Here is a good Calvinist site:
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/hall.htm
Here is a good Armenian site:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/
den, This may sound crazy, but I think that theology has become a major hindrance to revival, so take all opinion of men for what they are, opinions. Trust the Word of God with prayer, not lip-service, but a getting down in the dirt, so to speak. I think that all major denominations of faith are correct on their main doctrines, and have gotten proud to the point that they have blocked other truths to defend the statements of their forefathers.
After you study Calvinism, and Arminianism, come back and look at these questions again in light of what you have learned:
1) Does God know the number of who will be in His kingdom in the end? Of course, these are the elect.
2) Is grace going to bring the elect salvation during their lifetime? Of course, how else can they get to heaven. What about the lost, can they resist the Holy Ghost? Of course, read Scripture:
Luke 13:34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"
Acts 7:51 "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye."
3) If the elect need grace, were they incapable of attaining heaven before? Yes, this is called depravity.
4) These elect will obviously persevere to the end. They are pre-ordained:
John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain"
5) The atonemtent of Christ will be applied only for the elect on the last day, but was offered for all:
1 John 2:2 "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
So who are the elect, it is whoever calls upon the name of the Lord. God knows the number of the elect, man does not. The 11 elect did not recognize the devil with them. So while God knows the number, that has no bearing on whether we should endevour for Christ. On the flipside, we should not be relying on our success, but faithfully preach the gospel and let God bring the increase, to His success.
Both sides of this debate talk past each other, and many largely rely on the statements of men. Denial of election is foolish, read Ephesians. Denial of man's individual responsility toward God is foolish. Why is their a judgement of all who are in the grave (because they have responsibility toward God).
Thinking through these debates, it is critical to understand that the prespective of God is not the perspective of men. Both of these are found in Scripture, but both should bring glory to Him.
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Hal Bachman
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