Sunday, June 13, 2010

Is There a Middle Ground between Calvinism and Arminianism?



Why do some Christians seem to think that finding a middle ground between Calvinism and Arminianism is a safer route than accepting one system over the other? In my estimation it is a riskier move. Here is why.

The one right view of salvation is the Biblical view. If Calvinism is the Biblical view then we need to be loyal to it or if Arminianism is the Biblical view then our loyalty should be there. Now if one of them is the correct Biblical view while the other is not yet we try to find middle ground between the two we will only end up with a confused mixture of right and wrong. Furthermore, what if it turns out that both views are actually wrong and not Scriptural? What would we accomplish by finding a happy medium between two wrong views?

Calvinism and Arminianism are diametrically opposed viewpoints of salvation. The former claims that God unconditionally chooses which individuals will be saved while the latter says that each individual autonomously chooses this for themselves. These are polar-opposites that cannot both be true at the same time. Either one is true and the other is false or possibly both are false. But we cannot seriously consider that both are false because if God doesn’t choose and we don’t choose then who does? A third viewpoint can only mean that some other being chooses who will be saved. Therefore, sound logic and reason demands that these viewpoints are the only two possible and that one is the correct Biblical view while the other is not. Since one is true and the other false, middle ground between the two will be partially false and not entirely true.

No comments:

Post a Comment