The Calvinist is the man who has seen God, and who, having seen God in His glory, is filled on the one hand with a sense of his own unworthiness to stand in God's sight as a creature, and much more as a sinner, and on the other hand, with adoring wonder that nevertheless this God is a God who receives sinners. ~ BB Warfield
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4 comments:
Rick,
Just curious--is this entire posting a Warfield quote or is the lead sentence yours?
sorry - the leading paragraph is mine.
TULIP teaches that God has pre selected a very select few and the rest are basically damned. So my question is this- if you're a Calvinist, why would you have children?
If I read Arminianism correctly, it basically teaches that both God and man play a role in salvation, but it seems to imply that God will, in his mercy, offer grace to any person who earnestly calls on his name. Thats basically in line with modern evangelism that can be seen at revival rallies etc. Whereas Calvinism teaches that only God plays a role and that he has elected a very select few.
Obviously the consequences I guess, of believing either can be seen in life, but I believe the children and family is one area where it's particularly obvious. If you're an arminian, then you'll believe that if you raise your kids in the ways of the Lord and then they call on his name, that he'll gracefully save them. Whereas if you're a Calvinist, my interpretation would suggest that there's no inherent reason why God would favour your children over anyone elses.
Tray - thanks for asking but I think there is no short answer. I think your statements are not really an accurate representation of either view but I don't think I have space here to give you the respect your points deserve. So I will simply say that Scripture teaches us how we are to interact with our children and the rest of creation for that matter. I do not know of anyone on either side of the Arminian/Calvinism debate citing those doctrines as the driving force for properly raising a child.
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