James White
Calvinist, James White, writes: “I just also believe the undisputed and unrefuted fact that I come to Christ daily because the Father, on the sole basis of His mercy and grace, gave me to the Son in eternity past.” (Debating Calvinism, p.306, emphasis mine)
White concludes: “In the final analysis, I have peace with God because God in eternity past chose this undeserving sinner and placed His grace and love upon me. There can be no other consistent, biblical, and God-glorifying answer. This is sovereign freedom, divine grace, and it leads inexorably to the truth of unconditional election.” (Debating Calvinism, p.95, emphasis mine)
Sometimes, Calvinists and Arminians engage in heated arguments, and then name-calling ensues. For instance, John Calvin, in his book, Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God, resorted, among other things, to referring to his opponents as “cyclops.” It is disturbing to see Christian authors succumb to these type of abusive tactics, as shown in the following quote:
James White writes: “Dave Hunt’s fourth presentation is marked by shrill rhetoric, an incredible lack of understanding of the issues he has chosen to denounce, and a scattergun approach that presents a disjointed collage of false allegations against Reformed Theology containing so many basic errors of fact and logic that one could fill a book with in-depth refutations. To say it is disappointing is a gross understatement. Mr. Hunt does not understand the issues before him. I, along with dozens of others, have attempted over the past couple of years to explain to him the large number of misapprehensions he has about the Reformed faith, but he has refused to listen. This chapter exhibits many of these mistaken assumptions in full color. But what should concern all serious readers is the fact that in his dogged attacks upon Calvinism, Hunt does not provide a coherent, thought-out alternative.” (Debating Calvinism, p.319)
In contrast, here is the example that the Apostle Paul provided: “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” (2nd Timothy 2:24-26) When Christian debate goes from productive discourse to spiteful pissing matches, debate should cease.
Dave Hunt responds: “I’ll turn the other cheek to White’s characterization of my presentation, which uses phrases like ‘lack of understanding...scattergun approach...derisively attacks...shrill... strident, emotionally-charged rhetoric...unfair misrepresentation... defying meaningful interaction,’ and which he caps off by accusing me of ‘emotional, ad hominem special pleading’ because I don’t believe that Paul meant ‘kinds of men’ in 1 Timothy 2:1-6.” (Debating Calvinism, p.329)
Debating Calvinism was a bitter and strident. It was an unloving display of pure ugliness. James White may refer to Dave Hunt as “Brother Hunt,” but the conduct displayed in that book was anything but brotherly.
For more on this type of discussion, see: Calvinists, Let’s Calm Down
Having said that, here is the best Scriptural advice that I’ve ever seen from James White, and is one in which [I think] he would have done well to heed, especially at John 6 and the entire book of Romans:
Calvinist, James White: “If the overall discourse is ignored, an improper interpretation of individual texts can be offered. This is one of the most oft-missed elements of correct exegesis, normally due to the presence of traditions in the reader’s thinking.” (Scripture Alone, p.87, emphasis mine)
James White: “If anything has marked Alpha and Omega Ministries, and what I’ve done over the past almost 30 years now, it has been that we try to show respect for the people that we are talking to, by going to their sources, by accurately representing even the people that we disagree with. I think as Christians, this is vital. If we follow Him who is the Truth, then we need to be preeminently truthful in our representation of others.” [13:32-14:03]
Question: Does James White misrepresent Arminianism?
Answer: See below.
Calvinist, James White, writes: “Why should we give thanks to God upon hearing of the faith of fellow believers, if in fact having faith in Christ is something that every person is capable of having without any gracious enablement by God?” (Debating Calvinism, p.20, emphasis mine)
It seems that James White is unaware of the Arminian doctrine of Prevenient Grace.The Arminian doctrine of Prevenient Grace teaches that God frees the will and enables the sinner to receive God’s free gift of grace. Any suggesting that White was merely making an inference of Dave Hunt’s particular theology, irrespective of Arminianism, is contradicted by the fact that White specifically attributed Hunt’s beliefs with Arminianism: “Hunt’s refusal to see these texts outside of his Arminian tradition....” (Debating Calvinism, p.296)
White also writes: “No more soul-destroying doctrine could well be devised than the doctrine that sinners can regenerate themselves, and repent and believe just when they please.” (Debating Calvinism, p.90, emphasis mine)
White asks: “Can dead rebel sinners exercise saving faith to cause their own spiritual birth?” (Debating Calvinism, pp.293-294, emphasis mine)
Obviously, these quotes are misrepresentative of Arminianism. That much is clear. Hunt rightly asks: “Who imagines that receiving by faith the gift of eternal life causes eternal life?” (Debating Calvinism, p.303)
White writes: “Every works-oriented system must deny God His kingship over the creature and must give to man abilities and powers beyond his sinful state, so that in the final analysis God’s power can be ‘channeled’ through human structures, whether they be rituals, sacraments, or even the very popular concept of ‘decisionalism,’ the idea that man, by his autonomous will, controls the very work of the triune God in salvation.” (Debating Calvinism, p.99, emphasis mine)
So according to 1st Corinthians 10:13, when God sets the parameters and provides the way of escape, is man controlling the work of the triune God, if he should take the way of escape or not? Hardly. God is in control, because He limits the exposure, and He provides the alternatives. Our decision, on whether to take the way of escape or not, is simply a factor of the choice that He provides.
White writes: “There is no basis in the Bible for asserting that God’s love knows no levels, kinds, or types. Just the opposite is true.” (Debating Calvinism, p.267, emphasis mine)
That is a Straw Man argument. Obviously, God has levels, kinds and types of love, but the real question is whether a Calvinist decree of Unconditional Reprobation represents any legitimate level, kind or type of love, and that’s the real issue here. When pressed, a Calvinist will immediately switch gears and abandon this argument, and hop over to the erroneous Calvinist teaching on Jacob and Esau, concerning God’s love.
