On his website, Arminian Perspectives, Ben Henshaw has a questions page at which he answers questions about Arminianism and Calvinism that visitors to his site pose in the comment section of the page. Here is a question adapted from someone with the screen name Credulo followed by Ben’s answer with some editorial revision and addition:
Question: How I can refute the “two calls” and “two wills” argumenta of Calvinists? They are very intricate and common, and Calvinists use them lavishly.
Answer:
The so called “two calls” is a total invention of Calvinism. It is not drawn from Scriptures and cannot be proved from Scriptures. The Bible nowhere says anything about two different calls, one general to all and one effectual to some. That is something that Calvinists have read into Scripture to make sense of their system and to deal with the many passages that plainly show God calling on all to repent and believe the gospel.
Why should you feel compelled to “refute” something that the Calvinist cannot demonstrate from Scripture? It is not up to you to refute the “two calls”, it is up to them to show that it is a Biblical teaching. That is something they cannot do without massive question begging (assuming the two calls are true and then reading that into passages that do not actually state such a thing). In other words, it is just an assertion by Calvinists for the sake of keeping their system from falling apart in the face of so many passages that teach that God is calling all to repentance so that all will be saved (with the obvious implication that God wants all to be saved and makes it possible for all to be saved). Is there a particular argument you have heard that you feel you need answer or refute?
For now, if you want to better understand what the Biblical meaning of “called” and “calling” is, be sure to read the two articles linked to in this post: https://arminianperspectives.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/what-does-callingcalled-refer-to-in-the-bible/.
As for the “two wills” argument, see the “Two wills of God” category on SEA’s website: https://evangelicalarminians.org/category/two-wills/. Here are a couple of the many articles listed there you might want to start with: “Two Wills in God?” and pp. 240-43 of this article by Thomas McCall: “We Believe in God’s Sovereign Goodness: A Rejoinder to John Piper.”
