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Arminian Theology · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Welcome to reform Thinking. You know, usually when we talk
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about a medical diagnosis, there is this expectation of
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precision. Right, like engineering or
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something? Yeah, like you break your arm.
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The X-ray shows that jagged white line, and the doctor just
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points to the screen and says there it is.
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That is the fracture. That is the appeal of the
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physical sciences. I think It is binary.
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The bone is broken or it is not broken.
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The diagnosis is clean and well. The treatment plan is
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straightforward. We like things to be visible.
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We like to categorize our problems with a high degree of
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certainty. But then you step into the world
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of historical theology and suddenly that X-ray machine is
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just broken. Completely broken.
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We are looking at a diagnostic landscape of the human soul that
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is incredibly murky. We are trying to figure out how
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a perfect God interacts with a fractured human will, and the
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brightest minds in history have drawn very different conclusions
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looking at the specific same biblical data.
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Which is wild when you think about it.
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It is. And that brings us to the
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mission of today's Deep Dive. We are going to dissect the
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origins, the historical development, and the core
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theology of Arminianism. Our guiding source for this
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investigation is Paul Lenz's work in the Moody Handbook of
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Theology. It is a phenomenal text to use
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for this subject because grasping this specific theology
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is critical for anyone trying to understand the historical
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clashes of the Protestant church.
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Definitely, we are going to look at how ideas about free will,
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grace and predestination developed over centuries.
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We will use the text to unpack the theological mechanics of the
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Armenian system, and we will also look at the intense
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historical drama that followed its introduction.
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Yeah, this was not just a theoretical debate.
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No, it altered European history. So let us jump straight into the
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history. We have to start with a man who
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gave his name to the entire movement, Jacobus Arminius.
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He was born in the Netherlands in 1560 and died in 16 O 9.
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The text points out that he had an incredibly thorough top tier
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education. O FS we are talking about
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universities in Marburg, Leiden, Geneva and Basil.
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He was not some fringe outsider trying to tear down the academic
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establishment. He was very much a product of
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the academic elite of his day. He was an insider, total
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insider. What is fascinating here is that
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Arminius did not set out to create a new theological system.
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He did not have a rebellious agenda.
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He started his career as a strict Calvinist.
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In fact, he studied under Theodore Beza in Geneva.
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Oh wow. So to put that in context, Beza
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was John Calvin's son-in-law, right?
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Yes, and his immediate successor, Beza, was the
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institutional guardian of reformed theology in Geneva.
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Arminius was thoroughly embedded in that tradition.
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That is a serious pedigree. It really is.
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After his extensive studies, he served as a pastor of a
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congregation in Amsterdam from 1588 to 16 O 3, and then he
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became a professor of theology at the University of Leiden for
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the last six years of his life. Looking at that trajectory and
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it just raises a massive question for me.
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How does a man who trained under John Calvin's own son-in-law, a
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man who pastored A prominent Reformed Church in Amsterdam,
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become the namesake for the theological system that is
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famous for opposing Calvinism? Well, it all comes down to a
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specific debate assignment that backfired spectacularly.
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Wait, a debate assignment? Yeah, Arminius was tasked by his
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superiors with defending Calvinism against a man named
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Cornheart. Cornheart had been circulating
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writings that attacked some of the stricter Calvinist views on
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predestination. Arminius, being a brilliant
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scholar, was supposed to dismantle Cornhert's arguments
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and settle the matter. Meet the problem, go away.
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Spot on. But instead of winning the
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debate, Arminius was actually convinced by his opponent.
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You are kidding. As he studied the Scriptures to
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refute Cornhert, he realized he believed Cornhert actually had
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the stronger, more biblical defense.
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This realization LED Arminius to reject the strict Calvinism he
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had been taught his entire life. I want to pause and just sit
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with a psychological weight of that for a second.
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It is huge. Imagine being a high-powered
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defense attorney taking on a massive corporate client.
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You go into the discovery phase, you look at all the plaintiffs
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evidence with the intent to destroy it, and halfway through
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the paperwork you realize, wait a minute, my client is guilty.
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Yeah, the other side is right. The professional and social cost
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of that realization in 16th century Holland must have been
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staggering. How unusual is it for a debate
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assignment to completely shift the theological landscape of
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Europe? It is incredibly rare the
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fallout shifted entire nations, but to understand why the
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reaction was so explosive, we have to look at his specific
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theological objections. OK, let's get into it.
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Arminia is subjected to the strict Calvinist doctrines of
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predestination and reprobation. Specifically, he was pushing
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back against a concept called superlipsarianism.
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Superlipsarianism. OK, that is a heavy academic
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word. We need to explain that like I'm
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5 year old before we go any further.
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Sure. Let us break the word down.
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Super means above or before, and Laxus refers to the fall of man.
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So superlipsarianism is the strict Calvinistic view
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regarding the logical order of God's decrees.
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It teaches that God decreed the salvation of the elect and the
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reprobation or damnation of the non elect prior to his decree to
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allow the fall of man. So before the fall was even a
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thing in the logical order. Yes.
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Arminius looked at the sequence and argued that it logically
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made God the author of sin. He felt it reduced man to a mere
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automaton in the hands of a God who was orchestrating evil to
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achieve his ends. So Arminius is looking at this
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logical order and saying, well, if God decides who goes to
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heaven and who goes to hell before he even considers humans
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as fallen sinners, then God is the one forcing them to sin.
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That was his argument, yeah. To modify this, the text notes
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he wrote a treatise on Romans 9 advocating for what he called
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conditional election. Which is a vital shift in
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categories. Conditional election means that
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God's choice to save certain individuals is conditioned on
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something else. It is not an unconditional
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decree made in a vacuum from eternity past.
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OK, condition on what though? Arminius argued that God's
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election is based on his foreknowledge of who would
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choose to believe. A parallel doctrine he advocated
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was man's ability to initiate salvation and cooperate with
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God. He contrasted directly with
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Martin Luther and John Calvin, who taught that the human
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freedom of the will was entirely forfeited at the fall.
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Right, the bondage of the will. Yeah, Arminius also taught an
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unlimited view of Christ's atonement, meaning Christ
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suffered for everyone in the world, not just a pre selected
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group of the elect. He stressed that God's grace
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could be resisted by human beings and that believers could
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potentially be eternally lost if they walked away from the faith.
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What is crazy to me is the timeline here.
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Arminius dies in 16 O 9, but the real explosion, the famous Synod
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of Dort did not happen until 16/18 to 16/19.
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That is a long time. There's a nine year gap.
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What happened in those nine years?
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Well, his views stirred up considerable controversy in
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Holland while he was alive, even among his own colleagues at the
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university. Arminius actually appealed to
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the government to convene a national Synod to deal with the
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theological division before he died.
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So he wanted to hash it out. He wanted a formal hearing, but
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the political wheels turn slowly.
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It took nearly a decade after his death for the state's
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general, which was the governing body of the Dutch Republic, to
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finally convene the Synod of Dort.
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Let us set the scene for that Synod, because when you look at
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the numbers, it feels like a rig to trial.
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It really does. 84 members attended this council. 58 of
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them were strict Dutch Calvinists.
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The president of the Synod and the first secretary were both
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strict Calvinists. The fate of the Armenian side
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seemed mathematically sealed before anyone even sat down to
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debate. Yeah, they were heavily
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outnumbered. Simon Episcopias, who had taken
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over as Armenius's successor as a professor at Leiden, was
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summoned along with twelve other prominent Armenians, but they
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were not invited as equal delegates, right?
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No, they were summoned as defendants to stand trial for
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their views. To make sense of that hostile
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environment, you have to remember how tightly the state
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and the church were bound together in the 17th century.
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Theological unity was seen as national security.
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The outcome of Dorrit was a total sweeping rejection of the
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Armenian theological document, which was known as the
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Remonstrance. And in its place the Synod
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adopted the five canons of Calvinism.
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Along with the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism,
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making them the absolute orthodox standard for the
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nation. And the persecution that
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followed the Synod was absolutely brutal.
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We're not talking about pastors just losing their pulpit or
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being politely asked to leave a denomination.
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Not at all. 200 Armenian pastors lost their posts.
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The statesman John van Olden Barneveldt, a major political
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figure who supported the Armenian side, was actually
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beheaded. Beheaded over theology, yeah.
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Yeah, Hugo Grochius, a brilliant legal mind and theologian, was
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condemned and imprisoned for life.
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The text knows he managed to escape after two years, but the
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sheer severity of a life sentence for theology is mind
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boggling. Many other Armenians just fled
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the country entirely to avoid prison or execution.
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The blend of political and theological authority made the
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stakes literal. Life or death, the state viewed
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theological descent as treason against the fabric of the
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nation. If you disagreed with the
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national church, you were a threat to the stability of the
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government. However, the Moody Handbook
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points out a fascinating historical shift here.
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How? Happens.
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After Prince Maurice died in 1625, this severe persecution
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began to wane. The exiled Remonstrance started
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returning to Holland. By 1630, a formal decree
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permitted them to establish their own churches and schools.
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Wow. They even set up a prominent
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theological school right in Amsterdam, with Simon Episcopias
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acting as a lead professor. That is an unbelievable turn
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around. You go from state sanctioned
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beheadings to establishing an official recognized theological
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school in just a couple of decades.
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It is a massive societal shift and it had massive long term
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effects on European culture. Episcopias wrote A systematic
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statement of faith in 1621 that began to attract other groups
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like the Lutherans to Armenian views.
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OK, so let's start spread. Eventually, their core
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principles of religious toleration influence the entire
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nation. Holland became globally known as
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a land of religious toleration and freedom.
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Which is a huge part of its identity even today.
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Yeah, oddly enough, the text suggests an unintended
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consequence. While Arminianism itself
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gradually diminished as an organized denomination in
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Holland, its influence and its focus on human reason prepared
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the way for rationalism. Rationalism.
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That rationalistic philosophy then swept through the
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established churches of Holland, Geneva and Germany in the
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following centuries. So a desire to preserve human
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free will and theology accidentally paved the way for
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the Enlightenment's obsession with human reason.
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That is fascinating. It is a very strange historical
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ripple effect. Well, because the intense
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persecution the Senate of Dort was aimed specifically at a
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document produced by Arminius's followers, I think we need to
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transition into looking at the actual text of that document,
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the 1610 Remonstrance. Yes, the Remonstrance was the
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document that formally protested the strict Calvinism dominating
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the Netherlands. The followers of Arminius
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drafted it to articulate their alternative system, and they
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organized it into five major articles.
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Let us unpack those five articles in detail, because they
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form the bedrock of everything we were discussing today.
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Sounds good. Article 1 is conditional
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election. The text states that God, before
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the foundation of the world, determined to save those who
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shall believe on this his Son Jesus, and shall persevere in
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this faith and obedience of faith.
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Right? So election is entirely based on
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God's foreknowledge of a human being's faith.
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That is the defining characteristic of their system.
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In this view, God is not arbitrarily choosing individuals
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out of a mass of fallen humanity.
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OK, He is looking down the corridor of time, seeing who
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will freely choose to respond to the Gospel, and based on that
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foreseen faith, He decrees their election.
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OK, so then Article 2 covers unlimited atonement.
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The document says Jesus Christ died for all men and for every
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man. He obtained redemption and
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forgiveness of sins for the entire human race.
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But, and this is a massive qualifier, no one actually
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enjoys this forgiveness except the believer.
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Right. The theological distinction here
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is between provision and application.
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The provision of the cross is universal.
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Christ paid the price for every single human being.
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But the application. The application of that payment
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is restricted strictly to those who exercise personal faith.
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The Atonement makes all mankind savable, but it does not
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unconditionally guarantee the salvation of anyone until they
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believe. That makes sense.
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OK, Article 3 brings us to natural inability.
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Now this one always catches people off guard because it
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sounds identical to Calvinism. It really does.
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It says man has no saving grace of himself nor of the energy of
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his free will. In the state of apostasy and
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sin, man can neither think, will, nor do anything that is
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truly good. He must be born again.
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This is a vital point to clarify for anyone studying this debate.
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Arminianism does not teach that the natural man is basically
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good or capable of pulling himself up to God by his own
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moral bootstraps. Which is a common misconception,
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right? Very common.
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They firmly affirm the doctrine of total depravity.
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Without God's direct intervention, man is completely
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helpless and enslaved to sin. The divergence from Calvinism
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does not happen here. So where does it happen?
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The divergence happens in Article 4, which is the absolute
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linchpin of the whole Armenian theological system.
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OK, let's look at Article 4. It introduces prevenient grace,
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the document states. This grace goes before the
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person. It awakens them, assists them,
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and enables them to cooperate with God.
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Right, cooperating is the keyword.
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Without this specific grace, man can do absolutely no good.
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But, and here's the massive dividing line, the mode of this
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grace is not irresistible. Yes, the text specifically says
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of the unrepentant that they have resisted the Holy Ghost,
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citing the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7.
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And Article 5 rounds out the document with conditional
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perseverance. OK, what does that say?
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It asserts that true believers are given full power to strive
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against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh.
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Jesus Christ actively assist them in this battle.
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But there is a cache. But the document leaves a
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philosophical door open. It questions whether believers
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are capable, through their own negligence, of forsaking the
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first beginnings of their life in Christ and subsequently
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losing their salvation. Wow.
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At the time of 1610, they said that issue needed to be
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determined more particularly out of the Holy Scripture before
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they could teach it definitively.
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I want to circle back to Article 4 for a second because
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preventing grace is a tough concept to visualize.
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I am trying to picture how this actually works psychologically
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and spiritually. It can be tricky, yeah.
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What if we think about original sin like a house where the main
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electrical circuit breaker has been completely ripped out of
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the wall by the previous owner? Adam?
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OK. I like where this is going.
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Natural inability, which is Article 3, means absolutely no
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one living inside that house can turn on the lights.
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It does not matter how hard they flip the switch on the wall,
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there's no power flowing to the room.
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They are completely helpless. Right.
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So prevenient grace is God stepping in to repair the
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circuit breaker for every single house in the neighborhood.
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God does not walk into your specific living room and flip
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the light switch for you. But he restores the power grid,
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making it mechanically possible for you to walk over and flip
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the switch yourself. That is a great picture.
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If you sit in the dark, it is entirely your fault for not
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flipping the switch. If you turn on the light, it is
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only because God graciously fixed the braider first.
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Does that analogy hold up to what the Remonstrance were
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arguing? That is a highly effective way
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to visualize the mechanics of it.
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That concept of provenient grace solves the major logical dilemma
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that Arminius faced. How so?
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Well, it allows Arminians to agree with Calvinists that
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humans are totally depraved and incapable of saving themselves
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while simultaneously maintaining human free will and personal
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responsibility. You cannot take credit for the
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lights coming on because God did the repair work, but you are
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responsible for making the choice to use the power
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provided. The text references A theologian
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named H Orton Wiley who outlines 4 specific propositions on how
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this prevenient grace relates to the human will.
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Let us unpack Whaley's 4 propositions.
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How does he explain the interaction between God's grace
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and our choice? First, he argues that prevenient
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grace acts on the natural man subsequent to the fall.
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It works on his entire being to counter the effects of
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depravity. OK, step one second.
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It recognizes man as a free and responsible moral agent.
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The fall of Adam corrupted humanity, but it did not destroy
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the basic human power of thought or volition.
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Humans are still capable of making choices.
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Got it? Third, preventing grace awakens
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the enslaved soul to the truth. Man is naturally an absolute
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bondage to sin, but grace moves upon the human affections,
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essentially enlisting the heart on the side of truth so the
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person can see the gospel clearly.
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Which gives them the ability to choose it.
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Yes, and 4th. It requires continuous
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cooperation. The human will must actively
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cooperate with the originating race of the Holy Spirit in order
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to merge that prevent grace directly into actual saving
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grace. And this framework ties directly
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into their broader view of original FIN.
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The text states they acknowledge original sin, and they agree
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that natural man is destitute of all positive good.
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But they argue that through the universal application of
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prevenient grace, the guilt and the condemnation of Adam's sin
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have been entirely removed from the human race.
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Yes, in their view, no one is going to be eternally condemned
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just for original sin or its inherited consequences.
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The culpability of Adam's failure was removed by the free
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gift of grace in Christ. So people are only responsible
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for their own actions. A person is only condemned for
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their own actual personal transgressions.
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Prevenient grace reverses the effects of Adam's sin just
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enough to restore state of salvability to all humanity.
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If prevenient Grace levels the playing field for everyone,
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making all of humanity savable, we have to ask how the actual
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transaction of salvation occurs. That is the next logical
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question. If human choice is the deciding
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factor, what are the steps? Let us look at the mechanics of
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salvation, the concept of synergism, and how John Wesley's
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immense influence shaped this theology centuries later.
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The core operating principle here is synergism.
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The word comes from Greek roots, meaning working together.
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It is the cooperative action between man and God in the
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process of salvation. Because God universally despises
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preventing grace, man is empowered to accept or reject
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the gospel of his own free will. God provides the grace, man
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provides the faith. The Moody Handbook lays out
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specific terms of salvation required in this synergistic
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framework. A person needs an awareness of
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sin, a turning toward God prompted by the conviction of
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the Holy Spirit, genuine repentance, and a personal
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appropriation of the new birth. And this is where John Wesley
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enters the historical picture and really formalizes the daily
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application of these steps. Wesley is such a massive.
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Figure Leslie is a towering figure in this discussion,
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arguably even more influential practically than Arminius
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himself. Really more influential than the
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founder. In terms of practical impact,
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yes, Arminianism had existed in England long before Wesley, but
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it had drifted terribly. English Arminianism had
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neglected the biblical doctrine of grace and moved dangerously
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close to Plagianism. Pelagianism.
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Let's define Pelagianism for anyone who might not be familiar
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with that ancient heresy. Pelagianism is named after a
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British monk named Pelagius from the 4th century.
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He basically argued that humans are born as blank slates.
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No original sin. He completely denied the concept
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of original sin. He believed humans have the
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natural ability to live a sinless life and earn their own
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salvation without needing any special internal grace from God.
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So it is pure moralism. Pure moralism.
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English Arminianism was sliding toward that error.
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It was up to John Wesley to revive the true grace dependent
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teachings of Arminius. Wesley's biography is
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staggering. I mean, he was one of 19
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children. He trained at Oxford University,
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where he and his brother Charles started a highly disciplined,
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methodical study of the Bible and spiritual practices.
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And they caught a lot of Flack for it.
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Yeah, the other students mocked them and called them the Holy
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Club or Methodists, which is funny because the name stuck.
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It did. Later, Wesley took a missionary
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trip to America, specifically to the colony of Georgia.
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On the ship ride over, they hit a massive storm.
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Wesley was terrified of dying, but he noticed a group of
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Moravian Christians on board who were completely at peace,
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singing hymns while the ship was tossed around.
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He was completely thrown by that.
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He was deeply unsettled by the fact that, despite all his
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rigorous religious discipline, he lacked their inner assurance.
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Right. He had the outward practice, but
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not the inward peace. When he returned to England, he
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met a Moravian minister named Peter Bowler, who led Wesley to
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understand salvation by faith alone rather than by his
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methodical works. From that point on, Wesley's
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evangelistic effort was borderline superhuman.
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Superhuman is the word for it. He traveled over 250,000 miles
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on horseback and preached an estimated 40,000 sermons across
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his lifetime. His reach was historically
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unprecedented, and his theology was incredibly precise.
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Wesley had a very strict, demanding view on the nature of
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repentance. Or did he define it?
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He defined repentance as a complete change of heart from
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all sin to all holiness. Crucially, Wesley taught that
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this kind of rigorous repentance must come before saving faith.
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Before faith. Yes, you must actively forsake
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your sin to be saved, he famously said.
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We must be cut off from dependency upon ourselves before
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we can truly depend on Christ. This focus on moral
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transformation plays into how Armenians generally view the
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atonement itself, the text notes.
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They typically hold to what is called the governmental view of
22:16
the atonement. Which was originally taught by
22:18
the legal scholar Hugo Grotius. Right.
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This view asserts that Christ did not die a strict
22:23
substitutionary death. He did not take the literal
22:26
mathematical punishment for specific individual sinners.
22:30
Instead, his death on the cross was a token payment designed to
22:33
satisfy the justice and the moral government of God.
22:36
Gracias was applying a legal framework to the cross.
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In this view, God is acting as the supreme moral governor of
22:42
the universe. He cannot simply sweep sin under
22:45
the rug without destroying the moral order.
22:47
The universe would just descend into chaos.
22:49
Right. The cross allows God to forgive
22:51
sinners while still demonstrating his extreme hatred
22:55
for sin and upholding the dignity of His cosmic law.
22:58
It is a massive public, public demonstration of God's justice.
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I want to workshop an analogy here to see if we can capture
23:05
the essence of the governmental view.
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Imagine a local judge who's dealing with a reckless driver
23:10
who's been terrorizing the town streets.
23:13
A strict substitutionary view of the atonement would be the judge
23:17
saying, well the law demands 6 months in jail for this crime.
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I am going to send my own innocent son to sit in a jail
23:23
cell for six months in your precise place and you get to go
23:26
free. That is substitution, yeah.
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But the governmental view is more like the judge saying you
23:31
deserve jail, but my son is going to step forward and pay a
23:35
massive $1,000,000 public fine out of his own pocket to the
23:38
city. This payment demonstrates to the
23:41
entire town that our traffic laws are absolutely serious and
23:44
the government will uphold them. Because he made that token
23:47
payment to honor the severity of the law, I can legally let you
23:51
go free without making a mockery of my courtroom.
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That analogy captures the essence of gracias thought
23:56
perfectly. The death of Christ provides a
23:58
general redemption for all mankind.
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It satisfies the governmental requirement for justice, making
24:04
everyone savable. But it doesn't automatically
24:07
save them. Right.
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It only becomes personally effective for the reckless
24:10
driver, the Sinner, when they meet the conditions of faith and
24:14
repentance. The Moody text lists some
24:16
specific broad benefits of this universal atonement.
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It argues that the cross ensures the continued existence of the
24:24
human race. Without it, God would have had
24:26
to destroy humanity immediately. Because of the fall.
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Right. It restores all people to a
24:31
state of salvability by granting the gracious aid of the Holy
24:35
Spirit. And significantly, it ensures
24:38
the salvation of those who die in infancy.
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Because the free gift of Christ governmental payment
24:43
unconditionally removed the guilt and condemnation of
24:46
original sin. Infants who die before they
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reach an age where they can commit actual conscious
24:50
transgressions are safely saved. That brings a lot of comfort.
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It does. Wesley further clarified the
24:56
mechanics of how an adult actually receives the salvation
25:00
by outlining 3 strict terms of saving faith.
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What are those? You must put your absolute trust
25:06
in the mercy and forgiveness of God.
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You must receive a subjective internal assurance in your life
25:12
that you are a child of God, and you must express reliance upon
25:15
Christ by actively turning your life over to Him as Lord.
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The text notes that for Wesley, belief is necessarily expressed
25:22
in practical obedience. If your life does not change,
25:25
your faith is not real. And this ties directly back to
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that fifth article of the 1610 or Monstrance, Conditional
25:32
Perseverance. If saving belief is inextricably
25:35
tied to daily obedience, then a failure to obey means a failure
25:39
of belief, yes? Arminius had hinted at the
25:41
possibility of losing salvation back in 16-10, saying it always
25:45
remains within the power of the human free will to reject God's
25:48
grace even after receiving it. But Wesley took it further.
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Wesley was explicit and unapologetic about it.
25:54
He taught that a true believer could make shipwreck of their
25:56
faith and a good conscience. A person could fall away not
26:00
only foully into temporary sin, but finally, so as to perish
26:03
forever in hell. So, having mapped out the
26:06
specific mechanics of the Armenian system, from previant
26:10
grace to the governmental atonement to conditional
26:12
perseverance, it is necessary to hold it up directly against the
26:16
alternative it was originally protesting.
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The Calvinist perspective. Let us look at the great
26:21
contrast between Arminianism and Calvinism.
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The Moody Handbook provides a side by side comparison that is
26:28
incredibly helpful for visualizing the differences.
26:30
The clash between these two theological systems really comes
26:33
down to how they define the nature of God and the condition
26:36
of man. Let us start with the doctrine
26:37
of depravity. Arminianism says man inherited A
26:41
corrupted nature from the fall of Adam, but God's previant
26:44
grace has universally removed the guilt and condemnation of
26:47
that sin. While Calvinism looks at the
26:49
exact same biblical texts and concludes that man is totally
26:52
depraved, spiritually dead in sin, and entirely unable to make
26:56
any move toward God unless God sovereignly initiate salvation.
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Then you have the imputation of sin.
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Armenians say we inherit A corrupt nature like a disease,
27:06
but God did not legally impute Adam's specific sin to the whole
27:10
human race. We are not held guilty for what
27:12
Adam did. Calvinists argue that Adam acted
27:15
as the federal head of humanity and through him sin was imputed,
27:19
meaning it was legally credited or passed down to the account of
27:22
the entire human race. Regarding election, the contrast
27:25
is stark. Arminianism views election as
27:28
conditional. God elected those whom He
27:31
foresaw would believe of their own free will.
27:33
Calvinism views election as completely unconditional.
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From eternity passed before anyone had done good or evil.
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God sovereignly elected some individuals to be saved based
27:42
solely on His own good pleasure, not based on any foreseen human
27:45
response. The atonement is another major
27:48
dividing line. Armenians believe Christ died
27:51
for the entire human race, equally making all mankind
27:54
savable, though the death is only effective in saving those
27:57
who eventually believe. Calvinists believe God designed
28:00
the atonement specifically for the elect.
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Since Christ died as a substitute only for them, His
28:07
death is completely and unconditionally successful in
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saving every single person he died for.
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The contrast in how they view grace is perhaps the most
28:15
practical difference. Arminianism relies on prevenient
28:19
or preparatory grace, which is given to all people everywhere,
28:22
enabling them to cooperate with God if they choose.
28:25
Calvinism distinguishes between common grace, which gives
28:28
everyone sunshine and rain but is insufficient to save, and
28:31
irresistible grace, which the Holy Spirit uses to effectively
28:34
draw the elect to himself, changing their hearts so they
28:38
willingly and necessarily respond.
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This directly dictates their view on the will of man.
28:43
In Arminianism. Previnian grace restores man's
28:46
free will. Allow telling him to accept or
28:48
reject the gospel. In Calvinism, man's will remains
28:51
bound by his depraved nature. He is free to act according to
28:55
his desires, but his desire is always to reject God until
28:59
irresistible grace changes his heart.
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For perseverance, the difference is pastoral Arminianism teaches
29:05
that believers may turn from grace and eventually lose their
29:08
salvation, requiring constant vigilance.
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Calvinism teaches that God will preserve his elect, meaning true
29:14
believers will persevere to the end and are eternally secure.
29:18
Finally, we arrive at the sovereignty of God.
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Our many ISM argues that God voluntarily limits his sovereign
29:24
control in accordance with man's freedom.
29:27
His decrees and plans relate to his foreknowledge of what man
29:30
will freely choose to do. Calvinism asserts that God's
29:33
sovereignty is absolute and unconditional.
29:35
He has decreed all things that come to pass, according to the
29:38
counsel of His own will. This specific point about
29:41
sovereignty and foreknowledge is really the tectonic plate where
29:44
these two systems crash into each other.
29:46
It really is. It determines entirely how you
29:48
view the nature of God's decrees and his relationship.
29:51
Let's do a philosophical thought exercise on this sovereignty and
29:55
foreknowledge debate because it is central.
29:56
OK? Is God's foreknowledge like a
29:59
brilliant movie director who wrote a comprehensive script,
30:03
cast all the actors, designed the sets and knows the exact
30:06
ending of the movie because he meticulously planned every
30:09
single scene? That would align with the
30:11
Calvinist view. Or is God's foreknowledge more
30:14
like a person with a time machine who travels to the
30:17
future, stands in the corner of the room watching what humans
30:20
freely choose to do in completely unscripted moments,
30:24
and then travels back to the present knowing precisely what
30:26
will happen? That time machine idea aligns
30:29
much more closely with the Armenian view.
30:31
The Time Machine puzzle is a great way to illustrate the
30:34
concept of conditional election based on advanced information.
30:37
The Armenian system says God looks down the timeline,
30:41
observes the faith of the individual, and then bases his
30:44
decree of election on that passively foreseen faith.
30:47
Every single point of contrast we just covered, from depravity
30:50
to perseverance, hinges on where you place the ultimate deciding
30:54
factor of salvation, right? Does the decisive act reside in
30:58
the human wills response to a universal resistible grace, or
31:02
does it reside in the unconditional electing decree of
31:06
a sovereign God? Having thoroughly contrasted
31:08
these two massive theological frameworks side by side, we need
31:12
to turn to the final evaluations from Paul Ends in The Moody
31:15
Handbook of Theology. Let us look at the arguments he
31:17
uses to evaluate the Armenian view.
31:20
Looking at his conclusion, he clearly has a theological home
31:23
base, but it is super interesting to see the specific
31:26
biblical mechanics he uses to push back.
31:28
He begins by validating the strengths of their system, ends
31:31
praises Arminianism for forcefully highlighting human
31:34
responsibility. He notes that the Bible
31:36
consistently and urgently demands that man must believe in
31:39
order to be saved, citing verses like John 3.16 and Acts 16.31.
31:44
The. Scripture is clear.
31:45
If a person refuses to believe, they are lost.
31:48
The text also affirms that Arminianism's heavy focus on the
31:50
universality of the atonement seems to align with the plain
31:53
reading of verses like First Timothy 4 point Mirror and 1st
31:57
John 2.2, which state that Christ is the propitiation
32:00
meaning the satisfying sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
32:03
But then the text shifts into several sharp, systematic
32:06
critiques. Yes it does.
32:07
First Ends argues that the Armenian denial of imputed sin
32:11
appears to be at direct variance with Romans 5.110, two and one.
32:16
Paul's argument in Romans centers on how death and
32:18
condemnation entered the world through one man, Adam, just as
32:22
life comes through one man, Christ.
32:24
Second, while Armenians teach that the debilitating effects of
32:27
the fall were erased through prevenient grace, the text
32:31
argues there is absolutely no clear indication of this kind of
32:35
universal, restorative prevenient grace anywhere in
32:38
Scripture. It is presented as a
32:40
philosophical necessity for their system, not an explicitly
32:43
biblical doctrine. The third critique challenges
32:45
their assessment of the extent of the fall.
32:48
The Moody Handbook argues that the historical fall of Adam
32:51
affected the human will much more severely than Arminianism
32:54
allows. OK, unpack that.
32:55
While man must certainly bear moral responsibility for his
32:58
actions, his will is so bound by sins so fundamentally corrupted
33:02
that he needs more than just a cooperative push from prevailing
33:05
grace. He needs God to unilaterally
33:07
initiate and complete the process of raising him from
33:10
spiritual death. The fourth point addresses that
33:13
time machine analogy we use for foreknowledge.
33:15
The text argues that the Greek word for foreknowledge,
33:18
prognosis, is basically equivalent to election in the
33:21
New Testament usage. NS asserts that the data of
33:24
God's foreknowledge originates in his own advanced planning and
33:28
relational love, not in passively gathering advanced
33:32
information about what humans will do.
33:34
That is a crucial linguistic and exegetical argument.
33:38
To foreknow someone in the biblical sense often means to
33:41
set one's electing love upon them beforehand, rather than
33:44
just knowing a fact about their future.
33:46
The 5th Critique Ends raises focuses on the multiple
33:49
conditions for salvation in the Armenian system.
33:52
The text notes that Arminianism heavily stresses turning from
33:55
sin, repentance, confession, and continuous obedience.
33:59
But it warns that defining repentance is a change of
34:01
behavior that must occur before saving.
34:03
Faith poses a serious risk to the purity of the doctrine of
34:06
salvation by grace alone. I noticed the massive tension
34:10
there in the text evaluation regarding these multiple
34:12
conditions. How does a theological system
34:14
balance the clear biblical call to repent and forsake sin with
34:18
the risk of turning those actions into a legalistic
34:21
checklist that essentially earns salvation?
34:23
That is the ultimate theological tightrope.
34:25
If repentance is defined as a necessary human action or a
34:29
behavioral change that precedes saving faith, as Wesley
34:32
explicitly argued, the source text worries.
34:35
It strays from the Protestant rallying cry of grace alone.
34:38
The Moody Handbook suggests that while Arminianism correctly
34:42
spots the biblical necessity of human action and obedience, it's
34:46
mechanical explanation of how those fit into salvation might
34:49
create unintended friction. If your ongoing obedience is
34:53
what maintains your salvation, then your salvation relies at
34:56
least partially on your own human works.
34:58
Which leads right into the final critique ends offers the
35:01
doctrine of losing salvation, the text states this fear of
35:05
falling away conflicts with passages highlighting internal
35:07
security as a present, unbreakable possession.
35:10
And sites John 10.28 where Jesus is speaking about his sheep, and
35:13
says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never
35:16
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
35:19
The text views the believers eternal security as anchored
35:22
firmly in what Christ has done and the Father's grip, rather
35:26
than resting precariously on the continuous, unbroken cooperation
35:30
of the fragile human will. Well, we have covered an immense
35:33
amount of. We really have.
35:35
We want to thank you for joining this extensive deep dive into
35:37
the historical origins, the dramatic political fallout, and
35:41
the detailed doctrines of Armenian theology based on the
35:44
Moody Handbook. We have looked at everything
35:47
from Arminius's surprising shift in perspective to the specific
35:51
articles of the Remonstrance, the severity of the Synod of
35:54
Dort, John Wesley's evangelistic zeal, and the intricate
35:58
theological differences that still shape church discussions
36:01
today. To wrap up, I want to leave you
36:03
with a philosophical question to Mull over as you go about your
36:05
day. Imagine you were looking back at
36:08
a major life altering decision you have made.
36:11
Maybe who you married, the career you chose to pursue, or a
36:14
sudden unexpected move across the country.
36:16
A. Fork in the road moment, right?
36:19
When you evaluate that moment, do you see your own independent
36:23
free will cooperating with the circumstances around you to
36:26
shape your destiny? Or do you look back and see the
36:29
undeniable fingerprints of a script that was written for you
36:32
long before you ever had the chance to make the choice?
36:35
It changes everything about how you see the world.
36:37
It really does. How you answer that question
36:39
might just reveal which side of this centuries old theological
36:42
divide you naturally lean toward.
36:45
Thanks for listening.