Taylor Swift is extremely popular among young girls and millennial women who still think they're young. Her music covers a wide variety of topics like breakups, love gone wrong, and broken relationships. But is there a hidden meaning to her discography? We gave every single Taylor Swift song a close listen and realized she's actually singing about the doctrines of Grace.
That's right - here are 5 Taylor Swift songs that each correspond with a point of Calvinism.
1. "Bad Blood" - Swifties have long believed this song was about Katy Perry, but to the trained theological ear, it's actually about total depravity. Some religions teach that people are basically good at heart, but Calvin knew better. Thanks to original sin passed down to us through Adam, he knew that we humans are totally depraved, completely sinful beings, and there is no good in us. As Taylor points out in this powerful theological treatise: Baby, now we got bad blood!
2. "You Belong With Me" - Some think this song is about Taylor Swift pining for the affection of some boy. But really, Swift was teaching the doctrine of unconditional election, artfully pointing out that before the foundation of the world, according to her Calvinist beliefs, God chose some to be His people and whispered, "You belong with me" to them. More or less. Wow. We'll never listen to this song in the same way again.
3. "The Lucky One" - Many Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to save everyone. That has to be true, right? WRONG. The doctrine of limited atonement teaches that Christ's sacrifice was only intended for those whom God has chosen and called. So, if Christ has called you to the kingdom, I'll tell you now you're the lucky one.
4. "Look What You Made Me Do" - Obviously, this song points us toward the Calvinist doctrine of irresistible grace, that the Spirit will overcome any resistance to the effectual call of salvation for the elect. The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now - cause she's dead. That's right - dead to her old self, alive in Christ, thanks to the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Better theology than most of the stuff by Hillsong, honestly.
5. "Stay Stay Stay" - The fifth point of Calvinism is the perseverance of the saints, which teaches that once you are truly saved, you will persevere through to glorification. In other words, you will stay, stay stay. I love you, because you've given me no choice but to stay, stay, stay. Amazing.
Wow! This many parallels with the doctrines of grace can't be a coincidence. Because it's Calvinism, and nothing is a coincidence.
Citing concerns about stiff competition from Amazon and an impossible-to-please Gen Z, Santa has announced he's hanging up the hat for good.
