The Arminian view

If you think that cartoon is even remotely representative of Arminian or Calvinist truth, you are truly weak in your theology. God does not give man more than man can bear, nor does he give man a weight that he must stand on to lift. He does give a buffet full of choices that man can handle, but does not give all of the choices at one time, making it more difficult than man can handle.

It is foolishness to imagine that He does.

 

I was at a Calvinism/Arminianism discussion yesterday afternoon on the campus of the University of Illinois, and I was shocked to hear one of those on the Arminian side of the panel to make the following statement.

"We Arminians tend to put too much emphasis on man and his decisions, and not enough on God and the gospel. Sometimes we are tempted to act as if God is helpless without us and our work.

We lean towards pragmatism and are constantly looking for "what works best" as if methodology were more important than the message. Since we believe that all men can be saved, we tend to assume that if they aren't saved, we have not packaged the invitation (or the message) right.

We especially love management, leadership, programs, marketing, and research data. We tend to focus more on the "potential convert" than on the eternal gospel.

Arminianism easily leans toward a NIKE mentality, "just do it." We are somewhat less inclined to pray in order to move God to "do it."
And, as has always been true, Arminianism can be taken to the extreme of humanism.

Calvinists have a Sovereign God and an inactive man. Humanists have a sovereign man and an inactive God. And Arminians lean toward the humanist end of this continuum and thus are always in danger of becoming humanists.

This was all caught on tape, but I'm not sure if it was his own statement or if he was quoting someone else. He is a pastor in S. Carolina, around the Greenville area.

 

I understood completely and still find the content of the cartoon misrepresents both the arminian and the calvinist views of man's salvation.