Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Religion/Arminianism

Arminianism

Much like Calvinists, the people who believe in Arminianism believe in five points which are the conflict between Arminists and Calvinists.

The first belief is that man has the free-will to choose whether to become a believer. God sending his son Jesus to die for our sins allows us the freedom to become saved. We have the choice as to whether we will believe or not. God will not interfere, and will allow his people to make their own personal choice as to whether they will be saved or not.

The second point is that God's choice of who is saved is based on who chooses to be saved. God does not elect certain people to be saved and then pushes them to belief. He looks for those who choose of their own free will to be saved and those are the ones who get his salvation. It is ultimately Man's choice who is saved.

The third point is that, while Jesus' crucifixion gave every man the ability to be saved, it ultimately does not guarantee anyone salvation. Jesus gave people the ability to be saved, but you must respond to the sacrifice by choosing to believe in God in order to be saved.

People of Arminianism also believe that the Holy Spirit can be resisted. The Spirit calls every sinner to repent and be saved but it is not able to work in people until they have belief in God. The spirit is limited by people's faith and cannot work in those who refuse to accept its presence.

The fifth point is a point of contention even within arminianism. Most believe that a believer can lose their salvation by not keeping up their faith, but there is a group that believes that once you are saved you are eternally saved.