Between Scot McKnight and Michael Bird I find myself in a bit of a quandary as to whether one, namely myself, should blog on these matters. The ancient debate of Calvinism vs. Arminianism is one in which I have been scarred intellectually, [and possibly emotionally]. It's a touchy subject for me. I've seen it cause so much division and parting of the ways, that I try and avoid the topic like a bad rash.
My testimony is surprisingly similar to that of Bird's. Although, my shocking encounter took place in October 95. At NewDay I had the privilege to bump into my first ever group leader at Summer Camp in 96. Greg Scot was simply amazed to see how much I had changed, developed and grown! It was a nice reminder of how much of God's grace I have been exposed to.
Having said that, I am almost convinced that the debate has been superceded by New Testament scholarship. The metaphysical concerns of this old debate seem foreign to the text of the New Testament and early Christianity up until Augustine. For example, if one had asked Paul whether a Christian could lose their salvation, Paul would have responded: Don't even think about that, just press on and follow Jesus until you die, For HE is worthy! The thought of God doing something like picking a handful of people who were automatically in or out is a metaphysical concern that appears alien to the scriptures. It's like asking what was Paul's view of Critical Realism. "What's that?" Paul would have questioned... But maybe I'm being naive. Maybe the worldview of 2nd Temple Judaism does have space for such metaphysical and ontological musings and speculations. But I'm not convinced... Terry Virgo and I were chatting as we wondered through the bookshop at NewDay, which was a fascinating exercise. We come from such different backgrounds, experiences and theological presuppositions - yet the concern for the Church, the passion for Jesus and our wonder for HIS grace was almost identical... So there is space for movement and disagreement among brothers and sisters in The Way. As long as our primary creed, The Jesus Creed, remains the same...
1 comment:
Sean, in part I agree that the Calvinistic/Arminian thing is beyond the scope of the NT and is a problem created theologians. At the same time, the extent of God's sovereignty and free will was debated first by the Pharisees, Saducees and Essenes. So the debate did not begin with Luther and Erasmus!
Post a Comment