Recently, I ran into a couple of anti-calvinists.
Although i've heard of anti-calvinists i'd never spoken to one.
Anti-calvinists are not the same as non-calvinists.
Non-calvinists, although they don't agree with the theology, admit that some verses do seem to lend themselves to that view... even in context.
The anti-calvinist, however, is so opposed to calvinism that they are happy to demonise the reformers, throw away basic reading comprehension, hold directly contradictory beliefs, refuse to allow scripture to interpret scripture - all in their zealous refusal to allow scripture to actually confirm any part of calvinistic soteriology.
The biggest issue is in their handling of scripture.
Because of their huge bias, they will isolate verses and entire chapters from other related portions of scripture, then twist them to mean something else.
When you bring up the related verses, they will simply dismiss them as being irrelevant and having no bearing what-so-ever. Yet, they will go to completely irrelevant verses in an attempt to build their case.
When i realised this, i tried to come from a different angle.
Instead of going to direct verses, i though it would be best to build a framework using my Skeletal Argument.
Unfortunately, they didn't want to take it step by step, as they felt it was a waste of time. They wanted to get straight to the point, which clearly wasnt working.
Consequently, we never got anywhere. Nothing was resolved.
So, with that in mind, i want to look at some of their arguments, and show how their view fails from both the reformed view as well as their own view.
I'm going to try and use their hermeneutic as well... if you can call it that.
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The first idea we need to look at is that Christ died for everyone in the world.
That God wants everybody in the world to be saved.
Verses like the following are used to back up this idea.
John 3:16-17 (ESV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
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1 Timothy 2:3-6 (ESV) This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
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1 Timothy 4:10 (ESV) For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
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2 Peter 3:9 (ESV) The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
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1 John 2:2 (ESV) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
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What do all of those verses have in common?
Those verses seem to indicate that Christ died for everbody in the world, or at least, that's what we are told they are saying.
How does a calvinist respond to these verses though? Surely, this is an open and shut case, right?
The issue here is that no exegesis is being used. These verses are just being taken out of their original context, and are being isolated from the rest of scripture.
If we look back to my Skeletal Argument, which will have us standing on the rock of our salvation, we will see that these verses do not mean what is being claimed.
For example, when we let scripture interpret scripture, a verse like John 3:16, becomes something different in the light of Jesus says about salvation later on.
John 10:11 (ESV) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:25-28 (ESV) Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
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According to John 3:16, Jesus tells us that He died for the world. Yet in John 10, Jesus tells us that He only lays down His life for His sheep.
Jesus forces us to say, "world" actually means, His "sheep".
But He doesn't stop there.
Not do we see that world equates to sheep, but He identifies the people He is speaking to as not being His sheep.
And since all of this is in the same chapter, all we have to do is simply follow Christ's logic.
He is the good shepherd. He has sheep. He knows who His sheep are. He lays His life down for His sheep.
This group right here, are not His sheep. Therefore, He did not lay His life down for them.
That is the logical conclusion.
However, the anti-calvinist will not allow you to make that connection. They will not allow you to interpret one of the things Jesus said, in the light of other things Jesus said.
And if you try, they will simply dismiss it as irrelevant.
So how can a calvinist deal with this?
Well, the problem we are having is that the anti-calvinist refuses to allow scripture to interpret scripture and has an unwillingness to allow scripture to disagree with their presuppositions.
Even though that's really bad when it comes to rightly interpreting scripture, their anti-calvinism is more important than understanding biblical truth.
So again, how do we deal with this?
We put them in a corner.
You see, the anti-calvinist is not the same as the non-calvinist.
The non-calvinist can be reasoned with via the scriptures. You will be able to bring them to a point where they will say they just don't know. Which is a fair position to have.
The anti-calvinist refuses to hold that position.
But, regardless of which position one is, if you are an arminian, there is one glaring issue.
All arminians must believe that Christ is a failure.
Sure, they will never actuall admit that.
However, the arminian theologians, including Jacobus Arminius himself - the man who arminianism is named after.
The arminian has to change the nature of salvation and the mission of Christ.
So Christ doesn't actually save people, no. He makes salvation available.
The non-calvinist would again recognise that, from their perspective, there are some verses that clearly support calvinism. So they are usually more careful when handling scripture.
The anti-calvinist isn't careful at all.
So, we push the envelope.
We rebut their claims with...
Matthew 1:20-21 (ESV) But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
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Why is this important? Because the very name of the coming messiah indicates that He will be successful in saving His people from their sins.
The arminian has the issue of people being again but then perishing.
The angel does not leave any room for such a thought.
The anti-calvinist will insist that Jesus does save all His people, but that we choose whether we are His people or not.
So one minute, we can be His people, which would mean He must save us, but the next minute, due to our will or sin, we can be made no longer His people.
The anti-calvinist will ignore any attempts to prove them wrong on that point.
But we don't have to do so.
The purpose of quoting that verse is to show that the angel's words has mary's unborn child, successfully saving His people - that's the very reason for His human name.
The next point we should make, is that we are told the following...
John 1:29 (ESV) The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
This is very important. Here, we see the prophet John telling us that Christ will take away the sins of the world.
This is a declarative statement. He is, in his office of a prophet, declaring what will happen.
If, as the arminian claims, that "world" means everybody in the world, then Jesus must take away the sins of everybody in the world.
And, if there was any doubt, John even tells us why he made this statement...
John 1:33 (ESV) I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
In other words, God told him.
These verses brings the argument straight to the very door of the arminian/anti-calvinist.
No longer can they use verses that make salvation ambigious and up to the human decision.
Jesus must save His people, and He must take away the sins of the "world".
To say that Christ did not do these things, is to say that Jesus is not the messiah, that the angel who spoke to Joseph and Mary was demonic as it lied, that John the Baptist is a false prophet, and that the word of God that came to John did not come to pass.
Jesus must save His people, and He must take away the sins of the "world".
A non-calvinist, should see these verses as a conundrum. They should take these as something to think through.
I suspect that an anti-calvinist will simply dismiss them as prima facie, they completely show that their view is wrong.
And, they are shown to be wrong using their own understanding of the terms.
The arminian will not really have an issue with the first scripture. It's the second that causes the real problem.
Why? Because they're view makes "world" to mean everybody on the planet, and because they aren't universalists, they make salvation an uncertainty - dependent on the will of man.
But the second quote, forces them into a position that would put them out of orthodox christianity, on their very own terms.
You see, because of where these statements are coming from, i.e. an angel, prophet, voice of God - if these are denied, christianity is false.
If they are dismissed, you might as well end the discussion as the person doesn't care about scripture at all.
I recommend using both quotes, instead of simply the second one.
This is to show that the certainty of salvation is literally the reason why Jesus is... Jesus. Salvation is not uncertain and left up to man. If it was, the angel couldn't say what He said. And this salvation is certain for the "world".
It must happen.
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