why the title?
I have watched far too many Arminian theologians that I have read and who have had a profound influence on my faith begin "the drift" into liberalism and it seems that in many cases, a diminished view of Scripture has either caused or contributed to this tragic trend.
As an Arminian (a term I, embrace as descriptive for theological reasons as opposed to Calvinist or Augustinian), I am finding it quite ironic that in recent years, I have been most impressed with it has conservative Reformed theological voices for upholding inerrancy and who are not capitulating to the liberal trends that have overrun so many Evangelical seminaries and other institutions.
I've had enough. Arminianism, to apply the term anachronistically, was the faith of the Apostolic and sub-Apostolic Church. In other words, you cannot find a single Calvinist in the Church before Augustine. Search the Early Church Fathers all you want, but you won't find a single voice that supports the unique doctrines that we associate with Calvinism (i.e. unconditional election, monergism, predestination (as understood by them), limited atonement and irresistible grace. What you do find however are Arminian Fundamentalists!
Let me say that I fully "get" why so many Evangelicals have migrated into the Reformed camp from their historically Arminian traditions. They perceive it to be a "safe harbor", a place where theological convictions aren't changing every 6 months. I get it. Others have migrated into Eastern Orthodoxy which is another response which makes sense in an Evangelical climate where almost every historic Christian doctrine is currently being reexamined and far too many are being abandoned (at worst) and seriously revised (at best).
Of course the problem with the Reformed option is that it is only getting you back to the 16th century. They would argue that Luther and Calvin were recovering the Biblical doctrines of early Christian, but even on that front, they are essentially only getting you back to Augustine's doctrines from the early 5th. The Eastern Orthodoxy option only gets one back to the 8th.
We need to recover and live out however, the faith and practice that the Apostles and their spiritual descendants articulated and that is something I am now calling Arminian Fundamentalism. Of all of the Reformers, it was Jacob Arminius who best recovered the doctrines of the primitive church in opposition to the Augustinianism of the other Magisterial Reformers. I would also add the Anabaptists as well - I think it would be accurate to say they might be the ones who best recovered the doctrines AND practices of the Apostles, but clearly some of what they became was an over-reaction, i.e. their obsession over and against infant baptism.
This is a blog wherein I will be articulating this theological vision - this Arminian Fundamentalist welcomes you!
As an Arminian (a term I, embrace as descriptive for theological reasons as opposed to Calvinist or Augustinian), I am finding it quite ironic that in recent years, I have been most impressed with it has conservative Reformed theological voices for upholding inerrancy and who are not capitulating to the liberal trends that have overrun so many Evangelical seminaries and other institutions.
I've had enough. Arminianism, to apply the term anachronistically, was the faith of the Apostolic and sub-Apostolic Church. In other words, you cannot find a single Calvinist in the Church before Augustine. Search the Early Church Fathers all you want, but you won't find a single voice that supports the unique doctrines that we associate with Calvinism (i.e. unconditional election, monergism, predestination (as understood by them), limited atonement and irresistible grace. What you do find however are Arminian Fundamentalists!
Let me say that I fully "get" why so many Evangelicals have migrated into the Reformed camp from their historically Arminian traditions. They perceive it to be a "safe harbor", a place where theological convictions aren't changing every 6 months. I get it. Others have migrated into Eastern Orthodoxy which is another response which makes sense in an Evangelical climate where almost every historic Christian doctrine is currently being reexamined and far too many are being abandoned (at worst) and seriously revised (at best).
Of course the problem with the Reformed option is that it is only getting you back to the 16th century. They would argue that Luther and Calvin were recovering the Biblical doctrines of early Christian, but even on that front, they are essentially only getting you back to Augustine's doctrines from the early 5th. The Eastern Orthodoxy option only gets one back to the 8th.
We need to recover and live out however, the faith and practice that the Apostles and their spiritual descendants articulated and that is something I am now calling Arminian Fundamentalism. Of all of the Reformers, it was Jacob Arminius who best recovered the doctrines of the primitive church in opposition to the Augustinianism of the other Magisterial Reformers. I would also add the Anabaptists as well - I think it would be accurate to say they might be the ones who best recovered the doctrines AND practices of the Apostles, but clearly some of what they became was an over-reaction, i.e. their obsession over and against infant baptism.
This is a blog wherein I will be articulating this theological vision - this Arminian Fundamentalist welcomes you!
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