Calvinism and Arminianism are the two belief systems describing the nuts & bolts on how a person becomes a Christian. The Reformation of the sixteenth century restored the gospel to the church. Soon after, a debate ensued as to whether God chose us or we chose God.
Calvinism is just a nickname that was applied to the former, after the writing and preaching of one of its main proponents... John Calvin. Arminianism is also a name applied after James Arminius who defended the latter. The former (Calvin) won the day and was the dominant belief in the church up until sometime in the nineteenth century (in America anyway) when America turned to Arminianism become the dominant doctrinal way of seeing salvation.
I was Arminian for about fifteen years until I saw from scripture that I would never have chosen Jesus Christ unless he regenerated me first but this is not the topic of this post. I've come to believe that Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11:19 address this. "There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." (ESV) We have two major interpretations on baptism and three on the Lord's Supper. How are we to look at this? Is one side right and the other an agent from hell? Yet, surely one is right and the other is not. Or do we go the other way and say that all this doctrine stuff does not matter?
The current situation of the church in America might give a clue. There is one church ministry on television that fills an large indoor arena yet the gospel is not even mentioned. A better life for us is the message. We have mega-churches with drama and coffee shops that draw the people to church. Have you noticed that even the secular comics see the absurdities of these mega-churches?
Arminianism is a teaching that fit well in the independent, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, mentality of America. I believe that it is in error but an error with a purpose. There has to be factions among us or else we might become a tyrannical church that rules without ever examining itself. It's when the gospel itself is gone where the Calvinist and the Arminian both must come together in defense of that gospel.
Issues like this can discourage a young (or new) Christian. They tend to either burn all bridges and passionately cling to the first Christian message they heard or else they throw up their hands take the position that doctrine divides. What we tend not to realize is that we have to work through our salvation. It requires perseverance and humility. We cannot quit after one failure, or even many failures. Even if we have come to see that we have bought into major error.... we are to lay it aside and keep going. Are we in competition with other Christians to see who is the most correct? Ultimately, we should have to look no further than our brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering real persecution in other countries to motivate us to navigate the shoals of pride that have battered our Christian proclamation.
Calvinism is just a nickname that was applied to the former, after the writing and preaching of one of its main proponents... John Calvin. Arminianism is also a name applied after James Arminius who defended the latter. The former (Calvin) won the day and was the dominant belief in the church up until sometime in the nineteenth century (in America anyway) when America turned to Arminianism become the dominant doctrinal way of seeing salvation.
I was Arminian for about fifteen years until I saw from scripture that I would never have chosen Jesus Christ unless he regenerated me first but this is not the topic of this post. I've come to believe that Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11:19 address this. "There must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized." (ESV) We have two major interpretations on baptism and three on the Lord's Supper. How are we to look at this? Is one side right and the other an agent from hell? Yet, surely one is right and the other is not. Or do we go the other way and say that all this doctrine stuff does not matter?
The current situation of the church in America might give a clue. There is one church ministry on television that fills an large indoor arena yet the gospel is not even mentioned. A better life for us is the message. We have mega-churches with drama and coffee shops that draw the people to church. Have you noticed that even the secular comics see the absurdities of these mega-churches?
Arminianism is a teaching that fit well in the independent, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, mentality of America. I believe that it is in error but an error with a purpose. There has to be factions among us or else we might become a tyrannical church that rules without ever examining itself. It's when the gospel itself is gone where the Calvinist and the Arminian both must come together in defense of that gospel.
Issues like this can discourage a young (or new) Christian. They tend to either burn all bridges and passionately cling to the first Christian message they heard or else they throw up their hands take the position that doctrine divides. What we tend not to realize is that we have to work through our salvation. It requires perseverance and humility. We cannot quit after one failure, or even many failures. Even if we have come to see that we have bought into major error.... we are to lay it aside and keep going. Are we in competition with other Christians to see who is the most correct? Ultimately, we should have to look no further than our brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering real persecution in other countries to motivate us to navigate the shoals of pride that have battered our Christian proclamation.
