Evidently, Calvinists believe in another Christ, and their god is not the God of the Bible, but merely Satan, according to one anti-Calvinist preacher (link). What I find utterly bizarre about the snippet of this preacher’s sermon is that Calvinists do not deny any single passage of Scripture from which he quotes in an effort to prove his case. Calvinists may interpret those passages differently than does he, but they do not deny that Christ died for sin, etc.; their God does not differ from that of the non-Calvinist or Arminian — both Calvinists and Arminians worship the same God. Each may vary in its perspective of how God has chosen to carry out history, etc., but the God of Calvinism is the God of Arminianism, which is the God of the Bible.
I could be wrong, but I am guessing that Calvinists are completely unaware that they hate God and people (link), according to the same preacher. For all this preacher cares, so he confesses, Calvinists can go straight to hell (link). We at the Society of Evangelical Arminians (SEA) would not consider such a person to be an orthodox Arminian. Note very carefully that one qualification to being a member of SEA is that an individual agrees to the “recognition of Calvinists as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ” (link). We believe any lesser confession is unbiblical. Healthy debate between Calvinists and Arminians is, I believe, necessary. Each group, potentially, works as a healthy checks and balances in the body of Christ even though they both disagree on some secondary and tertiary matters. But charging one group of idolatry or consigning one party to hell merely because of theological disagreement with one’s respective interpretation is not sufficient for either group (link).
Anti-Calvinist rhetoric is not without its counterpart; extremes can be found from anti-Arminians as well. For example, from the website A Puritan’s Mind, Rev. Steven Houck insists that the “christ” of Arminianism is not the Christ of Scripture (link), and Dr. C. Matthew McMahon argues that the false god of Arminianism is not worthy of worship, but the theological system is “empowered” by demonic lies (link). Moreover, the latter confesses that the “most prevalent and destructive heresy of the church today is Arminianism” (link). Excuse me, but, did he really intend to communicate that Arminianism is the most prevalent and destructive heresy of the church today? Really? The most? More so than, say, Open Theism, the Emergent Movement, Universalism, Unitarianism, etc.?
Of course, we learn from history that anti-Calvinist zealots, such as the one linked to above, have gleaned from the likes of Sebastian Castellio (and others), while anti-Arminian polemicists such as McMahon and Houck (and other Calvinists) have taken their cue from the likes of previous Calvinists such as John Owen (and here) and Augustus Toplady. From my perspective — and I suspect the perspective of the vast majority of Bible-believing Christians — both anti-Arminian and anti-Calvinist extremists are a blight on the integrity and unity of the body of Christ. In one expression: both camps intensely grieve the Holy Spirit of God. King David writes, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1 NIV) The opposite, therefore, is also true: how bad and unpleasant it is when God’s people do not live together in unity!
The anti-Calvinists and anti-Arminians mentioned above have imagined that their theological opponents are promoting false teaching; they have arrogantly, brazenly, presumed to know the heart and mind of their supposed opponent; and they have positioned themselves as Judge, dethroning the only rightful, sovereign Judge of His creation. If I have ever written anything remotely similar, or even slightly implied “anti-Calvinist” sentiments, I ask for my Calvinist brothers and sister’s forgiveness.
Aside from the sins named above, both parties accomplish little else than working against the kingdom of God and His righteousness. In essence, then, anti-Calvinists and anti-Arminians are exposed as working for God’s enemy, Satan and his hosts: the ones who scatter, not unite — the ones who destroy, not build up.
None of the names mentioned in this post (including some unnamed) are to be trusted with regard to the subjects of Calvinism or Arminianism. Those who have placed their faith in Christ Jesus for salvation, whether Calvinist or Arminian, are brothers and sisters, members of one body. The apostle Paul insists as much: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4-6 NIV).
Prior to this confession, Paul writes, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3 NIV). Put emphasis upon the first three words: make every effort. If one of the Holy Spirit’s ministries among believers in Christ is tending to their unity, and we are called of God to make every effort to keep such unity, then anti-Calvinists and anti-Arminians find themselves working against the Holy Spirit. Defiant and contemptuous, such ungodly persons must be confronted and called upon to repent of this most grievous sin.
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