Byblos,
I dealt with much of the Scriptural objections in my response thread. However, I'll briefly correct a few historical errors made by Mr. Abrams.
1.) "John Calvin, the Swiss reformer (1509-1564) and theologian, drafted this system in Soteriology (study of salvation) that bears his name. The term "Calvinism" refers to doctrines and practices stemmed from the works of John Calvin and his followers, which became the distinguishing characteristic of the Reformed churches. Calvinism is often called the "Doctrine of Grace" which is a problem, because Calvinism denies God's grace to most of mankind."
First of all, Calvin was French, not Swiss.
Second, Abrams fails to provide a link or a reference to this system in Soteriology that Calvin drafted. As far as I know, Calvin never drafted any "system of Soteriology", or at least anything different from that which was taught by his peers and predecessors. Calvinism did not originate with Calvin. It was the theology of Luther, of the Reformers, of Augustine, and, dare I say, Paul.
Third, the name "Doctrine of Grace" is not a problem at all. It can more accurately be called the "Doctrine of Sovereign Grace", as it agrees with Paul in Romans 9:18, " So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills."
2.) "This controversy began during the Reformation in the 16th Century".
No so. It began in the 4th Century with the
Pelagian Heresy. . (Whenever I debate diehard Catholics in this area, I always refer to St. Augustine of Hippo.)
Luther and Erasmus debated the same issue a generation before Calvin. Also, keep in mind that the so-called "Five Points of Calvinism" were a biblical response to the "Five Points of Arminianism" presented by the Remonstrance at the Synod of Dort in 1618, 54 years after Calvin's death.
3.) Such men as Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers in resent times, dealt with the matter by alternately preaching both salvation by grace and man's responsibility to respond to God's offer of redemption. He would preach election, that salvation was of God on one Sunday and the next Sunday preach that man must exercise his will and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, Abrams makes a generalized statement and offers no reference to support it. When did Spurgeon ever teach that "
man must exercise his will and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ". Spurgeon did not "alternately preach" anything. Spurgeon was a diehard 5-point Calvinist, who said that
"I do not serve the god of the Arminians at all; I have nothing to do with him, and I do not bow down before the Baal they have set up; he is not my God, nor shall he ever be; I fear him not, nor tremble at his presence...The God that saith today and denieth tomorrow, that justifieth today and condemns the next...is no relation to my God in the least degree. He may be a relation of Ashtaroth or Baal, but Jehovah never was or can be his name." (I can't see an alternating preaching here.) Spurgeon adamantly preached against Arminianism, and rather than give you a linst of a hundred sermons or so to prove this, I'll simply refer you to
this article and you can check the references for yourself. You can also browse through
Spurgeon's Sermons to see such titles as "
Free Will: A Slave", "
The Immutability of God", "
Particular Redemption", "
Human Inability", and many others.
God Bless,
PL
I need more sleep.
