Subject: Calvin or Armini |
Bible Note: Psalm 25 - Greetings, and welcome, even though your voyage on SBF seems to have run swiftly into a mild tempest! Chances are you may have already discovered that it pays to test the waters before launching out full sail. :-) ...... For me the issue of the absolute sovereignty of God has been settled for decades, as apparently yours has, although I have no way of knowing whether for decades. My decades add up now to about six, during which time I've never felt constrained to kick against the goads by placing God's sovereignty into question. But I am slightly uncomfortable with your assessment of what you term "the free-will mentality" -- a characteristic you assign (and I believe somewhat arbitrarily) to that school of soteriology we commonly label "Arminian." ..... Specifically, you say, "The Arminian 'freewill' view is very damaging and destructive. God's honor and sovereignty are being destroyed by the freewill mentality." .... Now I have some Arminian friends who I think would be surprised to think that they had such magnificient power that they, little creatures of clay that they are, could, by the force of their beliefs, destroy the honor and sovereignty of Almighty God! And I'm stunned and numbed to hear this startling revelation from a stated Calvinist! ..... I've been a follower of Christ for 58 years and during that time I've assigned my mind to investigate these so-called schools of soteriology, Calvinism and Arminianism. That being true, your bold (I first thought of calling it brash) statement concerning these two systems arrested my attention and I would be happy if what you say rings true for me, but frankly it does not. Here is your quote to which I allude: "The freewill view will leave you many unanswered questions, many! The Calvinist view answers 'all of them.'" Peradventure it would be a happy day for so many of us if your utopian claims about Calvinism were true, but they are not true, not for me and not for anyone else that I know. They weren't true even for John Calvin who, to the best of my knowledge and belief, is not on record anywhere as ever having claimed that he had all the answers. ....... Well, you had your say. I've had mine. Now let's not expand this little meeting into a long-winded discussion or a debate. If you wish, you may access the forum archives to find enough material on these two systems of soteriology to keep you busy for hours on end. And you can follow my posts to get some idea of where I stand, just in case you'd feel better by pinning a label on me. :-) ...... P. S. I do hope that you will find the Forum a place to learn more about our Lord and grow in Him, as well as a place where you can help others likewise to learn and grown. Agape. 1 Corinthiansd 13. --Hank |