Someone please explain the difference between Arminianism and Calvinism?

Here is a good article for your question:

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/doctrines_grace/tulip.html

 

Here is a much shorter, succinct article:

http://www.bible-researcher.com/arminianism.html

Here is a great website with thousands of links to articles organized by topic:

http://www.monergism.com/

The Desiring God website I posted above also has several articles and resources:

http://www.desiringgod.org/library_index.html

 

http://www.accs.net/users/wolf/theology.htm

Here is a site that has the non-calvinist veiw. Remember there are more then two camps.

http://www.john15.net/arm/rom9.php

http://www.tbm.org/what_is_calvinism.htm

These are counterveiws of calvinism.

Prepare to study and pray. Otherwise you will be rocked by confusion. Be paitient and ask for wisedom.
There are areas that both sides cannot make compatiable with scripture. At least without a lot of twisting and assuming.
There are alot of threads here on calvinism and non so read and find the men who seam to have the right spirit. There are some who just want to cause strife and those that actually have taken the time to listen to the other and respond in kind. Those men are already showing the spirit that dwells and rules within.
I will give you names.
Me4Him
webdog
calvibaptist
Scott J
4HisGlory
Bill Brown
AndyT
These are not all on the same side but deal honestly or at least with the right spirit on the subject at hand.

Stay away from that timtoolman guy....he is good on advice but not so good on following through.

 

Always remember that some will always accuse you of twisting the scriptures whenever you do not believe the same as they do as well....

blessings,
Ken

 

the bottom line seems to me to be this:

regeneration precedes faith (monergism/ Calvinism / Augustinianism)

or

faith precedes regeneration (synergism/ Arminianism / semi-Pelagianism)


the first one is called "monergism" which is the belief that mankind, being utterly fallen and dead in their sins and trespasses, cannot make even he first step towards God unless He first enables them to do so, typically appealing to statements like the following:
Joh 6:65 And he said, This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

the second view states that while man is fallen, God has made grace universal such that the grace to come to Him is available to anyone who chooses to come to Him, thus man can can cooperate with the grace God has made available and decide for Christ... sometimes this grace is called "prevenient grace"....

blessings,
Ken

 

What's the difference?

One believes you have to go to Heaven, the other believes you get to go to Heaven...

 

I don't think one is more prevalent in certain geographies of the U.S. I'm not sure if such a study has even been done. I can say that 5-point Calvinism is in the minority right now, although it wasn't always that way in Baptist circles or in Evangelicalism in general. The history of Baptist doctrine is generally rooted in Calvinism. See here one the the earliest Baptist statements of faith:

http://www.creeds.net/baptists/1689/original/1689bc.html

That's not to say that all of the early Baptists were Calvinists, but I think it is safe to say the majority of them were.

Today, a relatively small % would hold to all 5-points (see the articles I posted earlier). Some more might call themselves 4-pointers, usually rejecting the L in TULIP. Most Baptists today are generally 1-pointers holding to some form of the P in TULIP.

That being said, I believe there has been a resurgence in Calvinist doctrine over the last 20-30 years or so.

That's my take. Others are free to add or refute.

 

Also, two books that give an easy-to-read, non-combative defense of Calvinism:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581342993/sr=1-1/qid=1145564647/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7004347-5440802?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0842313354/sr=1-1/qid=1145564730/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7004347-5440802?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

Also, this book I think is extremely helpful in understanding the contrast between God's holiness and our sinfulness. Such an understanding is key before one can even come to terms with the Doctrines of Grace (i.e., Calvinism). That's why I probably would recommend this book before the others. The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0842339655/sr=1-1/qid=1145565185/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7004347-5440802?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

All of these should be at your local library, if you live near a bigger city.

 

Here's a great outside view from neither a calvinist nor arminian, and the one view I align closest to...

http://www.faithalone.org/journal/1995ii/Congdon.htm

 

These links are from a Free Presbytrian Church, but they do have some good info.

http://www.corkfpc.com/simplified.html

This attempts to dispel some uninformed misnotions:
http://www.corkfpc.com/whatcalvinistsbelieve.html

This is an interesting chart:
http://us.geocities.com/cfpchurch/balanced.html

I am glad you are a student of the Word and the theology it contains. Keep on being a Berean.

 

not to overwhelm you or anything... but if you are an avid reader, and on a tight budget (I know the feeling!! lol) a couple of other complete books on this subject avaialble for free online are

Southern Baptist theologian, James Boyce, has a complete systematic theology (written in 1897) online for free at http://www.founders.org/library/boyce1/toc.html

many of John Piper's excellent (IMHO of course) books are avaialble for free online at http://www.desiringgod.org/library/onlinebooks_index.html


anything you read from Charles Spurgeon will be from a Calvinistic Baptist perspective .... http://www.spurgeon.org/ ....
see Phil Johnson's excellent site, which also is called The Hall of Church History and also known as Theology From a Bunch of Dead Guys! lol http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/hall.htm..

the same thing (Calvinistic Baptists) for John Gill, AW Pink, and RL Dabney.... many complete books are avaialable for free at http://www.pbministries.org/

that should keep you busy for awhile

blessings,
Ken

 

http://www.biblebb.com/

Several good calvinist apologists' writings can be found here- MacArthur, Spurgeon, Edwards, et al.

 

If you want a clear understanding of what Arminianism is, then you need to read the book called

Four Views on Eternal Security

These are the Four Views and the Authors who defend them

Classical Calvinism-Michale S. Horton
Moderate Calvinism-Norman L. Geisler
Reformed Arminianism Stephen M. Ashby
Wesleyan Arminianism-J. Steven Harper

General Editor J. Matthew Pinson

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I fall under the Reformed Arminian view. Many people misunderstand what it is all about. I have dealt with people who have talked with their pastor about it, and came away with some twisted views of it.

It is good you are seeking the real beliefs behind each one. If you have particular questions regarding Reformed Arminian, just ask away, be more than happy to answer the best of my ability