Arminian Vs. Calvinism. The Bare Bones.

So today we're going to talk about the difference between Arminianism and Calvinism, and why I am an Arminian. I'm sure that many people that read this are Calvinists and that is okay. You chose to be that way ;)

First off if you don't know much about either of them that's okay, a lot of people don't and you don't have to in order to read this. Hopefully I explain it well enough or spark enough of an interest to get you to look them up using your amazing googlefu. Here is a JPG. to help you maybe understand it a little better.

One of the main points of argument between the two is the subject of free-will, specifically about salvation. Calvinists say that God chooses us (humans), and that we don't have a choice. If God chooses us to be part of his elect (the saved) then we will be. Arminians say that the option of salvation is there for everyone, all we have to do is reach out and take it because Christ died for the entirety of the human race, not just the elect.

I'm just briefly going to touch on the P part of TULIP before I get into why I'm an Arminian just so that you can better understand it. Basically, Calvinists say that you cannot lose your salvation/walk away from God. Arminians say that you can because God gives you that choice since love cannot be love without the choice to love. 

Okay, so this is why I am an Arminian I could preach an entire sermon series on this and I probably will one day but for now I will settle for a blog post. To put it simply, love can't be love without the choice to love. Let's start with the subject of sin, in Arminian theology God created free-will and sin was a by-product of free will. The opportunity to sin was there the same as the opportunity to close your computer and go make yourself a pot of coffee, but God himself did not make that pot of coffee. Without humans having free will, then God specifically made Adam and Eve sin, causing the Fall. Then even if a person completely devotes their lives to God but they are not part of the elect then they will go to Hell and burn for eternity anyways. That explanation of God sure doesn't sound like the God that I have a relationship with. 

Rather, God lets us choose because he loves us. If we make the choice to accept Christ then we are saved. Arminianism is all about free will, and I love that, it fits in scripturally whenever context is actually looked at. If you want to know more let me know, or look it up. If you look it up you'll probably learn more. 

I promise I won't post super serious posts like this very often but this is one of my favorite things to study. Hopefully you enjoy it too. So if you have questions let me know. I could go on longer about both but this post is already super long and my wife is telling me to hurry up and come to bed. 

Thank you for reading.

Alex Gebert