What is arminianism

In Arminian thinking, atonement is unlimited. Jesus died for all people. Calvinism: Jesus Christ died to save only those who were given to him elected by the Father in eternity past. Since Christ did not die for everyone, but only for the elect, his atonement is wholly successful.

Arminianism: Christ died for everyone. The Savior's atoning death provided the means of salvation for the entire human race. Christ's atonement, however, is effective only for those who believe.

God's grace has to do with his call to salvation. Calvinism: While God extends his common grace to all humankind, it is not sufficient to save anyone. Only God's irresistible grace can draw the elect to salvation and make a person willing to respond.

This grace cannot be obstructed or resisted. Arminianism: Through the preparatory prevenient grace given to all by the Holy Spirit , man is able to cooperate with God and respond in faith to salvation.

Through prevenient grace, God removed the effects of Adam's sin. Because of "free will" men are also able to resist God's grace. The free will of man versus God's sovereign will is linked to many points in the Calvinism vs. Calvinism: All men are totally depraved, and this depravity extends to the entire person, including the will. Except for God's irresistible grace, men are entirely incapable of responding to God on their own.

Arminianism: Because prevenient grace is given to all men by the Holy Spirit, and this grace extends to the entire person, all people have free will. Perseverance of the saints is tied to the "once saved, always saved" debate and the question of eternal security.

The Calvinist says the elect will persevere in faith and will not permanently deny Christ or turn away from Him. The Arminian may insist that a person can fall away and lose his or her salvation. However, some Arminians embrace eternal security. Calvinism: Believers will persevere in salvation because God will see to it that none will be lost. Believers are secure in the faith because God will finish the work he began. In essence, the Arminians maintained that God gives indispensible help in salvation, but that ultimately it is the free will of man which decides the issue.

After a period of sharp theological controversy the Dutch government convened a National Synod of leading churchmen, which met in Dordrecht in the years At this "Synod of Dort" the members adopted five articles in direct opposition to the five articles of the Arminians.

The articles of Dort have come to be known as the "five points of Calvinism. Steele and Curtis Thomas give a particularly clear and concise summary of the differences between Arminianism and Calvinism. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, choose to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace.

The entire process election, redemption, regeneration is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

This is the biblical Gospel. Philip Schaff in his Creeds of Christendom gives a very full discussion of the Arminian controversy, and although he is not entirely in sympathy with the articles of Dort, he rightly observes that "Calvinism represented the consistent, logical, conservative orthodoxy; Arminianism an elastic, progressive, changing liberalism.

The Arminians merely reverse the order, saying that man must respond out of his own free will after God first prompts him with "prevenient grace. Although Semi-Pelagianism and Arminianism were rejected in the Protestant confessions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, during the eighteenth century Arminian doctrine was revived and promoted by the English evangelist John Wesley and his followers.

Through their influence Arminian ideas eventually gained the upper hand in most American churches. Dwight Moody, who was the most popular evangelist of the nineteenth century, was essentially an Arminian with regard to his doctrine of salvation, although he inconsistently taught that salvation could not be "lost" after it was "obtained.

Arminian interpretations are to be found in one of the most popular versions of the Bible, Ken Taylor's Living Bible paraphrase. Today a naive and incoherent mixture of Arminian and Calvinistic teachings is typical of many churches, in which people describe themselves as "four point" or "three point" Calvinists after having implicitly accepted the basic premise of Arminianism that it is the free will of man which ultimately decides his standing with God.

This premise is incompatible with explicit teachings of the Bible concerning predestination see for example the ninth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans—a chapter which Arminians have never been able to explain. Theologians who have tried to present a coherent system of doctrine based upon the concept of "free will" have tended to fall into gross Pelagianism e.

Find Dr. Phil online at either apbrown2. What is Arminianism? God intended to provide an atonement that was available and sufficient for all men, not just for the elect. Though the grace of God is a necessary condition of human effort, it does not act irresistibly in man. Believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace.

As Christians, our desire should not be to be a follower of Calvin, Arminius, or any other person. What Is Arminianism? Arminianism is a type of theology that emphasizes every person's free will to trust in Jesus for salvation. Talk About It. What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you? In your own words, explain what prevenient grace means. Explain the Arminian view of predestination, election, and what it means that God desires everyone to be saved. What parts of the Arminian view make sense to you?

Which parts are confusing? Read Ephesians How would you expect an Arminian to explain these verses? Read 2 Timothy