the GRACE acronym for the most part, and I’d say it’s a lot closer to the Beautiful Gospel than any of the others I’ve seen.

There’s one more acronym that I was aware of before but did not include, because it doesn’t really parallel the others. But I might as well bring it up here. Lisa Cooper came up with BEARDS to describe Lutheranism:

Bondage of the Will
Efficacy of Baptism
Absolution
Real Presence
Distinction between Law and Gospel
SolaFide

None of this actually affects WHEAT or my explanation thereof, but I do want to make sure I’m contrasting it accurately against the other systems. And it’s fun to take a look at these other acronyms. With that out of the way, we’ll get back to the Beautiful Gospel in the next post (barring any other needed clarifications that may arise).


All posts in the Beautiful Gospel of WHEAT series:


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