Calvin and Arminius

It seems that we are in the middle of this discussion with some consternation. Not that I chose it necessarily, but because the church we are attending is a reformed PCA church and we happen to be attending a LEAD class on Sunday mornings.  This class is originally intended to indoctrinate their prospective leaders and teachers - those who will be elders or deacons, or who may be in some form of leadership in the future. But it was open to all.

Alice and I took the class for a couple of reasons. One, we wanted a deeper understanding of the PCA belief system. And two, we thought, if we could hang in there, we might be able to do some "service" down the road.

We are learning about Calvinism and the particular method that PCA has for interpreting scripture. Which is intriguing in itself. But I must say, I have not experienced anything similar to this in all my almost 40 years of being a Christian. I must have been sleeping during my school studies when we went over all of this, because much of it is "new" in the sense that, "gee, I didn't know you could interpret that verse that way!"

I understand that there are some really smart scholars on both sides of these two belief systems. Nevertheless, up to this point, here is my evaluation. If someone were to approach scripture without having been influenced by either of these "five points", it is highly unlikely, almost impossible, that one could emerge a Calvinist. 

I say that because, after almost 20 some hours reading their support text, it seems apparent that you need help in interpreting the scripture a certain way, if that help is not there, than the text speaks for itself and there is very little of the text of scripture that could support Calvinism.

Does that mean Arminius was 100% right. Absolutely not. But it does mean the biblical text seems to support a majority of his positions.

These kind of "discussions" are fun and exciting. Of course, history says there will be no final answer, at least in this class we are taking. But talking and learning about it all is a great joy.

Speaking of JOY - it is the Christmas season. So, JOY TO THE WORLD and MERRY CHRISTMAS!