SaintCody777
The young, curious Berean
- Jan 11, 2018
- 315
- 317
- 29
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Single
- Politics
- US-Constitution
Arminianism has it's their own shades too, like Calvinism.
1) Classical Arminianism- This is what I hold to. Founded by Jacob Arminius himself, who was a co-worker of one of Calvin's disciples, but then discovered and pondered upon free will in the Bible. But, this doctrine may have been taught earlier within the Anabaptist movement and even the Waldensians. Contrary to what Calvinists think, Arminius taught total depravity. He said "In this state, the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, maimed, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as are excited by Divine grace. For Christ has said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” St. Augustine, after having diligently meditated upon each word in this passage, speaks thus: “Christ does not say, without me ye can do but Little; neither does He say, without me ye can do any Arduous Thing, nor without me ye can do it with difficulty. But he says, without me ye can do Nothing! Nor does he say, without me ye cannot complete any thing; but without me ye can do Nothing.” In other words, the only reason why men have a free-will to choose whether or not to follow Christ is because of previnent grace from Calvary. Nuetral on OSAS, but many Remonstrants rejected it. Classical Arminianism was/is not really that common. It mostly prevails among the Free Will/General Baptists and maybe some of the Assemblies of God. Roger Olsen is a Southern Baptist theologian who believes this sorietology.
The reason why I believe Classical Arminianism is most represented by the Bible is that man is totally depraved and dead in his sins, unless God bestows previnent enabling grace to him. We are justified by faith through grace alone apart from works, with Christ's perfect righteousness imputed to those who trust in Him (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 4:5-6; Romans 5:12). And as I said in my earlier post in this form, God commands all men everywhere to repent. This command is clear throughout the Bible. What's the point of giving common grace to unbelievers if they are not going to choose Christ anyways?
2) Wesleyan Arminianism- A modified Arminianism by John Wesley. It teaches the second grace. Meaning that in addition to imputed righteousness, Wesleyan Arminianism teaches entire sanctification, that a Christian can be free of stumbling with willful sin for the rest of his life as long as he preserves. Strictly believes that salvation can be lost but can be regained. This sorietology is held by Methodists/Wesleyans, outside the UMC, and some, but not all, Holiness and/or Pentecostals, like the Church of the Nazarenes.
My comment: Although Christ died not just to save us from the penalty of our sins, but also from our grip and bondage to our sins (Ephesians 2:9, Romans 6, 1 John), are bodies are still struggling with sins (Romans 7, Noah got drunk, Moses did something that kept him out of the promise land, and many other saints stumbled with sins, sometimes horrifying ones), just as how Christians on Earth can still get sick and die. However, with God's help, we can mature to being better believers walking in the fear of God and getting better a tackling and avoiding our sins or anything that can easily lead to it (1 Corinthians 3:1-4, 1 John:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:7, Philippians 2:12-13).
Most people who call themselves "Arminian" nowadays, are either actually semi-Pelagian, which affirms original sin, but NOT total depravity, or even full-blown Pelagian, which denies original sin entirely. It is the dominant soreitology of our churches today. This is why many Calvinists associate Arminius and Arminianism with semi-Pelagianism or Pelagianism. This is not helped by the fact that the Calvinist backed Dutch magistrates and government of Arminius' day who were on a smear campaign against Arminius and his teachings, twisting and ultimately misrepresenting what he said.
1) Classical Arminianism- This is what I hold to. Founded by Jacob Arminius himself, who was a co-worker of one of Calvin's disciples, but then discovered and pondered upon free will in the Bible. But, this doctrine may have been taught earlier within the Anabaptist movement and even the Waldensians. Contrary to what Calvinists think, Arminius taught total depravity. He said "In this state, the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, maimed, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as are excited by Divine grace. For Christ has said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” St. Augustine, after having diligently meditated upon each word in this passage, speaks thus: “Christ does not say, without me ye can do but Little; neither does He say, without me ye can do any Arduous Thing, nor without me ye can do it with difficulty. But he says, without me ye can do Nothing! Nor does he say, without me ye cannot complete any thing; but without me ye can do Nothing.” In other words, the only reason why men have a free-will to choose whether or not to follow Christ is because of previnent grace from Calvary. Nuetral on OSAS, but many Remonstrants rejected it. Classical Arminianism was/is not really that common. It mostly prevails among the Free Will/General Baptists and maybe some of the Assemblies of God. Roger Olsen is a Southern Baptist theologian who believes this sorietology.
The reason why I believe Classical Arminianism is most represented by the Bible is that man is totally depraved and dead in his sins, unless God bestows previnent enabling grace to him. We are justified by faith through grace alone apart from works, with Christ's perfect righteousness imputed to those who trust in Him (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 4:5-6; Romans 5:12). And as I said in my earlier post in this form, God commands all men everywhere to repent. This command is clear throughout the Bible. What's the point of giving common grace to unbelievers if they are not going to choose Christ anyways?
2) Wesleyan Arminianism- A modified Arminianism by John Wesley. It teaches the second grace. Meaning that in addition to imputed righteousness, Wesleyan Arminianism teaches entire sanctification, that a Christian can be free of stumbling with willful sin for the rest of his life as long as he preserves. Strictly believes that salvation can be lost but can be regained. This sorietology is held by Methodists/Wesleyans, outside the UMC, and some, but not all, Holiness and/or Pentecostals, like the Church of the Nazarenes.
My comment: Although Christ died not just to save us from the penalty of our sins, but also from our grip and bondage to our sins (Ephesians 2:9, Romans 6, 1 John), are bodies are still struggling with sins (Romans 7, Noah got drunk, Moses did something that kept him out of the promise land, and many other saints stumbled with sins, sometimes horrifying ones), just as how Christians on Earth can still get sick and die. However, with God's help, we can mature to being better believers walking in the fear of God and getting better a tackling and avoiding our sins or anything that can easily lead to it (1 Corinthians 3:1-4, 1 John:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:7, Philippians 2:12-13).
Most people who call themselves "Arminian" nowadays, are either actually semi-Pelagian, which affirms original sin, but NOT total depravity, or even full-blown Pelagian, which denies original sin entirely. It is the dominant soreitology of our churches today. This is why many Calvinists associate Arminius and Arminianism with semi-Pelagianism or Pelagianism. This is not helped by the fact that the Calvinist backed Dutch magistrates and government of Arminius' day who were on a smear campaign against Arminius and his teachings, twisting and ultimately misrepresenting what he said.
Last edited:
Upvote
0