When you compare my life and spiritual maturity now to my life and spiritual maturity 3 years ago there is a monumental difference.  There would be a problem if there wasn’t.  Discipleship and local church involvement are key when it comes to a believers progressive sanctification.  I have had my bumps and bruises here and there yes, but I feel I have definitely grown in maturity toward my end goal of Christ-likeness.  The doctrine of glorification teaches us that we (body and soul) will never be fully like Christ until Jesus comes again in glory and raises our bodies to be perfectly like his.  We can understand sanctification in an already/not yet tension – we are like Christ now but not yet fully like him.  We wait for him to come as our Warrior King to completely defeat sin and death and usher in the New Heavens and New Earth.

One way I have grown in maturity is dealing with the issue of Calvinism and those who cause tension within it.

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There is a lot to discuss concerning the issue of debate when talking about and thinking through Calvinism and Arminianism.  I’m not going to discuss the extreme theological differences here… a large theological book would be needed for such a task.  We must be clear though – It’s not enough just to say, “I’m an Arminian,” or,” I’m a Calvinist” –  You must clearly define your terms.  Whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian, you must know and define by Scripture what you actually believe and mean.  Ironically, most people who are at extreme odds with Calvinism actually have no idea what Calvinism is and vice-versa.  A professor of mine once said, “If you can’t define both positions clearly then that is simply false and lazy intellectualism.” 

Here are 10 things I would encourage you to do when thinking through theological issues:

1. Pray and ask God to help you be more disciplined and competent in studying his Word.
2. Get a good study Bible.  I would recommend the ESV Study Bible.
3. Get a few theology books on the issue(s) you are thinking through.  Ask your pastor for a few good books on both positions (hopefully he can help you out with this).  You might want to start with a good systematic theology book (Wayne Grudem) and maybe a couple perspective or 5 views books.
4. Read Scripture carefully… don’t just read theology books or listen to someone tell you that this is “the way it is.”
5. Study church history and see how the church and other theologians have biblically thought through a certain doctrine.
6. Don’t try and ‘proof’ text something.  Think through the biblical theology (from Genesis to Revelation) of a certain topic or doctrine. 
7. Write out your position to help you clarify it and think through it better.
8. Discuss your understanding of a doctrine with a mentor, friend, or pastor to see if it is consistent with Scripture and church history. 
9. Worship! Any doctrine consistent with Scripture should lead us to worship Jesus.
10. Continue to pray and study through your position.  God is infinite and eternal so our study of him will never be exhaustive. 

I pray these would be helpful for you, as they have been for me, in thinking through big theological issues and studying to know God more and how he has revealed himself to us in his Word.

Calvinism or Arminianism?  Or a mix of flavors?

As we continue to think through the influence of Calvinism on our generation I think it would be helpful to define Calvinism at this point.

The issue of Calvinism, I think, will always be here as long as King Jesus should remain exalted at the right hand of the Father.  As mentioned earlier, when one discusses the being and action of God there is no route to venture down that will not pass you by Calvinism.  We will always discuss God’s being and actions, therefore we will continue to venture into Calvinism.   As hard as one tries it can’t happen. 

It should be noted that the “5 points of Calvinism,” justly called, were developed as responses to a five-point manifesto that was put out by certain “semi-Palagians” in the early seventeenth century.  This theology, known as Arminianism, potently stemmed from 2 main philosophical points:  1) divine sovereignty is not compatible with human freedom, nor therefore with human responsibility; and, 2) ability limits obligation.

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Walking through my seminary hallway, I over hear lots of interesting conversations.   Sometimes I hear conversations about sports or small talk or books, but often times I hear people, if not groups, discuss the issue of Calvinism.  I’ve been in small country churches in East Tennessee and have been asked not about my family or wife or my preaching, but about Calvinism.  I’ve been in large churches in New York City where I’ve overheard conversations about Calvinism.  At a missionary training for the overseas mission board of my denomination, I was grilled by guys going overseas about what I think about Calvinism.  I just heard from a friend about her sister, a recent high school graduate, who is thinking through this issue.  I have had numberless conversations about Calvinism and have over-heard hundreds of other conversations taking place about this issue… Why are so many young people talking about Calvinism?  Why are so many young people excited about Calvinism?  

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If we want to be honest a lot of people don’t even know what Calvinism is, much less understand the tension that it brings between believers.  None-the-less, if you don’t know what Calvinism is then you probably will soon enough.  Calvinism (New Calvinism as people often call it) is a big enough deal that Time Magazine has labeled it “the 3^rd largest idea that is changing the world right now.”  With the setting of John Calvin’s 500^th birthday last July, Calvinism seems to be as popular as ever.  Though with this widespread popularity there is never the less much tension… tension between friends, families, church members, pastors, etc.  We must ask:  why the tension?

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