Calvinists Chapter 8 Summary
• Chapter 8: I have decent background knowledge of the differences between Calvinists and Armminists, but this chapter changed my thinking. The previous discussions and literature I have experienced have made Calvinists out to be irrational. This chapter appropriately represented the supporting and objecting arguments to both viewpoints. I gained an understanding of why Calvinists believe what they do, and I can now look at Scripture and see where they are coming from. Their beliefs are not radical; they are just radically different than mine.
• Chapter 10: The security of our salvation is something I, unfortunately, had never even considered. Until reading this chapter, I had the assumption that our salvation was secured, partly because I was uneducated, and partly because that is the nice and easy answer we all desire. Though I still cannot lean more toward either the Conditional view or the Eternal view, this chapter certainly stirred up a serious element of the faith that I had never …show more content…
noticed before.
• Chapter 11: Reading about the destiny of the unevangelized was difficult and emotionally evoking. Prior to reading this chapter, I tried to avoid this topic, because I fear it. I want to believe that God judges us all in secret, that he is just, and in his justness- would never allow good and innocent people to go to hell. But I can no longer sit in that comforting and un-Biblical ideology. I am struggling to truly believe that any of the exclusivist views could be the reality of unreached people’s destinies, but the strong possibility of their Biblical validity have placed a grim and heavy burden on my heart.
What were the strengths/weaknesses of each author?
• Chapter 8: Considering the challenge of presenting both the Arminian view and Calvinist view fairly and unbiased, I felt the author articulated the information simply and accurate. Based on other chapters that seemed to have settle hints of bias, I assume that the author holds a more Arminian view. But looking solely at chapter eight, the content was primarily informative and the author didn’t seem to lead to reader toward on view or the other. The ability to write without bias in this chapter is one of the author’s strengths.
• All Chapters: A weakness of the author is the tendency of bias in the other chapters. For example, I noticed the author aligned the Eternal Security view in chapter ten with Calvinism, but did this within the context of opposing arguments. The author’s bias or personal opinion is often reflected in the opening real-life scenario, and subtly in the supporting and opposing arguments. Another example of this can be seen in how much or little the author writes in the opposing or supporting arguments. The arguments the author feels the strongest about usually have longer descriptions than the others.
What are the main points of each author?
• Chapter 8: The author compares the Biblical ideology of humanity being “dead in our sin” to us being actual corpses. This imagery was a powerful description that helped me understand the foundation of TULIP. The author’s main points stem around the break down of TULIP. The two points that stood out to me the most were first, Calvinists model a strong confidence in their belief and faith in God, and two, God is always just, but that does not mean He is always fair.
• Chapter 10: The author presents a pretty strong argument against the Eternal view. He makes a strong point the scripture does not back it up, and even goes against it, specifically in the area of free will. The Eternal view aligning with Calvinism is also a largely discussed topic. From the other perspective, Conditional security not only contradicts the few passages that support the Eternal view, but it also creates the temptation of doing good works to earn
salvation.
How is this applicable to ministry? Do you know anyone who is struggling with or has questions about this issue? How might you be able to now help them?
• Chapter 11: In my opinion, the destiny of the unevangelized has been the most applicable to ministry topic that we have discussed so far. My concern is not for those who are struggling with this issue, but rather for those who are aware and take no action. Local and global evangelism must be the main priority of the Christian Church. Scripture makes it clear that we are called to proclaim Jesus’ name to all peoples. As much as we want to believe the God would never allow good and innocent people to go to hell, we cannot turn our attention away from it being a very likely possibility. And in that case, people are dying and going to hell because we are keeping the truth of the Gospel to ourselves, within our own people.
• All Chapters: All three of these chapters shared powerful arguments about foundational elements of evangelism. They are all applicable to ministry, because I believe the goal of ministry is evangelism. To evangelize, we need to know what we believe and why we do, which is covered in these three chapters.
Would you recommend this book/chapter to others? Why or why not?
• Chapter 11: I greatest passions and desires are to bring the Gospel to unreached people groups. As hard as it was for me to read this chapter, due to the harsh reality it obtains, I believe this is a chapter EVERYONE should read. In the Church today, I see no sense of urgency. This chapter will help remind our congregations that our call is not to attend Church every Sunday morning, sing a few songs, read a few passages and listen to sermons. Being active in the local church’s activities is not mentioned in the Great Commission. Jesus called us to proclaim his name to the nations. I would absolutely recommend this chapter to others.
• Chapter 10: I would recommend this chapter on the security of our salvation to others within the church community because it is an important issue that has not been properly addressed. I feel that Christians easily form assumptions in terms of their security in salvation, and assumptions are always personally biased.
• Chapter 10: The security of our salvation is something I, unfortunately, had never even considered. Until reading this chapter, I had the assumption that our salvation was secured, partly because I was uneducated, and partly because that is the nice and easy answer we all desire. Though I still cannot lean more toward either the Conditional view or the Eternal view, this chapter certainly stirred up a serious element of the faith that I had never …show more content…
noticed before.
• Chapter 11: Reading about the destiny of the unevangelized was difficult and emotionally evoking. Prior to reading this chapter, I tried to avoid this topic, because I fear it. I want to believe that God judges us all in secret, that he is just, and in his justness- would never allow good and innocent people to go to hell. But I can no longer sit in that comforting and un-Biblical ideology. I am struggling to truly believe that any of the exclusivist views could be the reality of unreached people’s destinies, but the strong possibility of their Biblical validity have placed a grim and heavy burden on my heart.
What were the strengths/weaknesses of each author?
• Chapter 8: Considering the challenge of presenting both the Arminian view and Calvinist view fairly and unbiased, I felt the author articulated the information simply and accurate. Based on other chapters that seemed to have settle hints of bias, I assume that the author holds a more Arminian view. But looking solely at chapter eight, the content was primarily informative and the author didn’t seem to lead to reader toward on view or the other. The ability to write without bias in this chapter is one of the author’s strengths.
• All Chapters: A weakness of the author is the tendency of bias in the other chapters. For example, I noticed the author aligned the Eternal Security view in chapter ten with Calvinism, but did this within the context of opposing arguments. The author’s bias or personal opinion is often reflected in the opening real-life scenario, and subtly in the supporting and opposing arguments. Another example of this can be seen in how much or little the author writes in the opposing or supporting arguments. The arguments the author feels the strongest about usually have longer descriptions than the others.
What are the main points of each author?
• Chapter 8: The author compares the Biblical ideology of humanity being “dead in our sin” to us being actual corpses. This imagery was a powerful description that helped me understand the foundation of TULIP. The author’s main points stem around the break down of TULIP. The two points that stood out to me the most were first, Calvinists model a strong confidence in their belief and faith in God, and two, God is always just, but that does not mean He is always fair.
• Chapter 10: The author presents a pretty strong argument against the Eternal view. He makes a strong point the scripture does not back it up, and even goes against it, specifically in the area of free will. The Eternal view aligning with Calvinism is also a largely discussed topic. From the other perspective, Conditional security not only contradicts the few passages that support the Eternal view, but it also creates the temptation of doing good works to earn
salvation.
How is this applicable to ministry? Do you know anyone who is struggling with or has questions about this issue? How might you be able to now help them?
• Chapter 11: In my opinion, the destiny of the unevangelized has been the most applicable to ministry topic that we have discussed so far. My concern is not for those who are struggling with this issue, but rather for those who are aware and take no action. Local and global evangelism must be the main priority of the Christian Church. Scripture makes it clear that we are called to proclaim Jesus’ name to all peoples. As much as we want to believe the God would never allow good and innocent people to go to hell, we cannot turn our attention away from it being a very likely possibility. And in that case, people are dying and going to hell because we are keeping the truth of the Gospel to ourselves, within our own people.
• All Chapters: All three of these chapters shared powerful arguments about foundational elements of evangelism. They are all applicable to ministry, because I believe the goal of ministry is evangelism. To evangelize, we need to know what we believe and why we do, which is covered in these three chapters.
Would you recommend this book/chapter to others? Why or why not?
• Chapter 11: I greatest passions and desires are to bring the Gospel to unreached people groups. As hard as it was for me to read this chapter, due to the harsh reality it obtains, I believe this is a chapter EVERYONE should read. In the Church today, I see no sense of urgency. This chapter will help remind our congregations that our call is not to attend Church every Sunday morning, sing a few songs, read a few passages and listen to sermons. Being active in the local church’s activities is not mentioned in the Great Commission. Jesus called us to proclaim his name to the nations. I would absolutely recommend this chapter to others.
• Chapter 10: I would recommend this chapter on the security of our salvation to others within the church community because it is an important issue that has not been properly addressed. I feel that Christians easily form assumptions in terms of their security in salvation, and assumptions are always personally biased.