The Bible Tools, “Sabbath-keeping, non-Trinitarian” post I was viewing read, “God Himself has kept Israel from seeing and hearing (understanding and applying) His truth, giving Israel a spirit of slumber to make possible the salvation…
Election
The Arminian and Calvinist Ordo Salutis: A Brief Comparative Study
The ordo salutis is the “order of salvation.” It focuses on the process of salvation and the logical order of that process. The main difference between the Arminian and Calvinist ordo concerns faith and regeneration. Strictly speaking, faith is not part of salvation in the Arminian ordo since it is the condition that is met prior to God’s act of saving. All that follows faith is salvation in the Arminian ordo while in the Calvinist ordo faith is the result of salvation in some sense. What follows is how I see the Arminian ordo compared to the Calvinist ordo along with why I find the Calvinist ordo theologically problematic.
Arminian ordo salutis:
Prevenient grace
Faith
[Union with Christ]
Justification
Regeneration
Sanctification
Glorification
Notes on Arminian ordo:
Friday Files: Godet on Romans 9
In Frederic Louis Godet takes a “National Election” approach in his commentary on Romans 9. He summarizes the flow of Romans 9-11 as follows: “1. That of God’s absolute liberty in regard to every alleged…
Correcting Chistian Rapper Flame’s Theology
The Christian rapper Flame must not be your average rapper. I came across the lyrics of one of his songs. It is heavy with theology and is to be commended for being weighty. I suspect…
Friday Files: Goodwin on Romans 9
John Goodwin’s 531 page commentary on Romans 9 is the longest and most detailed account of Romans 9 I have read. I loved it. I will try to give a brief overview and highlight what I found to be some of his most insightful points. The structure of his work is as follows: a brief overview of the chapter to show how his view flows with the contours of the text, a detailed exposition of the text, a table of scriptures mentioned with some commentary on them, some general comments on interpretation, and some questions on answers on the broader implications of the text. The work also includes the “Banner of Justification”, which explains justification in detail and it includes “Agreement and Distance of Brethren” which highlights the differences between Calvinists and Arminians.
Overview
Friday Files: Keith Schooley on Romans 9
In Keith Schooley’s Article: Romans 9: An Arminian/New Perspective Reading, he skillfully uses the OT to explain Romans 9. Paul refutes “those Jews who would say that, if Paul’s gospel were correct, then “God’s word…
Daniel Whitby, Discourses on the 5 Points
Warning: Whitby slighted the doctrine of original sin. But besides that, he had the loudest voice against Calvinism in his day. His classic work from 1735, which provides detailed scriptural explanations of large numbers of…
Dennis McCallum, Exegesis of Romans 9 and Romans 9-11
Lead pastor of Xenos Fellowship Dennis McCallum has presented what many consider a fascinating and very well done exegesis of Romans 9. Material that can be found on his church’s website: “Romans 9: Predestination“Romans 9: Predestinat…
Essays on Predestination by John Plaifere, Christopher Potter, Laurence Womock, Thomas Goad, and Louis Chéron
Plaifere & Goad take a Middle Knowledge approach to predestination. Christopher Potter defends his sermons on prevenient grace and coversion. Laurence Womock (or Womack) defends Daniel Tinelus, a critic of the Synod of Dort and…
Friday Files: Arminius on Romans 9
In James Arminius’ commentary on the 9th Chapter of Romans, he argues that the topic at hand is justification by faith. He humbly admits that for some time the chapter was of the “greatest obscurity”,…
Edward Bird on The Horrible Decree of Unconditional Election
Great example of early Engish Arminianism (1726). Bird explains total depravity, prevenient grace, unlimited atonement, conditional decrees, predestination and perserveriance as he examines some of the problems in Calvinism. He has mild appeals to middle…
Robert Hamilton, “Does Arminianism Diminish God’s Glory?”
Does Arminianism Diminish God’s Glory? One charge often heard against Arminianism is that by allowing for human agency to play a significant role in the process of salvation, Arminians decrease the scope of God’s agency…
Friday Files: Moore’s Commentary on Romans 9
In Bob Moore’s “Calvinism–Ten Little Caveats,” he provides a step-by-step analysis of Romans 9, and he contrasts his view with John Piper’s. He first admits that Romans 9 is difficult to interpret and we need…
Friday Files: Clarke’s commentary on Romans 9
In Adam Clarke’s commentary on Romans 9, he argues for that God choice of Jacob and Esau were primarily national1, rather than the unconditional individual election and reprobation. The idea is that God chose to…
The Farmer, the Boys, and the Pond
In his book “Chosen but Free“, Dr. Norman Geisler* gives an illustration that vividly explains the problem with the Calvinistic teaching of Limited Atonement. Here is a paraphrase of the story: There was a farmer…
Jabez Burns, “The Universal Love of God and Responsibility of Man”
This is a book written in 1861 by Jabez Burns, an eminent minister of the English General Baptists. Please click on the attachment to view “The Universal Love of God and Responsibility of Man”. Burns_Universal…
What Does God “Fore-love” According to Calvinism?
Many Arminians see God’s election of individuals as based on God’s foreknowledge of faith. They see that primary election passages make reference to foreknowledge and even suggest that election is based on foreknowledge. They also…
Supralapsarianism and the Sovereignty of God
Supralapsarianism is the teaching that before God decreed to create human beings He first planned to elect and to reprobate. Millard J. Erickson gives the ordered decrees within supralapsarianism as: 1) God decreed to save…
Friday Files: Brian Abasciano’s “Corporate Election in Romans 9: A Reply to Thomas Schreiner”
In Brian Abasciano’s article Corporate Election in Romans 9: A Reply to Thomas Schreiner, Abasciano corrects Schreiner’s mistaken notion that corporate election denies any place to the individual. He argues that election is primarily corporate…
The Biblical Doctrines of Grace (Part Two)
For the Calvinist, the “doctrines of grace” is a synonym for TULIP theology. So, do the Biblical Doctrines of Grace of Arminianism also follow a system, such as TULIP? Arminianism proper has not historically employed an acronym as the one used for nearly four centuries by Calvinists.
Let it be stated, however, that if it had not been for the followers of Arminius (the Remonstrants) presenting their five arguments to the state to be approved as orthodox consent, then the TULIP would have never been constructed. And the original order of the Remonstrants was Conditional Election (to those in Christ), Unlimited Atonement, Total Depravity, Resistible Grace, and Conditional Perseverance.
If the Calvinists had strictly followed the Arminian system, it would have spelled ULTIP, which is a bad acronym, considering Ultip is not a word. Worse off, the Arminian acronym would have been CUTRC. The best sense which we could make out of that construct is TRUCC, also not a word.
Recent Posts
How Do You Deal with the Limited Atonement Argument that If Jesus Paid the Penalty for All, Then People Sent to Hell Would Be Paying the Penalty a Second Time?
Roy Ingle, “Preach Perseverance”
X-Calvinist Corner Files: Testimony # 41
Richard Coords, “Regeneration”
