I freely admit, although I have read alot, but have not read any of Calvin's or Arminius' works. But I do have a good friend who studied them whilst in Bible College (something his teacher hadn't even done.) He came to a startling conclusion: both men say almost the exact same thing. Both talked about the twin truths of divine election and human responsability/action. Calvin stressed divine election more, and Arminius stressed human responsability/action more, but the truth is, they both taught both because BOTH ARE TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE.<br><br>Read John 6:37-40:<br><br>37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. <br>38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. <br>39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. <br>40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. <br><br>Go read vs. 37 again: there is "divine election" written all over this verse. Same thing with vs. 39. The message is clear: God chooses people, and those He chooses will never be lost. Now read vs. 40. "Every one." This is an open invitation! Hello, human responsability and action. Welcome to our program.<br><br>John MacArthur said as much in "The Gospel According to Jesus." I forget the exact quote, but it refers to the above passage and comes to the only sane conclusion: Jesus affirms both divine election and human action. There is no way around it. Both are true. And as MacArthur aptly put it, it's a "mystery." Plain and simple.<br><br>I could dig into a bunch of other Scripture to continue this, but I think this is enough to get some gears turning and shed a bit of light on this excellent discussion.

Last edited by Henry; Mon Oct 27, 2003 8:41 PM.
(Latin phrase goes here.)