Both Calvinism and Arminianism understand God to give grace to sinners before they are born-again. For the Calvinist its irresistible grace, for the Arminian its prevenient grace. Both types of grace are given to sinners without their consent, and both result in the ability to choose Christ, an ability that does not reside in sinners naturally.
But I think we Arminians are in the same boat here. God could convince everyone, or at least a lot more people than he actually does, to come to faith in Christ of their own freewill. He could appear to them like he did to Saul on the road to Damascus, or he could perform healing miracles, or send angels, or write the gospel message in the clouds, etc. But for his own reasons he chooses not to do so, as is his right to do. For both the Calvinist as well as the Arminian, God restrains his self-revelation to sinners (not that he is obligated to do otherwise).Not only does the Calvinist god not do this, he is utterly unable. If he could do it and he doesn't that would make him evil. If he can't do it then he must bow down to God of the Bible because to do this trumps the god of Calvinism because God of the Bible can do what the god of Calvinism cannot.
So are you saying God intervened in the Garden to prevent Adam and Eve from sinning? How? And if he did not, why not?The question is how does God intervene? Does He intervene by preteritioning you or catching the egg falling; or does He give the egg the free choice to roll off the counter? Of course we are not mere eggs, since we have free will in God's image so let us not debase the human condition down to an egg.
So then we seem to agree that God is culpable for the Fall, at least in a non-sinful way.The question is does God preventing something irresistibly manifest God's glory when He could give us the free choice with sufficient grace to decide? God is culpable, responsible as it is His design. You have received sufficient grace, even though you don't want it; nonetheless you have it so you are "without excuse".
I’m not sure how receiving sufficient prevenient grace when I don’t want it is all that different from irresistible grace of the Calvinists. Can you clarify? Sorry, I’m still sort of new to all these distinctions.
I’ve heard this Calvinist argue that God is not arbitrary in election or reprobation, that he has a reason for choosing as he does. And I’ve heard him say that man’s depravity limits his freedom (he’s not merely sick in sin, he is dead in sin, to use Paul’s characterization) until it is renewed by the Holy Spirit. That depravity is what necessitates God’s grace in the first place (whether it is construed as irresistible or prevenient). I’m still chewing on all that.In Arminian, God is not the author of evil, but He does provide all the free choices available to us that we may choose these evils if we so wish. On the other hand Satan is the author of evil because he consciously attempts to entice man to sin. The god of Calvinism does not violate his own laws of arbitrary and capricious preterition and robot irresistible selection. But he does violate God's laws, for God does not irresistibly make the Jews born for the gas chambers and save the Aryan race without sufficient grace for either group to decide.
It’s my understanding that most people today who claim to be Arminians also reject perseverance of the saints, even if Arminius himself did not. I think that is the common view over at the Society of Evangelical Arminians, for example. But no matter, theological labels are not a big deal to me. I don’t believe a genuine believer can lose his salvation, that much at least I think Calvinism has right. And though genuine believers started out as a little flock, they will grow into such a great multitude that no one can count (Rev. 7:9). Praise God!Arminians don't believe a person can lose salvation. Perhaps you were not aware that Jacob Arminius said, never once did he ever teach a person could lose salvation. Perhaps you are thinking of Remonstrants which include the Roman Catholics and most major religions being non-OSASers. For example, half of Methodists are Calvinists and the other half Remonstrants. Very popular groups unlike Christians, that is, OSAS Arminians which are a "little flock" (Luke 12.32).
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