8 years ago, if you would have asked me about my view on Calvinism, I would have told you that Calvin was a great theologian and a hero of the faith. That one sentence would have exhausted my knowledge on the subject. If you would have asked me if I was Arminian, I would have said, “No, I believe my ancestors were English. I’m sure there are a number of believers who if they were honest would have answered these questions similarly. The sad part is at that time in my life I was the Pastor of a small congregation in Orlando Florida and had been working in the ministry for 17 years. It wasn’t as though I was ignorant of doctrine. I had a firm grasp of the 16 fundamental doctrines taught by the Assemblies of God, but honestly had little understanding of other strains of Christian thinking. After all, things like doctrine and theology were cold and dead. What I was after was a relationship.
Over the years I did have encounters with Reformed thinking. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but I remember struggling to reconcile ideas about grace vs. responsibility and election vs. the gospel’s offer to all men. I was admittedly undecided on the issue of eternal security. On one hand I saw very compelling arguments for the idea that it was Jesus who saved me and He had promised to never let me go. On the other hand, the New Testament passages were full of text that warned against apostasy and said that we all work out our salvation with fear and trembling. I tried several times to come to terms with where I stood on the subject, but could never quite find a solid place to land. Ultimately I decided that the safest position to take was that we could cast off our faith. Beyond the compelling scriptures that bolstered that point of view was a scenario I had worked out in my head.
Which error would I rather be held accountable for? I imagined that after I had preached eternal security, Jesus came to me in heaven and told me that I had been wrong. Many of those I had preached to thought they were safe. They were not. I would never see them in eternity. Then I imagined that I had preached that you can lose your salvation. Jesus came to me and said, “What were you thinking? All those people that you taught worried that they were on the straight and narrow. They lost a lot of sleep over what you taught them. They are here right now, and they want to have a word with you.” I decided that if I were going to be wrong that was the best way to do it.
That line of thinking served me well for a number of years, but eventually I would have to come down on one side or the other of this debate. A decade ago, no one that I knew spoke much of reformed theology, but today it’s all around me. If you haven’t noticed, there is a resurgence of Calvinism. At the epicenter are men like Al Mohler, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, CJ Mahaney and R.C. Sproul. But the driving force behind the movement are impassioned young people who have rejected the notion that doctrine is for stuffy, up-tight theologians. Good for them. They have cast off the cultural Christianity that defined generations before them and have taken their faith to a deep place. They want to know God as he reveals himself – not just God as we want him to be. If you want to understand more about the resurgence of Calvinism, I recommend an article by Collin Hansen Titled “Young, Restless, Reformed” that was published in Christianity Today in 2006.
My collision course with Calvinism was set into motion at about the same time this article launched. In 2005, I left the ministry. I won’t go into details about why (no there was no scandal), but I thought at the time it was for good. Andria and I began to look for a church to call home. Six months later, we settled on a church with a vibrant community, upbeat worship, and an aggressive vision for local and world missions. We both were excited to get involved and help wherever we could. Two years after we began attending we learned that our new church held to the five points of Calvinism. This fact had not been previously talked about or published, so we were both caught off guard.
Now, I have to admit again; this was my first exposure to the full extent of Calvinism. The acronym T.U.L.I.P. makes the five point of Calvinism easy to remember.
- Total Depravity
- Unconditional Election
- Limited Atonement
- Irresistible Grace
- Perseverance of the Saints
Like many who are first exposed to the doctrines of grace, my paradigms of God and the nature of salvation felt under attack. I didn’t hesitate to ask questions and to bring up passages that seemed to stand in opposition to the TULIP position. My questions were received with acceptance and grace. I was even encouraged to engage in some private debate on the matter with my pastor. Honestly, I enjoyed the conversation. Unfortunately, there was a negative result to my open discussions. To my disappointment, the doors of opportunity to minister in meaningful ways began to close to me. Don’t get me wrong. I am not finding fault here. A good shepherd needs to protect the sheep. That’s his job. Doctrine is important. It matters personally and it matters ecclesiastically. When I pastored, I was careful about who I gave access and authority to teach, so I find no fault here. Still, I was disappointed.
This disappointment moved me to get off the fence. I began to aggressively study the subject. I will admit that my first goal was to become an expert pugilist for a non-Calvinist view. My experience with most Calvinist had been negative. I knew that as soon as I entered into a discussion on the subject I could expect to be hit with a barrage of supporting scripture in machine-gun-like fashion. I had never heard an Arminian articulate their position like this. I set out to become such an expert in Arminian Theology. I imagined myself having such firm grasp of the subject matter that I could banish any Calvinist who came my way.
That thought lasted only a minute or two before the Holy Spirit stepped in. He convicted me that my motives were not pure. I needed to seek to understand the doctrines of grace and I needed to be willing to be wrong. No one ever found truth by rejecting every unfamiliar idea.
I started on this journey of discovery about a year and a half ago. I have read (and continue to read) everything I can get my hands on from noted Calvinists and Arminians. I have discovered much, and continue to make new discoveries, but I needed some incentive to begin to put down what I was learning in a systematic way. That is the primary goal of this blog. The idea is that if I put this out there and others begin to read it and comment, it will provide the necessary motivation to keep me going. The secondary motivation is that I might become a meaningful help to others who are asking similar questions and that this may in some way become a forum for honest examination and discussion.
With that thought in mind, let’s lay some ground rules:
1. Resist the temptation to put labels on people. This debate has been going on since the late 1500’s. I’m not delusional enough to think that my silly blog is going to help us all get along. My hope is that this can be a place for free expression of ideas. Labels like Pelagian, simi-pelagian, Molinist, Hyper-Calvinist, etc. attempt to discredit ideas and limit open discussion. I’m not saying we won’t talk about what these theological systems are, but if someone expresses a thought that you want to put in a box, you should ask yourself why? Are you encouraging discussion, or are you trying to discredit a thought before any substantive discussion can take place?
2. Be respectful. The world is watching us. No flaming please.
3. Let’s try not to get too heady. I’m going to make every effort to keep the conversation accessible. This shouldn’t be too hard for me. I’m no theologian. I realize that we are going to handle some heady information here, but if I have to look up to many words, I start to lose interest.
I’m going to try to post something every week, but I have a two year-old and life happens. I realize that if you want to have a successful blog you need to put more out there but I want to have some balance to my life. Well, what do you think? Are you ready? Let’s begin.