Welcome to my "One on Two" discussion with assuranceagent and Ask Mr Religion. The point of this discussion is to allow assuranceagent and Ask Mr. Religion to help me get a better understanding of what Calvinism teaches. As many of you may or may not know I am a staunch open theist.
Yet to the chagrin of my Open Theist friends this thread WILL NOT be a debate. I will not be attempting to disprove Calvinism or even argue against Calvinism in this thread.
And the reason for this is....
I and other Open Theists often get accused of debating a false version of Calvinism when we make open theist arguments therefore it would only benefit all of us if we stopped and took the time to better understand the Calvinist position.
I will possibly ask for clarification on occasion and I might even ask how a certain statement fits within the scope of a biblical passage that seems to refute it but this isn't meant to be argumentative yet instead such responses should be used so I can fully understand the theology that is Calvinism.
Ask Mr Religion and assuranceagent have been around TOL a long time and even though we disagree on this issue we have become friends and I respect their opinion very much. The three of us have agreed "behind the scenes" to attempt to have a respectful, fruitful, and worth while discussion with the hope that we can all understand each other better when we are out "in the wild" debating and fellowshipping on the forums. We have agreed to try to limit this discussion to our own opinions (avoid linking to other sources unless it's super important) and we have also agreed to attempt to make each post "bite size" and easy to read and respond to since we are all busy guys.
So lets start this puppy!!
Let me get things rolling by asking AMR and assuranceagent if they can briefly describe the following three theologies:
- Calvinism
- Arminianism
- Open Theism
In a sentence or two, what do those three different school's of thought mean to you?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to have this discussion with me. This One on Two will last for about two weeks and then I will shut it down unless we all feel we should keep it going for a bit longer.
Yet to the chagrin of my Open Theist friends this thread WILL NOT be a debate. I will not be attempting to disprove Calvinism or even argue against Calvinism in this thread.
And the reason for this is....
I and other Open Theists often get accused of debating a false version of Calvinism when we make open theist arguments therefore it would only benefit all of us if we stopped and took the time to better understand the Calvinist position.
I will possibly ask for clarification on occasion and I might even ask how a certain statement fits within the scope of a biblical passage that seems to refute it but this isn't meant to be argumentative yet instead such responses should be used so I can fully understand the theology that is Calvinism.
Ask Mr Religion and assuranceagent have been around TOL a long time and even though we disagree on this issue we have become friends and I respect their opinion very much. The three of us have agreed "behind the scenes" to attempt to have a respectful, fruitful, and worth while discussion with the hope that we can all understand each other better when we are out "in the wild" debating and fellowshipping on the forums. We have agreed to try to limit this discussion to our own opinions (avoid linking to other sources unless it's super important) and we have also agreed to attempt to make each post "bite size" and easy to read and respond to since we are all busy guys.
So lets start this puppy!!
Let me get things rolling by asking AMR and assuranceagent if they can briefly describe the following three theologies:
- Calvinism
- Arminianism
- Open Theism
In a sentence or two, what do those three different school's of thought mean to you?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to have this discussion with me. This One on Two will last for about two weeks and then I will shut it down unless we all feel we should keep it going for a bit longer.