As we discuss a lot of philosophical concepts, many from my point of view seem a little abstract in my life. The subject of free will and determinism wasn’t something I focused on a lot at the time of our class discussion but throughout the semester, the issue has become more relevant, challenging and less of an absolute in my life. I have spent the last few days trying to figure out something to write about and struggling with finding relevance or interest in the things we have recently discusses in class. Ironically in my real life, since at least Thursday, the majority of all personal conversations have been focused on the idea of pre-destination, the evaluations my friends and I are trying to make and the effects the struggle over this subject has caused in our lives. After starting several blog entries and not being able to finish, or them being crap, I realized all of the sudden that we this struggle is philosophical and something we have approached in class.
When we discussed it in class, I considered myself a soft determinist. Today, I would probably call myself the same, but I’m not sure that’s what I am supposed to believe. I have struggled with the issue within my own faith during the semester, but instead of calling it Free will and Determinism, it is more specified to one issue and called Arminianism and Calvinism. In most churches it isn’t discussed that often. But at the church I currently attend, the issue has been brought up this semester, and It was clearly stated that they believe that scripture states that God choses who will be saved. This could be called Predestination, Election or Calvinism. Calvinism has 5 points. Before now, I have thought it was both. That God choses every one of us and we also have the choice to choose him or not. I had never had any kind of relationship with anyone who was Calvinist, or at least not openly. I have read certain things in scripture that point towards predestination but there are plenty that talk about our freedom as well. I am going to explore the 5 points of Calvinism and explain the best I can what it means to me, or even to the general population and I am going to try and do it in a way that is understandable to someone who isn’t familiar with Christian Theology or Scripture. There are also posted links that go more in depth if anyone would care to read them for better understanding or if what I am saying doesn’t make sense or is confusing.
There are 5 points of Calvinism
1. Total Depravity (original Sin)
2. Unconditional election (God's election)
Limited atonement (Particular Redemption)
4 Irresistible grace (effectual calling)
Perseverance of the Saints
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/dabney/5points.htm
I understand the first point, is that all men are fallen. We as humans are sinful creatures after Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit. No man besides Jesus who was 100% man and 100% God was without sin. Humans are incapable of going their entire life without sin. Sin might be a difficult concept to grasp, but it is inclusive of a multitude of things that most people do daily. It doesn’t have to be outward but sin can take place solely in your head and in your heart. Things like anger and lust, although not acted on outwardly are sins before they can be manifested physically in your life. This is something I agree with.
The second point is something that is a lot harder for me to accept. It is something I have not accepted yet but am learning about through scripture (both arguments for and against) in order to be educated. Neither Calvinist nor Arminianist believes (as far as I know) that whether you interpret scripture for or against Election has any effect on your salvation. This being said, I may never decide but I do want to be educated on the issue. So the second point is unconditional election. Charles Spurgeon states this.
“We believe that God's election of individuals is unconditioned and sovereign. They believe that while eternal and particular, it is on account of God's eternal, omniscient foresight of the given sinner's future faith and repentance, and perseverance in holy living.”
He also says
“Says the Arminian: God certainly foresaw that Saul of Tarsus would believe and repent, and, therefore, elected him. But I say that if God certainly foresaw Saul's faith, it must have been certain to take place, for the Omniscient cannot make mistakes. Then, if this sinner's faith was certain to take place, there must have been some certain cause insuring that it would take place. Now, no certain cause could be in the "free-will" of this sinner.”
I hope this is making sense. I don’t think I can explain it any better than Spurgeon but I will put it in my own words in hopes of simplifying it. Armenians do not question Gods Sovereignty. That God is in everything and over everything, but they do believe that he allows people to make the decision to follow Christ, to invite the Holy Spirit into their lives. Calvinist’s believe that if he is all knowing then he must have made the decision for them. That all humans, given the choice wouldn’t chose God, but themselves so knowing how everyone would chose, he chose for them. Elected them to his kingdom. To make this perfectly clear, he chooses who goes to heaven.
Particular Redemption, the third point of Calvinism To the best of my knowledge this means that Christ Died only for those who have been elected, not every person. With my current understanding of scriptures this is not something that I agree with.
The fourth Point of Calvinism is Irresistible grace. What I understand of this is that if you are called, or elected you have no free will. The short version of a very long and confusing description states,
The saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (the elect) and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to faith in Christ.-Wikipedia
I’m not sure I really understand or grasp this means that men cannot be convinced to serve God and participate in God’s will without God’s powerful intervention.
The fifth and final point in Calvinism is perseverance of the saints. This in the words of my Baptist upbringing is what was described through the saying, “Once saved, and always saved.” An idea that people argued both ways that I had no idea was part of an entire system of beliefs. I think I agree with this. If someone falls away from the Lord, in my opinion they were probably never saved in the first place. If you have ever read The Screw tape Letters by C.S. Lewis though this doesn’t make that much sense. If you can’t fall away from the Lord, what is the purpose of demons? I do believe in Satan and the fallen angels that followed him and if Satan was indeed an angel he would know that there was nothing he or his demons could do to distract the chosen. They would never turn away so what is the point? This is not what was expressed in The screw tape Letters. C.S. Lewis is a very valued and intelligent theologian in my eyes so I just googled it and this is what I found about his views.
“I wore Calvinism for about 25 years, from a couple of years out of Bible college until a few years back when I hung it back up on the rack because it didn’t fit. It just doesn’t seem to be relevant to anything real. The whole point-counterpoint between Calvinism and Arminianism seems to be trying to answer questions that the Bible does not ask or means to answer.”
These are the points of Armenianism which counter the points of Calvinism and I don’t believe have any need for description.
(1) election (and condemnation on the day of judgment) was conditioned by the rational faith or nonfaith of man;
(2) the Atonement, while qualitatively adequate for all men, was efficacious only for the man of faith;
(3) unaided by the Holy Spirit, no person is able to respond to God’s will;
(4) grace is not irresistible; and
(5) believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/35372/Arminianism
So after reviewing this further than I have previously, I have no absolute answer. (Following at least one of the 14 precepts of Buddhism) I am open to change my mind. But in order these are my current views.
God elects all of us, he chases after every human and they have the choice to choose him too or not too. This is a way he shows us grace and love.
Jesus died for all of us, not just those who accept him; it only affects those who choose him though.
God had to have changed my heart, because by myself I am selfish and wouldn’t have chosen the betterment of the kingdom, at this point I don’t believe I could turn back on God. I don’t know if God has stripped my free-will from me to do so, or if I just wouldn’t change my mind given the chance because I have experienced God and wouldn’t chose anything else.
The verdict is definitely still out on whether a person can fall from the Lord. I have no idea. I know I belong to the Lord, and Jesus wins so how could Satan interfere in that? Maybe before I belong to the Lord, before my heart is officially his. So does that mean salvation is a process?
If you have noticed there are no Bible verses listed within this blog, that would make this go on forever and would create hours upon hours of evaluation. Make no mistake, my philosophy relies solely on scripture but both of these theologies have been taken from scripture and both are widely adopted so I’m not sure my interpretation of a scripture would say the same thing to another reader. If scripture referring to either is what you are looking for, don’t hesitate to contact me, I have and am continually collecting information on the issue that I am more that welcome to share. I guess at the end of the day, (at least today), I am still a soft determinist in the philosophy world. I think.
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