No One Wants To Be An Arminian: No one wants to be that Guy.

In Christian circles you will occasionally encounter the term Arminianism. I don't know why but it doesn't sound like a good thing to be. It sounds strange, different, kind of weak. Just not something you would want to be. So every time the topic comes up most everyone says “I’m not an Arminian.” I guess the obvious question is “Why?” I mean what is an Arminian in the first place and why is being an Arminian such a terrible thing in the second place?

Well Arminianism is named for a fellow called Jacob Arminius who was a very learned Professor and Theologian in the time of the Reformation. He was known for his views on soteriology or the doctrine of Salvation and most notably that he disagreed with John Calvin’s followers on Predestination.

Calvin’s followers believed that the gospel is not for all and that the elect (Christians) are predestined to salvation just as the lost are predestined to damnation. They were particularly strong on the view that the believer could do nothing to assist in his or her salvation. That man is so depraved that they could not even decide to believe on Christ Jesus as a personal decision. Thus God made the decision for them at the foundation of the World.

Arminius did not really entirely disagree with Calvinists about the state in which man found himself. However, he believed that God allowed man a degree of free will in the decision about his or her salvation and that the bible did not entirely support the Calvinist contentions about soteriology and the mechanism of Grace.

I sympathise with the Arminian point of view as although the bible supports the Doctrine of Predestination. I don’t believe that predestination means that persons are predestined to salvation or predestined to damnation which is a central theme in Calvinism as I understand it. The reason that I don’t like this idea is that with Christ Jesus came a complete sea change in the relationship available to those who follow Jehovah.

The emphasis under the New Covenant is now on a loving relationship between God and mankind for beside those scriptures on predestination are a raft of scriptures like John 3:16 on God’s love for the World through Christ’s work of Redemption on the Cross. It seems that all are called to salvation upon hearing the gospel preached. This is in accordance with the Great Commission given by Jesus at his ascension and found in the book of Matthew chapter twenty eight . John Wesley called this Prevenient Grace where the Father draws men and women close to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

The Arminians also known as the Remonstrants hold a view of God that believes every man and woman has the opportunity to hear the gospel call. To be drawn to Christ Jesus by the Father and to believe that He bore their sins on the Cross or to reject Him. In that vain they wrote the Five Articles of the Remonstrance to compete with the Calvinist interpretation of scripture and the Calvinist beliefs around Predestination. Five articles of Remonstrance | Theopedia

Now at the time of the writing of the Five Articles of the Remonstrance in 1610. There was a furor among the mainly Calvinist Christians and in 1618 they convened the Synod of Dort. This is where the Arminians were convicted of heresy and stripped of their congregations and charged not to preach on the Remonstrants. However in due course they were allowed to form Churches and left in peace.

A century later John and Charles Wesley were God’s instruments in forming the Methodist / Arminian Church in the Britain and the United States of America. They also spearheaded a great revival in England which pulled the country from the edge of ruin by bringing an end to the Gin Craze amongst other things. Their work provided a foundation for the Salvation Army and other denominations to build orphanages and address poverty in England in the Nineteenth Century.

As time progressed toward and through the Twentieth Century. The Industrial Revolution combined with a kind of Christian Renaissance to bring about a period of relative freedom and prosperity in the West. Sadly at the same time the devil attacked the Church with Secular Humanism, Liberalism and the Tongues Movement to great effect. This resulted in a steady decline of Arminian centered Christianity to the point that by the advent of the Twenty First Century it had largely morphed into a form of liberal quasi Christian Social Support network. At the same time the Reformed Church had fared better and became the default Fundamentalist Church of the day.

In the current era the word Arminian is a slur that no Christian wants to wear. I don’t think that most Christians know what an Arminian really is but they are certain they don’t want to be one. Actually Arminian Christians believe that Calvinism portrays a perspective of God that is inconsistent with the God of the bible. A picture of God that relates more to the God’s of the Greek pantheon. Super beings with unpredictable temperaments who would punish men mercilessly for no particular reason. Who would create them just to appease some whim and destroy them on another whim. Strange beings with odd moralities.

It is true that Jehovah has reacted with indignant rage in the Bible. He destroyed the antediluvian world completely and he judged certain individuals in a seemingly offhand manner but there is common thread to this. The explanation is sin and wickedness. God will not tolerate sin and acts decisively against it always. However, the Redemptive work of Christ Jesus on the Cross has brought about a sea-change in the way God deals with sin and brought the emphasis back to love.

God so loved the World that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life. We are saved by our belief in Christ Jesus and the redemptive work He did on the Cross. That belief is credited to us as faith which is not a work. Belief is acceptance and faith is trust so God sees our belief and gives us the gift of faith which gives salvation under the law of faith and by the Grace of God.

The Arminians believe that Grace is in two parts and therefore the first part is called Prevenient Grace where the Father draws us near to Christ and the second part involves our Salvation when we believe. I know that none of this makes much difference to Calvinists they just don’t believe it. But it just seems right to most non Calvinist Christians. Yes there is predestination but God is a loving God and He seeks to find that which was lost. No one is destined to damnation who didn’t freely choose to go there.

So lets remember that Arminians are nice people with big hearts who happen to love the same God as the other Christians. You could say that Arminians are Christians too. We have a similar view of mans ability to save himself as Calvinists but we happen to believe that Calvinism is only half of the picture. The other half is that the Father draws all who hear the gospel preached to Christ Jesus – Prevenient Grace.

To sum up then, the argument is largely between the Calvinists who tend to need God to be the strong, silent type who doesn’t stand any nonsense. A key scriptures would be “God is not mocked.” Hence God is not averse to being angry and judgmental and get to physical if he needs too. He is a God we can be proud of. In a similar manner we could be proud that our government has just bought the latest jet fighter. God is strong. He’s the man! As it were. As a result Calvinists have a God who will only accept those he has predestined from the beginning of time and he doesn’t care about the rest. They can “Go to hell!” Literally.

From the Arminian point of view the key scripture is the one entitled The Beatitudes of Matthew Five. Here Jesus lays out the attitudes that are important to God. Note “Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth.” The Meek from a Calvinist perspective would be the weak. However, the Meek are not weak. They are people of all kinds who love God and live their lives in peaceful humility. They never respond violently and are almost certainly represented by those who have laid down their lives in sacrifice throughout the Church Age. So to be Meek in the eyes of God is not to be weak but is a required attitude to represent God on the Earth.

John Wesley considered himself to be Arminian and his focus was strongly on the love of God. God used him to lead a great revival in England and America establishing the Methodist Church in the process. The outcome though was a period of Christian growth which reformed society and the way we treat the poor and needy in the Western World. It established a vibrant largely Christian middle class which lasted until the 1980’s. We have all benefited from the hard work that Arminians have put in to shepherd Christianity in a loving and compassionate way, even in this era when we are moving once more through a period of spiritual darkness. So next time someone mentions Arminians to you. You might be better informed as to who they are?