The Five Primary Points of Calvinist Theology Are Biblical

Thank you for posting. Total depravity- While I agree that man is certainly depraved, I'd have to disagree that he is TOTALLY depraved. This is exemplified by Matt 7:-11. 7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him Now, I know this may appear as Jesus is talking about prayer. However, that is not the case at all. Does God HAVE to give us all that we pray for? Certainly not. But because God is a God of love (1 John 4:8), He welcomes those who seek Him out into his adopted family. Unconditional Election- This is a fun one, and very similar in my opinion to Limited Atonement. Take Romans 9, a favorite of a very good friend of mine, a staunch Calvinist, who baptized me. Not just Romans 9:9-23 but lets start at Romans 9:3-23. Romans 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race. What does Paul mean here? continue on to Romans 9:17 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Continue to Romans 9:20-21 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"" 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Just looking at Romans 9:20-21 alone. The question I would pose to Pro here, is what atheist would look up to God and say "Why did you make me this way?" The answer? Not a single one. Christopher Hitchens, on his death bed, denied God. He never questioned why he was denying God. Lets also look at Romans 9:3 and 9:17. Why would Paul want to be cut off for his bretheran? Historically this man had been cruel. Even during his discipleship, what with condemning marriage and all. And what purpose did God have for Pharoah? Paul wished to be cut off because of the suffering his bretheran had been going through. All this ties in to Unconditional election being untrue simply because that is not what Paul was getting at. Take someone who has a disability or some other type of hardship. THOSE are the types of people Paul speaks of in Romans 9:20-21. THOSE are the people who Paul wantes to be cut off from. THOSE are the people Paul is speaking to in Romans 9:17, to assure them that God has a plan for them even though they are sick. Pro, I would assume, would have a hard time refuting this. Limited Atonement- All I need to say here is John 3:16 and 2 Peter 3:9. Read and study these IN VERBATIM. John 3:16, For God so loved the WORLD, he gave his only begotten son, so that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not parish but have everlastling life. Notice the words in all caps. That was my doing. I did it to illistrate that the bible plainly says that Atonement is NOT Limited. Irresistable Grace- I could go back as far as the Old Testament to confirm this is not true either. Exodus 32. God provided the Isrealites with a way out of Egypt and they rejected him, creating and worshiping a Golden Calf. Also I'd ask Pro to explain how countless people across the globe are reached, and evangelized to and still do not come to God. Perseverance of the Saints- I have to concede this point because I do not believe you can lose your faith, though I have to point out Jonah and I believe either 1 Kings or 2 Kings. Both Jonah and Soloman had fallen out of favor with God. I do not know what exactly "fall out of favor" means though, one could assume that God turned His back on them. My own Arguments- 1. Five Points of Calvinism not created by John Calvin, therefore could not possibly be as accurate as claimed. Calvin spoke of the Soveriegnty of God. Never predestination. It was at the Synod of Dort in 1619[1] a whole 55 YEARS after the death of John Calvin[2] and was created in response to the Five Points of Arminianism[3]. Biblical or not, this illistrates the desire of "Calvinists" to create their own version of God, one who is not loving, as the Bible says so plainly. 2. It is against God's Character to condemn without reason. As I stated earlier about 1 John 4:8, God is a God of love. 1 John 4:10 states We love God because He first loved us. It does not say We love God because God is soveriegn. Love is the central Attribute of God. It is what people identify with. If God did not Love EVERYBODY and leave atonement open for EVERYBODY, Jesus' sacrifice is for naught. To say that Jesus' blood is for the elect only, is the same as to say Jesus' blood is not SUFFICENT for EVERYBODY, and therefore null and void. So now the Question is, IS Jesus' blood not good enough? Is it REALLY null and void? Pro, and every other Calvinist would like you to think so, though they'd never admit it. 3. Can God be Soverign and the Five Points of Calvinism be untrue? Of course. God is soverign because God loves. God does not love because he is soverign. A loving God would bestow freewill upon his people. With out this love attribute that God has, is he really worthy of Worship? That is a question I'd like answered. 4. Without God giving man freewill, evil would not have entered into the world, God would not have to "elect" people or have Jesus' atonement be it limited or unlimited, therefore both The Five Points of Calvinism AND the Five Points of Arminianism are dependent on God giving man freewill. This is because God Himself is not evil therefore would not create anything evil. God created man in His own image (Gen 1:27). God is inherently good. Therefore man at one point had to be Good. Freewill was a gift from God and man chose to disobey God. 1. http://www.theopedia.com... 2. http://www.calvin.edu... 3. http://carm.org... As always I look forward to your rebuttals