Chapter 6 – Arminianism
or Calvinism?
For most of my Christian life, I was really given
only two choices relating to the sovereignty of God and the will of man.
These views are called Arminianism and Calvinism.
For the first 5 years of my Christian life I was an Arminianist—that is,
I believed that man has a free will and his own will determines his “eternal”
destination. For the next 15 years, I was a Calvinist. I believed
in the sovereignty of God—that is, I believed that God predestinates some
to eternal life, but most to eternal torment. Now, I do not exclusively
embrace either of these two views.
The truth of universal transformation solves all of the irreconcilable differences
between Calvinism and Arminianism. It recognizes that our "free will" is the
freedom to choose only in the direction of the strongest influence, and that
God is in sovereign control over all influences. Each person is being
fitted into God's plan in God's own special way for them. Each person
responds to his or her own unique set of "strongest influences." And
ultimately, when the time period of the ages has ended, God will have transformed
the consequences of everyone’s choices into something glorifying to Himself,
and beneficial to the chooser.
Listen to the words of Elhanan Winchester:
One great cause of so much unprofitable contention is that Truth has
been divided, torn to pieces and sometimes even lost in the debates raised
about it. One party has had some truth, another has also had some,
but each thinking they had the whole, have endeavored to overthrow all that
their antagonists held; both have been dividing the living child of truth,
under a notion that it was found no where but with them. Thus each
have opposed the truth in each other under the notion of its being erroneous.
On the contrary, we say that all denominations have it among them in part
and those divided parts brought together just make up that collection of
truths that we believe.
I have often considered it with astonishment, that two ministers shall preach,
and prove what they say from the scriptures, and neither of them shall be
looked upon as holding damnable heresy, and yet we shall be looked upon as
the worst of heretics by both of them, and all their people, for believing
only what both of them put together have asserted.
One (the Arminianist) will say, God loves all his creatures without exception,
that he is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works: the
other (the Calvinist) will maintain that all the objects of his love must
finally come to the enjoyment of himself; and that his mercy endureth for
ever and cannot fail. We heartily believe both these testimonies.
One will assert that Christ died for all, tasted death for everyone; the
other, that Christ shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,
and that all for whom his blood was shed shall be cleansed thereby.
All this we steadfastly believe.
One will declare that God willeth that all shall be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth; the other, that whatever God willeth, must be accomplished
at last. None can say with truth, that we deny either of these assertions.
One will say that God at first purposed all his creatures to praise and
glorify his Name to all eternity and to be happy in the enjoyment of
himself. The other will declare that the purposes of God must stand,
that with God there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. We freely
consent to the truth of all this. One will say that God would have
all if he could, that his will is good towards all; the other will assert,
that he is infinitely able to do all that he pleases, and that he could bring
all to him if he would. And do not we as fully believe both of these
positions, as we do our own existence?
One will declare that the blood of Jesus Christ was freely shed for all;
the other, that his blood is infinitely sufficient to cleanse and purify all.
This is what we believe.
One will say that all things are given to Christ; the other will maintain
that all that the Father giveth him shall come to him; that he will
give eternal life to as many as the Father has given him. This is our
belief. We believe the truth of both those positions. None
will come to Christ but those whom the Father giveth him; and he hath given
him all things without exception.
Thus we see that our belief is in fact the belief of all the Christian world
put together.
And instead of tending to increase the divided churches, it tends to unite
them all in one, as it allows the truth in a measure amongst all, and that
as there is no church wholly pure in all things, so none can be found but
what has some true witnesses for God therein; some tokens of the divine presence,
and some glorious truths remain in every church under the sun; and this glorious
chain of truths that, we believe, bids fair one day to unite all together
in one close system of benevolence;
In other words, Arminianism and Calvinism both contain truth, but neither
have all of it. For a short time I believed that I, ultimately, chose
God. I soon saw this not to be true—it was God who chose me. I
then believed for many years that God chooses some for salvation, but most
for damnation. When I questioned it, I got the response that “God’s
ways are higher than ours.” I guess I can’t understand how God can create
someone with the specific purpose of damning them forever. Doesn’t that
sound cruel to you? (By the way, you can’t find the word damnation in the
original Greek.)
But the Scriptures do teach that God desires (or wills) mankind to be saved.
And in Is. 46:10 it says that God will “perform all His desire.” So
let’s see, if God desires all to be saved, and He will do all His desire…that
must mean….