The subject of this post comes after a lot of discussion with others, as well as research on my own in both the Bible and various books from both perspectives. It stems from realizing the contentiousness of the subject, but also the need to address and stay true to what the Bible teaches about God's sovereignty and man's free will.
As a new believer, I was a "Calvinist" and proud of it. I could walk you through TULIP, show verses to back my case, and give lengthy discourses that discussed how illogical any opposing viewpoint was. However over time it became evident that this strategy not only alienated friendships, but served to be more divisive than edifying in discussions with other believers. Some people refer to this as the "Cage Stage". :)
This attitude continued throughout paramedic school. I proudly advocated my position to my Christian classmates. In fact, I would bring up the subject whenever possible, just for the sake of using my proven techniques that had worked so "effectively" in the past. In the end though, God showed me that I was not showing the humility talked about in Philippians 1:1-11. Instead of building others up, my pride was causing a hindrance in my ability to "encourage one another and build up one another" like 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells Christians to do.
The Lord used this entire experience during medic school to teach that lesson to me. At the very end, while reflecting on the discourses I'd had with others, I realized that I had never truly listened to their arguments. I had read books for the sake of disproving them instead of truly seeing if they were Scripturally based. I approached it from the "This is wrong and here's why" standpoint instead of "Does Scripture teach this?" My motivation was for personal vindication rather than personal growth.
Having been humbled and realizing this fact, I began to reread opposing viewpoints from my new perspective. While reading these, I came to a startling realization that my pride had blinded from me before:
A lot of their arguments were soundly based, if the foundation they were using was accurate.
Please don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying that I agreed with their conclusions. Rather, I was left realizing that their conclusions were entirely logical if their foundational arguments were to be trusted.
For instance, an author named Austin Fischer dedicated a large portion of his book "Young, Restless, and No longer Reformed" to disproving the "Calvinist" premise that God makes people sin in order to damn them.
"In summary, then, the reprobate are all those humans who will experience a fate dreadful beyond comprehension (hell) as they are eternally punished by God for sins he ordained they would commit before they existed-they were created so they could be damned. If you don't cringe a little, you don't have a pulse" (page 22)
Dave Hunt offers a similar statement when responding to James White in the book, "Debating Calvinism"
"There is no escaping Calvinism's teaching that by 'God's eternal decree' He caused the evil in the brethren's hearts and caused them to execute their evil deeds" (Page 52)
Did Calvinism really teach that? If so, then I was forced to compare that premise to Scripture.
James 1 addresses this very topic in verses 13-18.
"Let no one say when he is tempted,As another example, Hunt also brought up the man from whom Calvinism gets its name, John Calvin. Calvin, while a man who knew and studied Scripture, still believed and taught the unbiblical doctrine of salvation through infant baptism.
'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures."
"God takes his own methods of regenerating...to consecrate infants to himself, and initiate them by a sacred symbol....Circumcision was common to infants before they received understanding" (Calvin, Institutes, IV:xvi, 31)
This teaching also goes against the Biblical doctrine that we are saved by grace, through FAITH (Ephesians 2).
