[Editor’s Note: This post is from 2009, when Calvinism was resurging. The Calvinist resurgence seems to have leveled off and even begun to decline in recent years while Arminianism seems to have gained ground again. Nevertheless, the author’s views on the popularity of Calvinism vs. Arminianism in the 19th-21st centuries is worth considering. It should also be kept in mind that SEA allows a variety of Arminian views to be expressed and that individual posts do not necessarily represent SEA’s view. For our policy on which posts we include, see our About This Site page.]
In the recent edition of The Arminian a statement was made about the triumph of Wesleyan-Arminianism at the end of the 19th century in the United States and Europe. Had their been blogs in those days many Arminians would have been able to rejoice that Arminius and his theology had soundly defeated Calvinism in many ways. From church planting, missions, systematic theology, and commentaries, the vast majority at the end of the 19th century were Arminian. Adam Clarke’s commentary on the Bible as well as Daniel Whedon’s were much more popular than their Calvinist company.
Yet what happened? Here we now find ourselves living in the 21st century and Calvinism is on the rise. John Piper, Michael Horton, Albert Mohler, and many others are leading a resurgence of Calvinism in both the church, colleges and universities, and in books. Most commentaries today tend to lean Calvinist in their theology. Even among non-Calvinists such as the large portion of the Southern Baptist churches their is still to be found Bible teachers and Christians holding to a Calvinist version of eternal security, and while they are largely 4-point Arminians, many of them identify in heart with Calvinists.
I believe the biggest reason for the resurgence in Calvinism lies not in marketing nor in the inability of Arminians to exegete the Scriptures, nor does it lie in the lack of skilled theologians from the Arminian perspective, but I believe that the source of our demise is found in the history of the Arminian movement at the beginning of the 20th century.
By the end of the 19th century the large portion of Southern Baptist churches were Arminian. The Methodist church had been largely successful in evangelism in the Eastern part of the United States and had spread like wildfire through Europe through Wesleyan preachers. The rise of the Holiness movement would see the creation of new Wesleyan churches such as the Church of the Nazerene (which would be a unification of several smaller holiness churches). The Pentecostal movement burst onto the scene with the Azusa Street revival in 1906 and soon the Assemblies of God, the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) and the Pentecostal Holiness as well as the Church of God in Christ would spread not only the Pentecostal message but the message of Arminianism as well. The Restoration movement from Alexander Campell and Barton Stone, while largely calling themselves Christians only and avowing to be non-Calvinist, they were largely (and remain largely) Arminians. The Free Will Baptists and many Congregational churches were evangelizing all across America and around the world the gospel as well as Arminianism.
Meanwhile, the Calvinist churches were dying. The “missions” pushes by the Methodist churches in the 19th century had led to many Presbyterian churches to either close or be nearly gone as many of their members had forsaken Calvinism for the Arminian message found in the Methodist churches. The large portion of the Baptist churches who embraced Calvinism during the early days of the 19th century had either been swept in by the Restoration movement or by the Free Will Baptists. Even as B.B. Warfield and the Princeton Seminary were writing on Calvinism at the close of the 19th century, most colleges and professors were Arminian.
And then came the 20th century and the demise of Arminianism as we know it from the writings of Arminius.
What Led To The Demise?
1. The Loss of Biblical Authority and Inerrancy
Modernism flowing from Europe began to attack the Bible through rationalism. Skeptics came into the Church (Acts 20:29-30) and began to question the Bible’s authority and accuracy claiming that science had disproven this or that in the Bible. The modernists led an attack on Princeton Seminary itself that resulted in J. Gresham Machen leaving Princeton to start Westminster Seminary over the inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of the Bible.
In the Methodist church many leading theologians begin to embrace the modernist view of the Bible. This led to the rise of the social gospel that still dominates Methodist churches today. The defense of the authority and inerrancy of the Bible that was so strong in the 19th century was now abandoned by 20th century Methodist teachers.
Sadly, many churches continue today to embrace the modernism and now postmodernism that attacks the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. When a movement embraces such views, it is destined to die. How can a church do great things for God apart from His Word? How can we claim to speak for God about His salvation or His grace if we fail to believe His Word? How can we have a heart for the lost if we don’t believe people are lost apart from Christ through His Word? How can we soundly defeat the lies of the enemy or the world if we have no authority by which to speak?
Calvinism, on the other hand, has grown because it upholds a strong view of the authority and inerrancy of the Bible. I own nearly 10 books on inerrancy and all but 1 are written by Calvinists. This strong view of Scripture and a strong foundation on the Word of God will only lead to more and more people turning to Calvinism. People want truth even if postmodernists deny they do. People want absolutes even if postmodernists deny they do. We want to know right from wrong, truth from error, and whether this is from God or not. The only way to know God’s ways is through God’s Word (Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV).
Oddly, this has led to the rise of the KJV-only movement as well. Despite their fallicies, the KJV-only movement continues to grow because people want to embrace “truth” and they want to know that the Bible they are reading is truly the Word of God. The KJV-only movement strongly believes in inerrancy, and while they defend inerrancy in only the King James Version, the movement grows because they give people answers from the Word of God and not from the traditions and bankrupt philosophies of men.
Unless the Arminian movement embraces inerrancy and the final authority of the Bible, Calvinism will continue to grow and will overtake the Arminian churches as the Arminians overtook the Calvinist churches in the middle part of the 19th century. Early Arminians such as John Wesley, John Flecther, Richard Watson, Adam Clarke, and Daniel Steele all embraced the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. Sadly, many churches today still have no statements about the inerrancy of the Bible (the Church of the Nazarene for example) and many colleges such as the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary now enlist emergent teachers on staff who do not embrace inerrancy. This can only lead to further to the Arminian demise.
2. The Acceptance of Evolutionary Theories
The second major factor at the turn of the 20th century that had led to both the demise of Arminianism and the rise of Calvinism was the acceptance by Arminians of the higher criticism sector to embrace Darwinian evolutionary theories about creation and Man. Simply put, a belief in inerrancy and the authority of the Bible will lead to a rejection of such false notions. Genesis 1:1 destroys Darwin’s view of evolution.
Because many in the Arminian movement begin to embrace science above the Bible, this led to not just a rejection of inerrancy, but it led to the social gospel that we now find within the Salvation Army and among many United Methodist churches. If humanity is evolving, we need to help humanity evolve became the rallying cry. No longer was mankind depraved but now they need education and socialized education and healthcare. The issue turned from the Arminians seeking to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) to seeking to help people become better people (Romans 3:10-18).
The strongest defenses against evolutionary theories have come from Calvinist minds. Their embracing of the inerrancy of the Bible as well as its authority leads them to conclude rightly that God made the world out of nothing (ex nihilo, Hebrews 11:3). Calvinists such as John MacArthur embrace fully Genesis 1-11 as true (as I do as well) and reject the notion that we have to read into Genesis 1-11 modern science. We need to simply embrace what the Bible says about God and His creation and allow science to sort it out. I reject evolution and accept the Bible’s clear teaching on creationism. I firmly believe that God created the world in six literal days and that He created the world out of nothing but merely by speaking the worlds into existence. I believe that God not only created all that we see but that He upholds it by His sovereignty and by His word (Hebrews 1:1-3).
Embracing evolutionary theories only leads to problems in the Bible. Genesis 1-2 have to be rejected. In fact, much of Genesis 1-11 has to be either rejected or reinterpreted to fit into an evolutionary grid. This leads to a rejection of other major doctrines as well. For instance, since the Fall of Man occurs in Genesis 3 and since evolutionary theories show that death occurred before the Fall, then both the Fall has to be misplaced or rejected (which it often is) and Romans 5:12 has to be twisted. Further, God’s promise of a Messiah from Genesis 3:15 sets the tone for the rest of the Bible, yet an embracing of evolutionary theories will force one to ignore this major passage of Scripture. Jesus’ acceptance of the literal Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4-5 notice that Jesus also says “from the beginning” accepting that Adam and Eve were created at the dawn of time) will lead one to have to either see Jesus as less than God or deny inerrancy.
Either way, the acceptance of evolution by Arminians and the rejection of it by Calvinists has led to our demise and their rise. I applaud Calvinists for rejecting evolution and I believe that unless Arminians stand on the Bible and reject evolution, we too will continue our demise.
Conclusion
Much more could be written about the demise of Arminianism. I believe that the current rise of Calvinism lies not completely in the doctrines of Calvin nor in their correct exegesis of the Scriptures but in the loss of truth among Arminians. We need to reject false teachings by filtering them through the Word of God, and this will not happen if we don’t believe first and foremost that the Bible is the Word of God, that it speaks for God, and that it is inerrant. Furthemore, we must accept the fact that God speaks through His Word and that nothing will contradict His Word. We don’t need new “words from God” or a prophet to come to us, but we need a return to Scripture as the final and absolute authority given to us by God Himself (2 Peter 1:16-21).
We need to not just accept the Bible as our inerrant authority, but we need to return to preaching the gospel of Christ Jesus as taught in the Bible. Reject human teachings and reject false notions such as naturalistic evolution. There is nothing wrong with wanting to help others by feeding them, clothing them, providing shelther for them, but let us not forsake the fact that human beings are lost without Christ (Romans 3:23). Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:1-6), and without repentance and the forgiveness of sins, people are helpless and lost (Acts 2:38-39; 3:19; 17:30-31; Romans 10:9-17). Jesus’ blood alone cleanses us from sin (Ephesians 1:7) and without faith in Him we can not be forgiven (Romans 5:1; Hebrews 9:22, 27-28). A time is soon coming when judgment will take place (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12; Revelation 20:11-15) and we must proclaim the truth that only Jesus saves because that is what the Bible proclaims!
May God be glorified in His Church (Ephesians 3:21) and may the Lord Jesus Christ be taught in truth. May the Lord alone be exalted!
[Link to original post and comments at Roy Ingle’s website.]
