Dear Friends,
The great debate persists.
Are You a Calvinist or an Arminian?
A couple of weeks ago I
had lunch with an old friend I knew from my Calvary Chapel days in Fort
Lauderdale. He was in a church he loved, led by a pastor he felt especially
close to. His pastor asked him to consider becoming an elder and presented him
with a form to fill out expressing his theological beliefs. In filling out the
form, my friend realized his theological views were very different from those
held by the church and his pastor.
His pastor was an ardent
Calvinist and my friend, coming out of a Calvary Chapel church, was Arminian in
his theology, and because of that theological difference my friend was told he
would not be able to pursue eldership in the church.
My friend is now
struggling with whether he should continue attending a church he has grown to
love, but one in which he has some theological differences.
I too have
personally experienced the theological divide that can exist in some
churches over this issue.
Having been raised
Presbyterian (strongly Calvinistic in its theology), and then spending
twelve years in two Calvary Chapel churches, both of which were Arminian in
their theology, I have experienced how theological views can often impact how
you are perceived.
Before attending Calvary
Chapel Fort Lauderdale, I spent four years at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church,
also in Fort Lauderdale, where the pastor was Dr. D. James Kennedy, one of the best-known
Calvinist pastors in the country.
When I left that church to
join Calvary Chapel, there were some at Coral Ridge who questioned not only my
theology but sadly, even my relationship with Jesus.
They asked me how I
could leave Coral Ridge, a flagship Calvinistic church in the Presbyterian
denomination to attend Calvary Chapel, a non-denominational church that was so
Arminian in its theology.
I don't have time to
discuss all the major differences between Calvinism and Arminianism but suffice
to say that Calvinism emphasizes the complete depravity of man and the
sovereignty of God to choose some who are 'elected' to salvation while
rejecting others who are not, while Arminianism emphasizes the free will of man
to choose whether to accept or reject God's gracious gift of salvation.
Unfortunately, the
differing theological views have often divided churches and believers.
This issue has and will
continue to be strongly debated, and there are plenty of Scriptural
verses to support both positions.
In the Calvinism Arminian debate,
I don't care on which side of the theological fence you stand, but what I do
care about is whether your stance is drawing you closer to Jesus, and whether
your views are separating you from other brothers and sisters who hold a
differing point of view. I would ask is your primary aim as a believer to be a
militant converter of others to your theology or are you more concerned about
leading them to Jesus.
To say that John
MacArthur, A.W. Pink, J. I. Packer, George Whitfield, the Puritans, are
heretics because they adhere to Calvinism is unbiblical.
Or to say that John
Wesley, Francis Schaeffer, Josh McDowell, Billy Graham, are heretics because
they adhere to Arminianism is also unbiblical.
All of these men would
agree with the essentials of the faith, and I am sure that none of them would
ever say that those with whom they might disagree were not born again.
If such great theologians
and men of God can love one another and find unity despite their theological
differences, then so should we.
One day when we get to
heaven we will discover the final answer to this centuries old theological
debate, but until then that's not use their teachings to fuel arguments that
will only divide us from one another.
Let us practice what
Rupertus Meldenius, a 16th century German philosopher has written: "In
essentials unity, in non-essential liberty, in all things charity.
Yours in
faith,
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