Arguments against Calvinism - Topics
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| Title | Claim | Refuting Calvinism |
|---|---|---|
| God is glorified by ordaining everything ?? | God is glorified by ordaining all events, since this means God is sovereign. |
Ordaining wickedness does not glorify the person who ordained it. It might be argued that, not the wickedness per se, but the ability, or power, to be able to control all events, is the real essence of why those events (even wicked events) glorify the powerful one who ordained them. This reasoning elevates the power of God. Power is one of God's attributes. It is not the only one. Others? Love. Justice. Righteousness. Holiness. Truthfulness. Goodness. |
| Limited atonement does not glorify God | Limited atonement does not glorify God |
Limited atonement does not glorify God, instead it paints the picture of God as a tyrant, unjust, respecter of persons, not a loving God. |
| Is faith a work | Faith is not a work. |
In the above scripture we see that the person who has faith, who believes, is not performing a work. Thus, faith is not a work. |
| Sovereignty requires micro-manipulation? | Sovereignty of God does not require micro-manipulation. |
TBA (to be added) |
| Synergism - monergism & 1 Cor 1:21 | Synergism and monergism represent a false dichotomy, not found in scripture. |
Synergism claims God is helped by man to do something, in particular, salvation. Monergism claims God does it all - salvation - by himself. Man's free choice to receive Christ as savior, is considered by Calvinism as synergism - man helping God out. However, God does all the saving. God just chose to do all the saving for certain people. Calvinists claim God does choose to (or has chosen to) save only certain people. On the other hand, God himself claims he chose to save certain people also - specifically, those people that believe. |
| Does synergism imply weakness of God? | "Synergism" does not imply weakness of God. |
See also Synergism - Monergism. Calvinism claims that if God wants all to be saved, literally all people, and man can choose to reject salvation, then man is overpowering God. However, by this line of reasoning, Peter was right in trying to forbid man from overpowering God in crucifying the Messiah! But Jesus did not see it this way, in Matt 16:23. 1 But, we might argue, Peter was going against God's plan. |
| Did Jesus attempt to save all, and fail? | Calvinism says if one person rejects salvation even though God provided atonement for that person, God failed. Is this true? |
The precise goal of God was to make salvation available for all, not to force atonement / salvation on all. So in this case, Jesus did not fail, even if some reject the offer of salvation. God's plan itself was to allow man the freedom to reject the offer. |
| Unlimited atonement glorifies God | Unlimited atonement glorifies God |
God shows his nature, goodness, and love by virtue of unlimited atonement. |
| Motivation & Calvinism | Calvinism encourages apathy. One motivation for accepting Calvinism is that it absolves one of all responsibility. |
Trying to please God and failing, thinking it is difficult or well-nigh impossible (contrary to the words of Jesus that his yoke is easy) to serve God or please Him, people find it welcome and a relief to think that this is taken care of by God himself. They cannot fail to accomplish God's will in their lives, for God himself is going to make sure (or already has made sure) that His will is going to be accomplished in their own life, regardless of whether they try or not, and that nothing they do, or even can do, will thwart this realization of God's purpose. |
| Faith precedes regeneration | Faith precedes regeneration; regeneration does not precede faith. |
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| Philosophical Concepts of God | Western philosophy has provided much of contemporary western understanding of God. |
A Professor teaching an Old Testament class claims students in the Old Testament class have preconceived notions of God that are at variance with what the Old Testament says about God, and that they got those ideas from western philosophy, rather than from the Bible. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkFJvEtI1WI |
| Philosophical roots of Calvinism | Calvinism's concepts are rooted in philosophy, not the Bible. |
AugustineThe research of Augustinian expert, Kenneth Wilson (MD, MDiv, ThM, PhD), 1 one of the top scholars in the world on Augustine, shows that before Augustine (for the first few centuries of the church), Christian teachers taught free will, and none taught determinism. It also shows Augustine to have been ... |
| Ancient roots of Calvinism | Doctrines of Calvinism have been influenced by Plotinus who was arguably demonically influenced. |
Teachings from a Neo-platonic philosopher, apparently influenced by a spirit guide, influenced Augustine who influenced Calvin & modern theology. Thus, teachings and doctrines of devils may have ultimately influenced ideas of Calvin and modern theology (including Calvinism). The trace-back is
Historically, Calvin claimed he could have written most of his teachings by quoting Augustine. |
| Discouragement as Fruit of Calvinism | Calvinism is negative, discouraging to many. |
One person cried for several hours upon realizing what Calvinism implied and believing Calvinism to be true. |
| Perseverance of the saints | Perseverance of the saints is true. This refers to saints continuing in good works. |
Perseverance of the saints is dependent on the choices of the saints. |
| Unconditional election | Unconditional election is true. |
Man has a choice to receive God, and that is one condition on which salvation depends. To as many as received Jesus, to those he gave power to become the sons of God. John 1:12 |
| Election | God elected some to be believers and to be saved. |
Election in the Bible never refers to salvation. |
| Predestination | God predestined believers before they were born to become believers. |
Believers, not sinners, were predestined to their (believers') future inheritance. 1 The word predestine/predestined/predestinated... appears 4 times in the Bible (KJV), in the verses below (this is not counting occurrences of the terms elected, chosen, etc.): |
| TULIP | The "TULIP" points are true.
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TBA (to be added) likely links to other pages |
| God's nature | God has certain characteristics; see other pages for details. [Links to other pages to be added.] |
TBA (to be added) likely links to other pages |