To any of you having been in conversation about Calvinism and Arminianism you are bound to find a "peace-keeper" who attempts to try and find "unity" between Calvinism and Arminianism. I have had the experience before of someone telling me that each system is on the extreme, and that when they work together, they show more accurately the biblical understanding of God and man.

I find this unsatisfactory for the following reasons,

1. Calvinism doesn't attempt to show an extreme view of God's Sovereignty, but a biblical one. Arminianism on the other hand does not show an extreme view of man's responsibility but an unbiblical one involving such philosophical concepts as free-will.

2. Calvinism attempts to show the biblical relationship between divine Sovereignty and human responsibility and is not worried about how they fit together logically. They attempt, as Paul in Romans 9, to profess both, yet silence the mouths of those who think it is foolish and unjust. Arminianism, because it attempts to please man's sinful affections and act as a cowardly theology, attempts to explain God's Sovereignty away, unlike Job, because of the suffering man goes through. The philosophy thinks that teaching that God is Sovereign even over evil is unhelpful and will cause someone to abandon the faith. Calvinism on the other hand realizes that this teaching can offend people, yet realizes its benefit in confirming the comfort and faith of God's elect, and making them more able to trust God in His giving AND His taking away.


I think it is better to say that Calvinism attempts to please God, and only man in so far as it does not err in God's Word, while Arminianism on the other hand, attempts to please man, even if it errs with the Word of God. I have felt this in my own heart at times, and seeing that I was formely a zealous Arminian...even to the point of being Pelagian! than any, I know many of the reasons for adopting an Arminian tendency. However, I do realize that many adopt it out of zeal for the Lord. Yet, we are to grow up into maturity. Zeal may last for a while, but without knowledge, and without a sufficient backbone in God's Word its bound to lead to ungodliness, contempt of God's Holy Law, a throwing away of His Holy Word, and a justifying of our sinful hearts. As long as man is comforted, according to this philosophy, we have done our jobs as Christians even if it means that through their comfort, God's Name is blasphemed.

__________________
Benjamin
Worship leader
CESA
South Africa, Cape Town
"What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever."