In Defense of Arminianism

• If God has already elected those who are going to heaven, then why evangelize, seek to be saved, or even follow God's path?
  • Your traditional Calvinist would proclaim, "Because God told us so!" But if God has already elected those who will be going to heaven, no amount of influence from Christians will change who is elected or not. Evangelism may be the means of how God saves the elect, but our conscience decision to not evangelize will not affect the elect.
  • The interesting counter-argument would be when Calvinists say to non-Calvinists, "But why bother evangelizing... God already knows if a particular person will ever accept the message or not." But, as will be discussed below, this is argument is a fallacy due to the lack of comprehension of time.
• If God predestined everything, then there is no use in praying for your friends or family.
• If God predestined everything, then God created sin.
  • This is where Calvinists disagree among themselves. There are several camps; some that believe every little detail has been predestined, those who believe that God predestined all major events (including salvation), and those who believe that God only predestines those who will be saved. I suppose this point would address the first camp; If indeed God did predestined every little thing, then God did create sin. He caused man to act a specific way knowing in advance what it would lead to.
• If man is totally incapable of good, then man cannot truly be remorseful or repentant.
• If man is totally incapable of good, then man cannot be faulted for his sins.
• If God predestined everything, then why eternally condemn the non-elect? After all, it is not their fault.. they were predestined to be damned!
  • This concept is called double-predestination. The logic is rather simple: if God only allows the elect to be saved, and God predestined the elect, then by default, God predestined everyone else who is not elect to be eternally condemned.
  • Most Calvinists believe it, but there are quite a few who don't...
• Jesus died for everyone, not just the elect.
  • Calvinists would point out verses such as John 10:11, Acts 20:28, and John 15:13-14, which states that Jesus died for his friends. However, Jesus promptly then states that we are his friends if we obey his commands. Clearly, though, Jesus died for everyone. Verses decribe Jesus as the savior of the world, the savior of all men, and etc. Specifically, 1 John 2:2, which states that "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
• Once-saved-always-saved is a farce
  • One only has to read the very last two verses of James (James 5:19-20) to see why. "My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. "
  • Your confused calvinists typically don't have a response to verses like these other than to falsely argue that "well, the sinner must not have ever really been born from above to begin with."
  • It is not unfeasible for someone to be whole-heartedly devoted to God for a majority of their lifetime and then suddenly snap and turn totally against God in his heart. For example, suppose Billy Graham were to all of a sudden denounce God and start worshiping Satan. Calvinists would suggest that Billy Graham must not have ever have been saved whereas any other rational person would say that he once was a great man of faith whose heart was totally devoted to God but then suddenly snapped.
  
  
  For the rest of the article go here:
  http://people.cis.ksu.edu/~bbp9857/calvinism.html