Calvinism? Really?
Pulished on September 14, 2007 • Written by neiswonger
(A response to a friend)
I’m an Augustinian. Poor and ragged as we might be.
The essence of Calvinism is that the effective cause of the salvation of the sinner is the Grace of God, mercifully given in Jesus Christ, and not some pre-existing good found in the sinner apart from God. I appreciate your taking the time to give a little analysis of Calvinism, but you might be missing the real center of the whole idea.
Does God save sinners? Or do sinners save themselves and God just makes their atonement for sin a hypothetical possibility? And with many of the verses you quote, the fact that if a sinner continues in their rejection of Christ it is their own choice and decision, and so their own moral responsibility, is exactly what Calvinism teaches, so to not explain that and just quote verses that Calvinists wholly agree with in meaning might be misrepresentative.
The Calvinist question might be, but when some one does turn to God, is it because of their own goodness? Because some people are just better or smarter than others? Or the grace of God alone? The Calvinist says that when someone rejects God it is their own willful decision, but when someone turns to God it is the effectual grace of God that is the cause. This is a pretty important point so I thought I would drop it in here.
All the best,
Neiswonger