Calvinism and Arminianism

In our last Sunday School class we touched on Calvinism and Arminianism. The context was the study we are doing in the book of Genesis and how the sovereignty of God plays out in that book.

The basic side of each view was given without bias towards either. That was good.

The wonderful thing about an honest presentation of both sides is that you soon see that both are true. Both sides have their verses that prove they are right. With proper Biblical interpretation you then see that neither side is right. When Scripture is taken as a whole we see the truth.

We should reject both Calvinism and Arminianism and accept the full truth of Scripture. It is error to take only one side of the argument and then use exegetical gymnastics to explain away the Scripture of the other side.

So what are we to do as we look at Scripture and find doctrine that seems to have opposing yet valid views? Honesty requires that we accept the whole truth and sometimes we have to admit we don’t understand it all. We can agree with the sentiments expressed in Psalm 139:6 I can't understand all of this! Such wonderful knowledge is far above me.

Philip