Calvinism and Arminianism:
Myths & Realities
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians comments:
“Arminianism: Man is inconsistent, by free will choosing good or evil, faith or unbelief, receiving or rejecting, seeking or resisting. God is consistent in grace, love, standard, unchanging in faithfulness, consistent in His call, etc.
Calvinism: Man is consistent, always chooses evil, cannot conceive of God, cannot do good, never chooses right, always is depraved all the time. God is one God to the elect, another God to the non-elect, commanding good, authoring evil, calling to salvation those created for hell, assigning degrees of grace that can’t be determined. Claiming justice yet burning babies in eternal fire for sin unconceived of. Sovereign over all things, yet earth is disobeying him for thousands of years. Etc, etc, and on and on.
There seems to be a reversal in Calvinism. God is fluctuating and inconsistent, resulting in seeming randomness and mystery. Yet man is unchanging, faithful to his predetermination, consistent throughout. This seems to be a reversal of the very characteristics of God by which He is considered faithful and trustworthy, by which we can trust Him in confidence.
Yet God is the rock of truth. In Him there is no variation of character. It is man who is unstable, a mystery of self-destructive choices.
It is as though Calvinism has taken the characteristics of God and assigned them to man, and taken the whimsies of man and assigned them to God.” (SEA)
Arminian Charge: Calvinism reverses the characteristics of God and man.
Myth or Reality: As it is argued below, it is as though Calvinism has taken the characteristics of God and assigned them to man, while taking the whimsies of man and assigning them to God.
