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Which do you lean too?
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Shana said:I believe in the Sovereignty of God meaning that God's will is the only sovereign and free will, but I don't believe that individuals are elected or predestined to be eternally lost.
Pastor Lyndon said:Calviinism - 5 points that derive from pagan and Gnostic teachings of the first & second centuries, always opposed by the early Church and the Apostles; A collection of fabricated doctrines of men, based on bad hermeneutics, and on Eisegesis of scripture; an unbiblical view of God's plan of salvation for mankind based on the rejection of the biblical "free will of man".
Yes, this is "my" definition, and I know much could be said against Arminian views from the opinion of Calvinists. But that of the first line cannot! I love my Calvinist and Baptist friends. But I do not like their doctrines! After 20+ years of searching the scriptures on this subject, I have concluded that without a doubt that Calvinism cannot be proven scricturally, grammatically from Greek, or historically. From this research I have written my first book "Faith Without Works" based on Scripture, and am about to finish my second book, "The Early Church verses Calvinism", which shows how the early Church was against all five points from the very beginning and how they opposed all of them in the teaching of the gnostics (with hundreds of quotes showing this). Then for Greek Grammer and Syntax I highly recommend Malcolm Lavender's books which show that Calvinism cannot be supported using the Greek language and that God truly does love the whole world and died for "all".
The main barrier that I see between Calvinism and Arminianism is the "Free Will" of man. If man does have free will, then Calvinism cannot stand. Scripture very clearly teaches Free will, which can only be denied by those who refuse to accept other than their presuppositions of truth.
The Calvinist/Arminian debate is an endless argument that gets nowhere. I have engaged in so many, I do not care to do so again. But I would urge any seeker of truth to check out parts of my books online @ http://WWW.Eternal-Truth.org and to look into Malcolm Lavenders writings at http://WWW.Crisispub.com
I agree that it may be hard for some, but for others, the discussions may help them in their own search for truth. They may be exposed to something in the discussions which God may use. I believe that we can discuss our differences on certain issues or subjects and still show the love of Christ by the way that we treat one another. Sometimes this can be very difficult to do when people are passionate on certain issues, but even the challenge can help show us the areas we may need to work on as well as help someone else.It is harder to reach out to people when we are publically arguing among ourselves.
We probably differ in this respect as far as how we understand God's love. I cannot reconcile eternal hell for those who have no opportunity for salvation with God who is described as agape love, and as far as reaching out to others, this view (if this is what is presented in Calvinism) is a major stumbling block to many and rightly so in that the contradiction in what we understand as agape love and this perspective cannot be reconciled, if God is just.The contradictions have to do with the theological systems, not Christ. The two isms have different ideas, but at the center the truth of God's love and Christ's redeeming power is there in both.
I have never heard this. Which perspective is this coming from? I do believe that God can overcome any stumbling block and this is one reason why I believe that He can use discussions like these to this end, especially if done in the right spirit.I have also heard "how can a person who is evil and dead in their sin accept and choose God who is completely holy".
I reviewed your site and Mr. Lavender's as well. I found both to be architypal straw man sites that leave the uninformed or misinformed barking at beliefs that Calvinists do not teach in the first place. Mr. Lavender is well known for being a supporter of Dave Hunt author of "What love is this?". Unfortunately I have difficulty in regard to the offerings of an author who has lost the indorsement of his own publisher, Multnomah, for the "unwillingness to acknowledge plain historical and theological errors presented in his book. A large number of booksellers also boycotted Hunt's divisive book having been surprised by his stubborn unwillingness to acknowledge impropriety. Specifically many claim the book engaged in historical revisionism with regard to the teachings of well-known five-point Calvinist preacher C.H. Spurgeon. It further made consistently inaccurate incriminations about Calvinist beliefs in order to skew the evidence to his favor." Above statements borrowed with permission.