{"id":45,"date":"2010-08-04T08:07:49","date_gmt":"2010-08-04T13:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rogereolson.com\/?p=45"},"modified":"2011-08-18T19:32:18","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T19:32:18","slug":"and-now-a-word-about-arminianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2010\/08\/and-now-a-word-about-arminianism\/","title":{"rendered":"And now a word about…Arminianism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My blog is called \u201cMy evangelical, Arminian theological musings.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ve \u201cmused\u201d about evangelicalism.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s time to begin a brief (I hope) series of posts about Arminianism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not long ago I met a well-known philosopher-theologian whose first comment to me was \u201cWell, I\u2019ve never met anyone who actually called himself an Arminian before.\u201d\u00a0 Many years ago John Wesley wrote a brief essay entitled \u201cThe Question \u2018What Is an Arminian?\u2019 Answered by a Lover of Free Grace.\u201d\u00a0 (I\u2019m sure you can find it on the web if you are interested.)\u00a0 He began it with this line: \u201cTo say \u2018This man is an Arminian,\u2019 has the same effect on many hearers, as to say \u2018This man is a mad dog\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Near the essay\u2019s end Wesley wrote \u201c[h]ow can any man know what Arminius held, who has never read one page of his writings?\u00a0 Let no man bawl against Arminians, till he knows what the term means\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that, I say a hearty \u201cAmen!\u201d\u00a0 Far too many people have a negative opinion of Arminianism and Arminians who have never read Arminius or any real (i.e., classical) Arminian theologians.\u00a0 Most of the critics of Arminianism that I have read (and I\u2019ve read many!) seem only to have read Reformed secondary sources such as Charles Hodge or (more recently) R. C. Sproul.\u00a0 I rarely read a Reformed critique of Arminianism that is even close to being correct.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I wrote Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities a few years ago (InterVarsity Press).\u00a0 There I discuss and correct ten common misconceptions about Arminian theology.\u00a0 My goal (again, call me Don Quixote if you wish!) is to recover the good reputation of Arminianism so that those who are Arminian can call themselves what they are without wincing.<\/p>\n

A few years ago I met two very well-known Arminian theologians at a national professional society meeting.\u00a0 Both are evangelical Methodists.\u00a0 To both I said \u201cIt\u2019s good to meet a fellow Arminian.\u201d\u00a0 Both replied (separately) \u201cI\u2019m not an Arminian.\u201d\u00a0 And yet, having read their books and articles, I know they agree entirely with Arminius and classical Arminianism about almost everything.\u00a0 Why do they deny being Arminian?\u00a0 I can only assume it is because in some evangelical circles embracing \u201cArminian\u201d as a label can cause you real trouble.<\/p>\n

Again, I\u2019m sure someone will ask \u201cWhy do you care about a label?\u201d\u00a0 Well, why do Calvinists care about the label \u201cReformed?\u201d\u00a0 And yet they do go around defending it and explaining what it means against those who misrepresent it.\u00a0 We all have certain labels we care about.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been an Arminian my entire life (even before I knew what it was!) and I\u2019m not willing to discard the label just because some people insist on going around misrepresenting it.<\/p>\n

I think one of the funniest events about that label was during my Bible college days.\u00a0 This was a Pentecostal<\/a> Bible college and almost all Pentecostals are avid Arminians whether they know it or not.\u00a0 The professor mentioned that we were Arminians and a sweet young student piped up loudly with \u201cWho would want to be from Armenia?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now I\u2019m working on two plenary session addresses for an upcoming conference on Arminian theology at Andrews University (the Seventh-Day Adventist University and Seminary in Michigan).\u00a0 (For those interested it is\u00a0October 14-17; you can find information about it by going to Andrews University\u2019s web site.)\u00a0 My first address will be \u201cArminian Theology is God-centered Theology.\u201d\u00a0 There I will prove, against those who claim Arminianism is \u201cman-centered,\u201d that classical Arminianism has always\u00a0believed and taught that \u201cThe chief end of man is the glorify God and enjoy him forever\u201d (the\u00a0answer to the first question of the\u00a0Westminster Shorter Catechism).\u00a0 Those who argue that Arminianism is \u201cman-centered\u201d have simply not read Arminius or Wesley or any other historical, classical Arminian theologians.<\/p>\n

My second address will be \u201cArminian Theology is Evangelical Theology.\u201d\u00a0 There I will quote extensively from Arminius, Wesley and other classical Arminians to prove that, contrary to critics,\u00a0classical Arminianism has always\u00a0believed and taught that salvation is entirely by God\u2019s grace through faith alone to the exclusion of good works (as any basis for salvation).\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have come to the conclusion that SOME critics of Arminian theology are willfully ignorant as they continue to bash Arminianism as, for example, semi-Pelagian and man-centered.\u00a0 I have sent them my book and pointed them to passages in Arminius\u2019 writings and in historical, classical Arminian theology that disprove these things.\u00a0 But they continue to utter them anyway.\u00a0 Some of them have too much invested in their crusades against Arminianism to back down now.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0firmly believe and will continue to argue that Arminian theology is a viable evangelical theology that fully adheres to the five great \u201csolas\u201d of the Reformation: sola scriptura, sola\u00a0Christi, sola gratia, sola fides and sola gloria Dei.\u00a0 (Excuse my lapse in Latin if I\u2019ve made a mistake in any of those phrases.\u00a0 It\u2019s early in the morning and I\u2019m not willing to go check my Latin!)<\/p>\n

To those curious about what Arminian theology really is and why it\u2019s important\u2026stay tuned.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a bit to whet the appetite: By-and-large today\u2019s numerous \u201cyoung, restless, Reformed\u201d Christians are misled to think that Calvinism is the only intellectually respectable, biblical, evangelical alternative.\u00a0 They are largely unaware of anything between Calvinism, as taught to them by the likes of John Piper and R. C. Sproul (filtered to them through popularizers like Mark Driscoll) and the heresy of semi-Pelagianism (the belief that humans initiate their own salvation and contribute to it\u2013the theology of \u201cTouched by an Angel\u201d).\u00a0 They are largely ignorant of Arminianism.\u00a0 I don\u2019t care about the label merely as a\u00a0label.\u00a0 I care about the reputation of God and, in my considered opinion, only classical Arminianism\u00a0preserves and protects the all-important biblical truths expressed in Philippians 2:12-13.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My blog is called \u201cMy evangelical, Arminian theological musings.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ve \u201cmused\u201d about evangelicalism.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s time to begin a brief (I hope) series of posts about Arminianism.\u00a0 Not long ago I met a well-known philosopher-theologian whose first comment to me was \u201cWell, I\u2019ve never met anyone who actually called himself an Arminian before.\u201d\u00a0 Many years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAnd now a word about...Arminianism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My blog is called "My evangelical, Arminian theological musings."\u00a0 I've "mused" about evangelicalism.\u00a0 Now it's time to begin a brief (I hope) series of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"And now a word about...Arminianism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My blog is called "My evangelical, Arminian theological musings."\u00a0 I've "mused" about evangelicalism.\u00a0 Now it's time to begin a brief (I hope) series of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2010\/08\/and-now-a-word-about-arminianism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Roger E. 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