A favorite apologetic argument of Calvinists is that if Arminianism is true in regard to universal atonement (i.e., Jesus died for everyone, and not just for the elite few), then he has failed miserably. Here is the argument as one Calvinist wrote to me, “If you believe that Christ was sent into the world to save every single man, Christ has failed… and not only slightly failed, He has failed miserably, for more men than will be saved, will be damned….”
If God’s purpose was to save believers, then he is 100% successful. If God’s purpose is to save a people who choose to believe in him without him throwing on the all powerful, irresistible and automatic faith switch, then God is 100% successful.
So I suppose how you define success is relevant here. I’m not impressed with the success rate of a God who throws his almighty, all powerful Godness at a hapless human being making him believe! In such cases, of course 100% will believe, but this is nothing to be impressed about. If God were to decide to wipe out 100% of the human race, he’d be successful, but such power goes without saying. I’m much more impressed with a God who loves 100% of his creatures so much that he sent his son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
The sad thing about Calvinists in regard to their claim that Arminianism has a God who miserably fails, is that they will see responses such as mine and realise that their logic is completely flawed and that their argument really isn’t worth the time of day. But then, the next time it comes up in a discussion, they will repeat the same lame logical argument or not bother correcting one of their own who uses it.
Leave a Reply