Theological Ramblings

Well after much deliberation and a suggestion from my wife, I have arrived at a better term. I have freely acknowledged that “Arminian” doesn’t really fit the bill for what I was trying to use it for, but I didn’t want to have to say “Less than five point Calvinist” over and over again (contrary to what readers of The Weird Looking Thing Growing Out of the Woodpile might possibly believe). So We’ve come up with a better term - actually two. Instead of calling myself a Calvinist and the others Arminians (b/c they are not really at all Arminian), I shall call myself a Reformed Calvinist - for I hold to the Calvinistic doctrines as are held by most reformed churches, and the others Evangelical Calvinists - for they claim to be Calvinistic in some regard (security… depravity… etc.) but I’ve found that their view of God has been too much influenced by American ideals. The word “rights” influences their thinking way too much - especially when applied to humanity.

So… When I start up this discussion, I will not be referring to any Arminians. I will simply call myself a Reformed Calvinist (or reformed for short) and them Evangelical Calvinists (or evangelicals for short).

Remember, that Evangelicals and Reformed both hold to the same core beliefs, so the purpose of this discussion is not to cause division or to raise myself above them in any regard. We both hold to the precious doctrines of grace - Christ died for us. I’m just discussing details. Just because one is Evangelical in his doctrine and Fundamental in his philosophy does not mean I cannot love and fellowship with him. It is not my purpose to cause that kind of division.

So anyone who’s interested, I’m going to examine Ephesians 1 and Romans 8:28-30 next time out, and I’m going to talk about the nature of Election. Are we elect by God’s foreknowledge or by His choice? That’s my next post.

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