I've been a Christian for as long as I can remember. Around age eight, I was baptized. Every summer between 8th grade and my junior year of college I spent at least one, if not two, three or four weeks at church camp. I even went to a Christian college and have 16 hours of Bible on my transcript. Even with all of that, a few years ago, I had no idea what my friend Shaunna was talking about when she casually mentioned Calvinism. I'm sure I was able to smile and nod my way through the conversation, but I now have to admit that I had no clue what she was talking about. If you are like me and don't have a clue, here's a quick little chart I found that contrasts the two major beliefs. I found it here.
The Five Points of Calvinism
|
The 5 Points of
Arminianism
|
Total Depravity
Sin controls every part of man. He is
spiritually dead and blind, and unable
to obey, believe, or repent. He
continually sins, for his nature is
completely evil.
|
Free Will
Sin does not control man’s will. He is sick and near-sighted, but still able to obey, believe and repent. He does not continually sin, for his nature is not completely evil. |
God chose the elect solely on the
basis of His free grace, not anything
in them. He has a special love for the
elect. God left the rest to be damned
for their sins.
|
Conditional Election
God chose the elect on the basis of their foreseen faith. He loves all men equally. God passed over no one, but gives everyone an equal chance to be saved. |
Christ died especially for the elect,
and paid a definite price for them
that guaranteed their salvation.
| Universal Atonement
Christ died equally for all men, and
paid a provisional price that made
salvation possible for all but
guaranteed it for none.
|
Irresistible Grace
Saving grace is irresistible, for the Holy Spirit in invincible and intervenes in man’s heart. He sovereignly gives the new birth, faith and repentance to the elect. |
Resistible Grace
Saving grace is resistible, for God does not overrule man’s free will. Man is born again after he believes, for faith and repentance are not gifts of God. |
God preserves all the elect and causes
them to persevere in faith and
obedience to the end. None are
continually back-slidden or finally lost.
| Falling from Grace
Only a few Christians continue in
faith and obedience to the end
(Arminians are divided over whether
one can actually lose his salvation).
|
My immediate response to this chart was "Calvinism is nuts. I am totally Arminian." Then my husband told me that he leans toward a Calvinist perspective. Like he might be a three and a half point Calvinist. Woah. I'm going to have to think about that. I respect my husband's spiritual beliefs a great deal. He has spent hours and hours listening to great Bible scholars and studying the Word on his own. If he doesn't think Calvinist are totally bonkers, maybe I should look a little closer at this.
Christians on both sides of the issue can give enough Scripture to back up their points. Very convincing arguments have been made on both sides. Smarter men than I have written much on these topics.
Pretty much, for me, it boils down to the Atonement issue. I can't get behind something that says Jesus didn't die for sins of the world; for the entire world. From there, the whole Calvinist position just falls apart for me. If we have no free will and aren't among the elect, why even try to live a holy life? Why evangelize? If people are already chosen, they'll figure things out no matter what I do or say. My life, my witness, my relationships are meaningless.
But I am open to the idea that I may not be right on this. I am not about to say that I have this all figured out. In all honesty, it totally drives me batty that I cannot definitively take a position on this.
Are you a Calvinist? Armenian? Convince me.
Just seeing if the comments section works. Someone let me know that he was having a hard time seeing it. If you can comment, could you do so and let me know it's working? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOK, it works in IE. In Chrome (which is what I normally use), I see http://imgur.com/rLjxOod . I don't have others to test with right now.
ReplyDeleteSo... on to the subject at hand.
I also lean heavily toward Arminian, but I've had extensive discussions with people that lean heavily toward Calvinism. Extreme Arminianism tends to discount God's power and rely on our own actions. Extreme Calvinism tends to cause a fatalistic attitude.
The good news is this is a subject upon which we Christians can "agree to disagree".
There's a good article on the subject from the Christian Research Institure. I don't buy everything they have to say wholesale, but everything they publish has at least been researched and considered (unlike me, popping off a missive that just came into my head). http://www.crivoice.org/arminianism.html
Calvinism is not my thing, for the reason that it "falls apart" with salvation being reserved for a few.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue of predestination/foreknowledge is a profound mystery. I was not raised a Christian, didn't become a Christian until I was 17 and a senior in high school. Didn't hear about Calvinism until I was in my twenties. I have many thoughts on this subject but I will start with this: anytime you take a theological doctrine from men, there will be flaws. Sure the doctrine has verses that seem to support it, but you can also find verses that seem to contradict it. I think those whose entire bible theology hinges on this particular doctrine err. I've seen people with a giant stack of theology books and little time with their Bible. The Bible should help us translate the theology books, not the other way around. But, this is just my opinion, and could be an oversimplification.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there are verses that seem to indicate God's sovereignty in "election" such as "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." John 15:16 or the verses in Romans that talk about how God raised up Pharaoh and hardened Pharaoh's heart for His own purposes (Romans 9)
"For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, " Romans 9:17-23
These verses would appear to say that God can do with you what He wants and makes some "vessels" for destruction.
Contrast that understanding with verses such as "And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house." Acts 16:31 or "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
In my opinion, it appears that those two concepts: belief vs. predestination/foreknowledge/election seem to contradict one another. Do we have a choice to choose? When Joshua said "Choose this day whom you shall serve. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord" were they really able to choose?
I think yes. I honestly think it's a profound mystery. God says "Be perfect as I am perfect" but also says "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." We DO have responsibility and God DOES ordain our good works. It's only He that makes us good, all of our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight. But through Christ we are acceptable in the beloved.
I also agree that God died for the whole world. He said so in John 3:16 and other places. He is not willing that any should perish. I could go on and on, but to summarize, I think these kinds of doctrines should be looked at as tools only. The Bible is one complex, multifaceted, and amazing book, one day all things will become new and hopefully, we'll understand a little bit more. (This is just my four cents on the subject)