This is one of those situations where I encounter a line of reasoning from an Arminian and dismiss it as a one-off, only to see it repeated by another Arminian a few months later.
The way I'm hearing it, the concept goes something like this:
- Bob is initially hostile to Arminian god, but is capable of "free will." <-- The equivocal "get out of sovereignty free" card).
- After being beat-up by circumstances in life, or whatever, Bob makes the final decision to choose Arminian Jesus, but it's only one of hostile surrender. Always. Thus, he chooses righteousness, but he did it out of bad motives, so he can't pat himself on the back for his free-will decision (lol).
- Arminian god, eternally chained to the end of the timeline from the beginning of the foundation of the world, looks through his magic telescope and is taken completely by surprise, "Praise ME! I had no idea that Bob would choose me! How wonderful of Bob to finally do that!"
- Arminian god then shows gracious forgiveness in response to such a hostile surrender, and offers Bob far more than he expected, including eternal life and oh yeah a relationship with Arminian Jesus.
Questions:
- Is this a new concept? A new "flavor" of Arminianism?
- Who popularized this?
- What's the history behind it?
The way I'm hearing it, the concept goes something like this:
- Bob is initially hostile to Arminian god, but is capable of "free will." <-- The equivocal "get out of sovereignty free" card).
- After being beat-up by circumstances in life, or whatever, Bob makes the final decision to choose Arminian Jesus, but it's only one of hostile surrender. Always. Thus, he chooses righteousness, but he did it out of bad motives, so he can't pat himself on the back for his free-will decision (lol).
- Arminian god, eternally chained to the end of the timeline from the beginning of the foundation of the world, looks through his magic telescope and is taken completely by surprise, "Praise ME! I had no idea that Bob would choose me! How wonderful of Bob to finally do that!"
- Arminian god then shows gracious forgiveness in response to such a hostile surrender, and offers Bob far more than he expected, including eternal life and oh yeah a relationship with Arminian Jesus.
Questions:
- Is this a new concept? A new "flavor" of Arminianism?
- Who popularized this?
- What's the history behind it?
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