Arminianism vs. Calvinism: Does it matter?

I can remember my freshman year at Bible College spending hours arguing over which dogma was correct, Calvinism vs. Arminianism. I grew up Wesleyan and was firmly in the Arminian camp. However, all my housemates were Baptists (rare at a Wesleyan College) and they were all Calvinists. We would go back and forth, each of us quoting Scriptures that supported our claim and there were many on both sides. I have since come to the conclusion that while an interesting intellectual exercise, neither of us could definitively prove our point. At the end of the day, we were Christians and agreed on the basic tenets of the faith.

There is a quote often attributed to St. Augustine that says, “In the essentials unity, in the non-essentials diversity, and in all things charity (love).”

To put it a different way, Wimber used to say that in the Vineyard we wanted to stick with “the main and the plain” of the Gospel.

Things like Arminianism and Calvinism are dogmas extrapolated by men which became the founding tenets of two major streams of Protestantism. Interestingly, Webster says that dogmatism is: “the expression of an opinion or belief as if it were a fact: positiveness in assertion of opinion especially when unwarranted or arrogant.”

To understand why these positions are so fervently adhered to, we need some history.  From the 3^rd century on, the Catholic Church became the official clearinghouse in the West for all things Christian. What they said was accepted as orthodox. By the 16^th Century they were so removed from the teachings of the Bible that Martin Luther sought to reform the Church by presenting 95 essays (theses) on tenets that departed from what the Bible taught. These were rejected by the Church and the Protestant movement began. Throughout Europe, more and more theologians were reading the Bible and coming up with their own interpretations of what they felt the Bible really said. Two really stood out in their ideas. First Calvin, a French reformist came out with his views. Shortly thereafter, Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch reformer published his views.

I will endeavor to point out the major differences between the two viewpoints.

First, if you search the web, you will see charts and comparisons which in my opinion are flawed for two reasons. One, they based their comparison on the acronym TULIP which summarizes the Calvinist viewpoint. By beginning there, the comparisons always seem slanted toward Calvinism. Second, by doing that they miss the real fundamental issues that separate them.

Let’s start with TULIP and what it stands for:

T – Total depravity of man. Because of sin, man is separated from God and can never do anything to get close to Him

U – Unconditional Election – It is God who chooses who will be saved. Man is incapable of making that choice.

L – Limited Atonement – Jesus death on the cross and His atonement is only for those that God has chosen.

I – Irresistible Grace – The chosen cannot resist God’s grace and will serve Him.

P – Perseverance of the Saints – Since they cannot resist His grace, they are eternally secure in their salvation.

I could go point by point and compare the two systems but you can do that on your own by looking up Calvinism vs Arminianism on the web. You’ll find good arguments for both.

Instead, I am going to focus on what I believe to be the major differences.

The Sovereignty of God. Calvinists believe that God is completely sovereign and therefore nothing happens that He doesn’t plan. This leads to the concept of predestination. Calvinism says that God chose those who were going to be saved and Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is limited to only them. They and only they can be saved. Those people will become Christians because they won’t be able to resist His Grace.

Free will. Arminians believe that God did not create a race of robots because He wanted them to choose. Therefore, He gave them choice, free will, which means that they can choose to resist and turn down His grace and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. They believe that when Paul talks about predestination, he is saying that because God is not limited by time and space, he foreknew those who would accept the atonement and His grace and therefore prepared a plan for their lives.

Eternal Security. Once saved, always saved. Calvinists believe that since God chooses those who will be saved, they are guaranteed a ticket to heaven once they accept His irresistible grace.

Assurance of Salvation. Arminians believe that once a person chooses to accept God’s grace, that person can rest in the assurance that, as long as their heart is God-ward, that they will rise to be with Christ at His second coming. They don’t need to live in fear of what happens if they sinned and then got hit by a truck. However, they also believe that if a person walks with the Lord and later turns his back on the Lord, denies Him by not walking the walk, then that person will not gain entry into the Kingdom.

While I tried to be as fair as possible describing the two positions, I am sure that some bias creeped it.

The question is, does it matter which way you believe? Let’s go back to the beginning and the St. Augustine quote. It is ok to study the Bible and come up with your own conclusions on things like this. You may choose to land on one side or the other. I have met many within the Vineyard that believe one or the other.

If you go online and read up on the Vineyard’s Statement of faith you won’t find either of these viewpoints. That is because we prefer to stick to the main the plain. While important, these are non-essentials. How do I know? Because I often see Baptists and Methodists worship together and work together to evangelize. If these two dogmas were that important, they couldn’t do anything together. The fact that they can work together means that they agree on the basic tenets of the faith.