Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Calvinism Vs Arminianism

In Geisler's book, Chosen but Free, I agree with the fact that extreme views are both wrong.   Both views limit God in some way or another, in that Arminianism could technically claim that God's knowledge is not complete (this would then be evident of an imperfect God).  Its to the point that nobody knows who can be saved, which is good from the standpoint of missions in that we need to go forth and minister, but it is bad in that it comes from the completely wrong base.  Hyper Calvinism is wrong in that it basically eliminates free will from the equation.  This is a problem in that it limits humanity.  This limitation would mean that God made it impossible for people to receive his grace.  This would heavily hint at God being unloving and this would mean that God is imperfect.  These views are both unacceptable, in my opinion, because God must be perfect in order to be God.  I appreciate the amount of scripture that Geisler used in his book, because it implies knowledge on the subject.  I would deem it ignorant of a person to hold a particular stance or argue against particular stances if he or she did not have a firm base for why they are bringing such arguments.  In my opinion as well, I believe the whole Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate is foolish and ignorant to some extent.  In the realm of eternity, does it really matter?  The only thing that matters in the end is if we obeyed God's commandments.  The commandment concerning this topic of discussion is going forward into the world and teaching the love of Christ and the consequences of not following Christ.  I have also found there to be a great division in the Church surrounding this topic.  This division is counterproductive to the Christian cause and is, in essence, and anit-Christ. I believe the whole debate is somewhat of a ruse of Satan to divert believers from the Great Commission.