Home  Contemporary Loraine Boettner The Reformed Faith
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The Reformed Faith |
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Written by Loraine Boettner
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Page 1 of 8 "The purpose of this article is to set forth, in plain language and in terms easily understood, the basic differences between the Calvinistic and the Arminian system to theology, and to show what the Bible teaches concerning these subjects. The harmony that exists between the various doctrines of the Christian faith is such that error in regard to any one of them produces more or less distortion in all of the others."
Sections:
* The Sovereignty of God
* Man's Totally Helpless Condition (pg. 2)
* Christ's Atonement (pg. 3)
* The Foreknowledge of God (pg. 4)
* The Universalistic Passages (pg. 5)
* The Two systems Contrasted (pg. 6)
THE "FIVE POINTS" OF ARMINIANISM (pg. 7)
THE "FIVE POINTS" OF CALVINISM (pg. 8)
The Sovereignty of God
The purpose of this article is to set forth, in plain language and in terms
easily understood, the basic differences between the Calvinistic and the
Arminian system to theology, and to show what the Bible teaches concerning these
subjects. The harmony that exists between the various doctrines of the Christian
faith is such that error in regard to any one of them produces more or less
distortion in all of the others.
There are in reality only two types of religious thought. There is the
religion of faith, and there is the religion of works. We believe that what has
been known in Church History as Calvinism is the purest and most consistent
embodiment of the religion of faith, while that which has been known as
Arminianism has been diluted to a dangerous degree by the religion of works and
that it is therefore an inconsistent and unstable form of Christianity. In other
words, we believe that Christianity comes to its fullest and purest expression
in Reformed Faith.
In the early part of the fifth century these two types of religious thought
came into direct conflict in a remarkably clear contrast as embodied in two
fifth-century theologians, Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine pointed men to God
as the source of all true spiritual wisdom and strength, while Pelagius threw
men back on themselves and said that they were able in their own strength to do
all that God commanded, otherwise God would not command it. We believe that
Arminianism represents a compromise between these two systems, but that while in
its more evangelical form, as in early Wesleyanism, it approaches the religion
of faith, it nevertheless does contain serious elements of error.
We are living in a day in which practically all of the historic churches are
being attacked from within by unbelief. Many of them have already succumbed. And
almost invariably the line of descent has been from Calvinism to Arminianism,
from Arminianism to Liberalism, and then to Unitarianism. And the history of
Liberalism and Unitarianism shows that they deteriorate into a social gospel
that is too weak to sustain itself. We are convinced that the future of
Christianity is bound up w
ith that system of theology historically called
"Calvinism.' Where the God centered principles of Calvinism have been abandoned,
there has been a strong tendency downward into the depths of man centered
naturalism or secularism. Some have declared - rightly, we believe - that there
is no consistent stopping place between Calvinism and atheism.
The basic principle of Calvinism is the sovereignty of God. This represents
the purpose of the Triune God as absolute and unconditional, independent of the
whole finite creation, and originating solely in the eternal counsel of His
will. He appoints the course of nature and directs the course of history down to
the minutest details. His decrees therefore are eternal, unchangeable, holy,
wise and sovereign. They are represented in the Bible as being the basis of the
divine foreknowledge of all future events, and not conditioned by that
foreknowledge or by anything originating in the events themselves.
Every thinking person readily sees that some sovereignty rules his life. He
was not asked whether or not he would have existence, when or what or where he
would be born, whether in the twentieth century or before the Flood, whether
male or female, whether white or black, whether in the United States, or China,
or Africa. All of those things were sovereignly decided for him before he had
any existence. It has been recognized by Christians in all ages that God is the
Creator and Ruler of the world, and that as such He is the ultimate source of
all power that is found in the world. Hence nothing can come to pass apart from
His sovereign will. Otherwise He would not be truly GOD. And when we dwell on
this truth we find that it involves considerations which establish the
Calvinistic and disprove the Arminian position.
By virtue of the fact that God has created everything that exists, He is the
absolute Owner and final Disposer of all that He has made. He exerts not merely
a general influence, but actually rules in the affairs of men (Acts 4:24-28).
Even the nations are as the small dust of the balance when compared with His
greatness (Is. 40:12-17). Amid all the apparent defeats and inconsistencies of
our human lives, God is actually controlling all things in undisturbed majesty.
Even the sinful actions of men can occur only by His permission and with the
strength that he gives the creature. And since He permits not unwillingly but
willingly, then all that comes to pass - including even the sinful actions and
ultimate destiny of men - must be, in some sense, in accordance with what He has
eternally purposed and decreed. Just in proportion as this is denied, God is
excluded from the government of the world, and we have only a finite God.
Naturally, some problems arise which in our present state of knowledge we are
not able fully to explain. But that is not a sufficient reason for rejecting
what the Scriptures and the plain dictates of reason affirm to be true.
And shall we not believe that God can convert a sinner when He pleases?
Cannot the Almighty, the omnipotent Ruler of heaven and earth, change the
character of the creatures He has made? He changed the water into wine at Cana
and converted Saul on the road to Damascus. The leper said, "Lord, if thou wilt,
thou canst make me clean" (Matt. 8:2). And at a word his leprosy was cleansed.
Let us not believe, as do the Arminians, that God cannot control the human will,
or that He cannot regenerate a soul when He pleases. He is as able to cleanse
the soul a
s the body. If He chose He could raise up such a flood of Christian
ministers, missionaries and workers of various kinds, and could so work through
His Holy Spirit, that the entire world would be converted in a very short time.
If He had purposed to save all men He could have sent hosts of angels to
instruct them and to do supernatural works on the earth. He could have worked
marvelously in the heart of every person so that no one would have been lost.
Since evil exists only by His permission, He could, if He chose, blot it out
of existence. His power in this respect was shown, for instance, in the work of
the destroying angel who in one night slew all of the first-born of the
Egyptians (Ex. 12:29), and in another night slew 185,000 of the Assyrian army
(II Kings 19:35). It was shown when the earth opened and swallowed Korah and his
rebellious allies (Nu. 16.31-35). King Herod was smitten and died a horrible
death (Acts 12:23). In Daniel 4:34-35 we read that the Most High God's "dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation; and
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and
no one can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
All of this brings out the basic principle of the Reformed Faith - the
sovereignty of God. God created this world in which we find ourselves, He owns
it, and He is running it according to His own sovereign good pleasure. God has
lost none of His power, and it is highly dishonoring to Him to suppose that He
is struggling along with the human race, doing the best He can to persuade men
to do right, but unable to accomplish His eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and
sovereign purpose.
Any system which teaches that the serious intentions of God can in some
cases be defeated, and that man, who is not only a creature but a sinful
creature, can exercise veto power over the plans of Almighty God, is in striking
contrast to the biblical idea of his immeasurable exaltation by which He is
removed from all weaknesses of humanity. That the plans of men are not always
executed is due to a lack of power, or a lack of wisdom, or both. But since God
is unlimited in these and in all other resources, no unforeseen emergencies can
arise. To Him the causes for change have no existence. To assume that His plan
fails and that he strives to no effect is to reduce Him to the level of His
creatures and make Him no God at all.
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