#arminian

[greater-than-the-sword]

Not to poke the beehive, but...

[deweybertolini]

Let's Celebrate the Mystery Together!

In this PODCAST, get ready to bask in the glow of this glorious truth! Thank you for listening, and for sharing this message!!! Please remember that depending upon your web browser and connection speed, it may take up to 60 seconds for this podcast to begin to play. God bless you richly as you listen.

[apologeticsfromtheattic]

We continue working through an article written by Christopher Bounds entitled "How Are People Saved? The Major Views Of Salvation With a Focus On Wesleyan Perspectives And Their Implications" . In this episode we finish up our discussion of Semi-Pelagianism and read some quotes from a Semi-Pelagian leaning (according to Bounds) writer in the Wesleyan tradition. Then we start to cover Semi-Augustinianism, and take a deep dive into the concept of "prevenient grace", which is, according to Bounds, the key distinctive of this view. We then read from Roger Olson's book "Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities", and see what he has to say about prevenient grace. Enjoy! Link to Article here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42909800

[andrewpcannon]

Jesus as Prophet and The Personal Salvation Debate Among Jews in the First Century

In these notes, I first show the point of John 3:1-2 by offering a biblical apologetic for Jesus as having the authority of a prophet to reveal new revelation. Then, I explore the theological environment of First Century Judea in order to provide historical context for Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus. It is no surprise that a large part of the debate among Jews was the degree or mode of human…

[himalayaan-flowers]

@ Christians

does God hate me?

I've tried praying. I feel no connection. I still suffer almost every moment of my life, only to be told it's a sin to end my life.

I'm always told it must be my fault. It's because I'm sinful and too obsessed with sin to connect with God.

Or that I'm not trying hard enough. I'm not reading the Bible enough. I'm not praying enough.

How hard are you supposed to try until you give up? When you're almost certain God doesn't exist anyway?

Am I just spiritually dead? Have I been permanently cut off? Because I don't want to try any more.

I'll probably be told I'm lazy and need to "earn" a relationship with God but I'm in so much pain and I have tried praying I've tried reading the Bible but all it does is scare me and tell me how sinful and terrible I am and about how I'm going to be cast away and told "I never knew you"

I'm not saying I don't deserve that I probably do but I can't find it in me to try any more. I plan on killing myself early next year because I can't take it anymore. You will probably tell me I'm selfish and probably think I'm going to hell because I don't have the chance to repent after doing it and yes I'm terrified of that but I think I'm going to do it anyway, in the hope that you're wrong and the pain will stop.

I would love to be proved wrong and someone to tell me that I'm not as horrible as I've convinced myself I am or that God will forgive me for killing myself or it's ok to free myself and not actually a sin but I know that's probably not true and the truth just hurts

[ispeacetoomuchtoaskfor]

On the Subject of Susan

I'm going to be a little blunt and my words may seem antagonistic here. But no hate, please. I'm just trying to analyze and provide my analysis based on the very simple facts. Now.

I've never quite understood the anger at C. S. Lewis for how he ended Susan's tale. Mainly, I suppose, because I had the whole story.

Everyone gets angry that Susan is "banned from Narnia" because she likes lipstick and nylon stockings and being a teenage girl in the 1940s, but no one seems to understand that that's not quite how it went, much less that Susan still has a chance.

Let me work backwards a moment and explain the latter. You see, to quote Lewis himself, in a letter to a girl called Marcela in 1955,

"...Haven’t you noticed in the two you have read that she is rather fond of being too grownup? I am sorry to say that side of her got stronger and she forgot about Narnia... ...She is left alive in this world at the end, having been turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there is plenty of time for her to mend, and perhaps she will get to Aslan’s country in the end—in her own way. I think that whatever she had seen in Narnia she could (if she was the sort that wanted to) persuade herself, as she grew up, that it was ‘all nonsense’”

Now, there's a lot to unpack here, but first and foremost, my point is quite simple. "Perhaps she will get to Aslan's country in the end-in her own way." It was always meant to be open ended, for Susan. Narnia is not forever closed to her, unless you and she choose so.

"But Peace!" I can hear you saying, "There's that whole 'too fond of being grownup' phrase!" Why yes, yes there is, how clever of you to notice. The whole point of the latter portion of Susan's arc is that she chose that- lipstick and nylons and "being grownup"- over Narnia. She grew and she chose to forget Narnia.

After all, what sort of modern teenage girl (in England, during WW2) would be so interested in medieval times and what they probably explained to their friends to be a good old game of pretend? No, no, she can't remember Narnia right now - she's going to the cinema with a few girl friends, she's going to a party, she's focusing on everything but there and inevitably, after pushing it away for so long, Narnia let her be.

You see, C. S. Lewis was a very Arminian (and yes, I spelled it correctly) Christian theologian. And while I'm sure most of you here on this hellsite would like to ignore that, it is relevant to how Lewis wrote his fiction. After all, it's at the core of his basic beliefs, despite his being a staunch atheist in college and into his adulthood, and despite what you may like to think, it crept into his writing even when he did not intend it. For example, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is called an allegory for the story of the Resurrection, despite Lewis' arguments to the contrary. He insisted that it be seen as what it is, very heavy symbolism. Very heavily used Christian symbolism, that is all over the Chronicles whether you like it or not.

Let me explain why this is relevant to Susan, what Arminianism even is, and how that term applies here. Susan is, so to speak, a symbol of an atheist left behind, after all of the Christians she called family died. In a situation where you regard Christianity as true, she is left on Earth while they have gone on to heaven. And this doesn't mean that the gates of heaven are closed to her, quite to the contrary! They would be closed on the day she died insisting that Jesus Christ was not Lord, plain and simple. She has a choice to make, so long as she is alive.

Now, to Calvinist theologians and Christians, Susan never had a choice. Either Aslan, the God symbol here, chose to bring her in, or he didn't. Calvinists believe in a thing called predestination, the concept that every believer that would ever be brought to heaven is chosen specifically by God. Arminianism declares the opposite. It's a whole thing in Christian theological circles, but that's irrelevant to this discussion. In any case, the core of Arminianism is that you and I have a choice in whether or not we believe in God, and in whether or not we go to heaven.

To an Arminian theologian, God, or Aslan in this symbolic case, can influence our choice, Susan's choice, up to a point. Once we reach that point, once Susan forgets, God, or Aslan, steps back. He accepts our choice, allows Susan to forget. It's up to us, up to Susan after that.

Lewis was an Arminian theologian. He made the point, repeatedly, in his theological works, about people having a choice.

He repeats that point with Susan.

One last thing, before you go. You see, there was another letter about Susan, after The Last Battle was released. He'd been asked if he ever intended to finish Susan's story.

This was his answer.

“I could not write that story myself. Not that I have no hope of Susan’s ever getting to Aslan’s country; but because I have a feeling that the story of her journey would be longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write. But I may be mistaken. Why not try it yourself?”

Well, my people? Now that you've heard what I had to say (and say through quite the essay, my apologies), why not? Go, do what you do and tell her story for yourself. The author has encouraged fanfiction, so go on! And don't worry about Christianity and symbolism too much. It may help you understand how and why Lewis wrote what he did, but unless you're determined to have your tale in his style and overlapping seamlessly with canon, it's unnecessary. Unless you choose to make it a part of your life, you don't have to be concerned about it.

Feel free to ask questions, and I'll answer to the best of my ability, with Google by my side!

Also, I nearly forgot. There are absolutely other problems with Susan being the last of her family, left alone in the aftermath of WW2. This is not the place to talk about those, however, merely to help you understand why she "is no longer a friend of Narnia" and to remind you that there's always hope.

Oh, and besides that, don't forget that I'm talking about the books and not the movies thank you very much, while The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was absolutely perfect to canon the other two were not and I'm not going to consider them in this post. I do appreciate them, but when dealing with book canon they're both nos.

[llevronbelac]

If you'd like, put in the tags your denomination.

[markerbirthday]

I’m imagining a statement or something that deals with the Arminianism/Calvinism struggle over free will and whether that’s possible with the Christian God, THEN connect that to the Web. Perhaps a Calvinist preacher/web avatar manipulating people through the concept of predestination, using the fear of “not being chosen by God” and being helpless in your salvation? Or maybe an Arminianist (not a word i know) theologian so wrapped up with the concept of free will and the terror of not being able to choose anything in your life, that he loses it? Just some ideas :]

[secret--psalms--saturn]

Unpopular opinion but Finding myself the need to unfollow Facebook "christian" pages because they feel the need to make fun of (with distasteful memes) anyone who doesn't agree with them

[mourning-again-in-america]

love seeing someone whip out the old "Mormons are polytheists" canard

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon | Throughout the Old Testament God warns His church that false shepherds are under His judgment and condemnation. They lead the flock of God astray and teach false doctrines that are “empowered” by demonic lies and satanic ploys to tear people away from God, and rely on their own works for salvation. God says...

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

sooooo……. there’s some ConversationTM* going around the theology (and adjacent) girlies tonight and it’s got me very intrigued—are there really more options than just Calvinist/Arminian?? bc I’ve always been raised with this idea that those are The Two Options regarding salvation theology and how exactly it all plays out. but apparently that’s…. not the case??

Iwill add that yes, Molinism is a thing that exists, and I know of exactly one guy who’s a theologian and philosopher and who believes in that lol. it’s not exactly a super common alternative to the others. and then I do believe Catholics have a slightly separate view as well, but I’m mainly just talking about soteriology within Protestant theology here anyway.

*(I won’t say ‘DiscourseTM’ bc that seems more antagonistic than what I’m seeing around here rn; everything seems to be in good faith and just for the sake of pointing out minor discrepancies atm)

[faeriefully]

Are your family christian?

Yes! I grew up in a reformed Christin household :)

[trashcreatyre]

Did I start getting really emotional after being like "I wonder if anyone's done an arminian miku yet" and looking it up? No. Not at all. (Lie)

[beginnerblueglass]

Finished Orthodoxy. It was very good. I think it’s hilarious how many times he had to stop what he was saying just so he could give Calvinism the middle finger. Calm down buddy.

[brianbachochin]

Predestination and Free Will

Scriptusre: Romans 9:17-18, Ephesians 1:3-12, John 6:44, 2 Tim. 1:9, John 17:9, John 3:16, John 5:39-40, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Tim. 2:1-4, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 2:2