Looking at the history of the calvinist-arminian divide, arminianism originated primarily combating the erroneous calvinist doctrine of predestined reprobation. And this wasn’t to focus on man or self, but to uphold God’s nature as revealed in Scriptures. This, in itself, is a desirous work in Christ but to bolster the initial doctrines into a fully fleshed belief system, several other inferences and teachings were drawn that do not reconcile with all of Scriptures either.

For instance, the concepts of corporate election, conditional mercy, prevenient grace, self-determined condemnation are true and are found in Scriptures. However, the Arminian should also have accepted individual election, unconditional mercy, irresistible grace and God-determined salvation as equally true that are indeed found in Scriptures as well. No consistent system of beliefs is possible for either the calvinist or arminian alone – they must coexist together as the reconciled view.

Freewill is not the end goal

In attempting to build an independent arminian system, faulty inferences are drawn and parts of Scripture are passed over. It is true that those who perish are condemned only by their self-determinism. But it is not likewise true that at the end of time, those who are saved have contributed by their self-determinism. To reinforce this erroneous belief, freewill has been dramatized and it’s claimed to be impossible for what would be puppets to love without such freewill.

But creatures that are a person with a soul are not puppets simply because they have God’s nature working in them. As C.S.Lewis argues, in choosing between 2 instincts to do 2 different mutually exclusive things, one must have a third instinct or reason as the basis to be inclined to pick one of them. And that third inclination is provided by either your self-nature/flesh or by God’s nature/spirit in you.

Now, we know from Scriptures that the inclinations of the flesh are evil and lead to death while the inclinations of the spirit are righteous and lead to life (Rom 8:5-6). Consequently, there is no ‘neutral’ state in virtue and morality. Either man acts out of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, pride of life or he acts out God’s working in him. God factors in human freewill of the non-elect only to demonstrate its futility, not that man may be saved through it – and this should not be a stumbling block to the Arminian so long as God’s nature is not impugned. Let man decrease and God increase.

Begin with the Calvinist

Anyway, the bulk of what’s presented here has been addressed to the Calvinist, in the hope that once they who began with the erroneous doctrine are persuaded on the truth of the reconciliation, the Arminian would no longer be compelled to reject the calvinist doctrines that are true, for fear of having to accept their erroneous ones as well. The reconciled view is to hold calvinist doctrines as true and applicable to the individually elect, while all the arminian doctrines are true and applicable to the individually non-elect.

More content or elaborations/clarifications will be added and updated here to cover more Arminian arguments as they arise.