CALVINISM VS. ARMENIANISM

    Many Christian postures today reflect two theologies that some call Calvinism or Armenianism.  According to Wikipedia, Calvinism is named after John Calvin, a French Reformation era theologian and pastor who emphasized the sovereignty of God; who some would accuse of minimizing the importance of man; while Armenianism is named after a Dutch pastor, Jacobus Arminius  from that same time period, who emphasized human responsibility and has been accused of minimizing the importance of God’s sovereignty.

     Debates have gone on for centuries as to which of these two men were - or are - right and many have polarized into opposing camps and denominations.  I do not think we shall ever settle the matter in our lifetime.

     However, I believe we should try to embrace the truth from both of these theological perspectives – and others - whenever we can.  I know it seems contradictory but the Biblical view of God and His ways is that of paradoxes and opposites; e. g. He is one God and yet three…

     Look at some of Jesus’ teachings, like “those who humble themselves shall be exalted” and those who lose will gain and those who gain will lose, or that we must die to live, etcetera, etc. 

What spiritual paradoxes He proclaimed!  “In the world you will have tribulations but be of good cheer…….”  We could go on quoting Him some more but I will not belabor the point. 

     On the natural side, we know that God created electricity which involves polar opposites, being both positive and negative at the same time.  To be balanced in our thinking we must keep things like this in mind.

     I live with this kind of reality every single day, having been married to my polar opposite since the end of ’77. It seems that for two to become one in marriage requires that both parties must die to self.  This is a paradox that can purify the selfish. (With me, this process is ongoing).  Perhaps God’s purpose of opposing realities - like electricity and marriage - is to shock the impurities out of our life as we learn to embrace them all wholeheartedly even when we do not understand them very well.                                   The bottom line of my purpose here is to appeal for balanced thinking so that we do not minimize important things that may be equally true just to satisfy our western mindsets.                                                      
    Water can be soft and yet it can also be hard. Recognizing this fact can prevent us pain while using it can bring us pleasure. Iced tea anyone?                       
    A story  is told of two men, one a hyper-Armenian and the other a hyper-Calvinist.  They both walk across the same field – at different times - and they both step on the upturned teeth of a rake which flipped up and hit them in the nose.                                                    

     The Armenian yelled,  “Man I am an idiot, why couldn’t  I see that?  I am never going to do that again.”  Punishing himself is a norm because everything is his fault unless he can find someone else to blame.  Often this kind of thinking can rob us of the joy of fully trusting God because it can place too much responsibility on our shoulders and even lock us into shame.                                                   

     Later the Calvinist walked across the same field and stepped on the upturned teeth of the same rake and it flipped up and hit him in the  nose, he picked up the rake and said “Man I am sure glad that part of my life is over!”


          

    While this part of the story may appear to be funny, as it did to me, it serves to illustrate how ridiculous it would be to view absolutely everything into being a part of the predetermined will and plan of God. No one is that silly.  Well maybe not.....            

    While I believe we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son and that He uses everything for that purpose, it does not mean that He wills everything to be as it is.  In His sovereignty, God has made man sovereign and where there is irresponsibility there will be consequences of our own doing.     

     God is ultimately sovereign and yet He made man sovereign enough to be like Him, i. e. to be made in His image.                                             

     I know my shallow attempt here may be annoying to some but let’s face the unavoidable truth.  None of us has all the answers and the sooner we realize it the better.                            

     It is better to recognize our lack of answers than to come up with something that fails to be completely true.  My desire is to fully embrace everything I know to be true and to not reject things I am not sure about just because it does not fit with my way of thinking or into someone’s system of theology.                     .    

     By the way, hyper-Armenians and hyper-Calvinists can have one thing in common.  They both can become vulnerable to not enjoying the full assurance of salvation.  The hyper-Armenian may not fully know if he is good enough to be saved and the hyper-Calvinist may not know for sure if he has been elected to be saved.  I know this is true because I have met both kinds of people among them.                                          

     In conclusion, thank God for the blood of the Son of our Sovereign God and His name that we can call upon, in the faith that He gives us, for His salvation that no one can take away.  While I do not fully understand that last statement, I am learning to enjoy it anyway.

IF JOSEPH WAS A CALVINIST