Arminian Christians and Calvinist Christians have been debating the nature of free will, what predestination and election are all about, and whether God’s grace is resistible for a long time. In this article, I want to respond to the second common objection Arminianism has with Calvinism.
Remember, Calvinists believe that God “irresistibly” saves people. This means God, from before the foundations of the world, unconditionally elected some sinners to be saved and “irresistibly” gives them faith in Jesus. Arminians believe God’s grace awakens all people to the point of being able to freely choose whether or not to believe in Jesus. This choice is no doubt assisted by grace but it is absolutely not a choice God makes for us.
Dr. Olson argues that Arminians reject the Calvinist understanding of “irresistible” grace because “…it violates the character of God and the nature of a personal relationship.” In the last article I addressed the idea that Calvinism violates the character of God. Now, let’s address the idea that Calvinism violates the nature of personal relationship because love for God is not “genuine” if God makes that choice for us.
Arminians say that if we are not left to “freely” choose God, a state of freedom due to prevenient grace, then our love for Him isn’t genuine. Therefore, God does not and will not give us faith irresistibly. He leaves the choice with us to preserve the potential for genuine love. I want to solve this dilemma by pointing to Arminianism’s own position and raising the exact same dilemma.
To that dilemma I respond by pointing out that Arminians already believe that God is not just willing but actively engaged in the same kind of irresistible work that we, Calvinists, believe in. Olson writes, “[John Wesley] was not even absolutely committed to freedom of the will; he was willing to concede that sometimes God overwhelms the will and forces a person to do something God wants done.” (Olson, 108; emphasis mine). “Wesley and some other Arminians have even affirmed a sense in which grace is irresistible!” (Olson, 59). “Arminius affirmed the necessity of supernatural assisting (prevenient) grace to unbind the will of the fallen person before he or she could respond to the gospel” (Olson, 42; emphasis added). “…Arminians believe people have no choice with regard to prevenient grace; it is irresistible….But prevenient grace does not bend the will or set aside free agency; in spiritual matters it creates the free will and free agency…” (Olson, 66).
Arminians have no problem with the idea of God changing someone’s heart without asking them first. Arminianism says that God sometimes “overwhelms” and “forces” people to do His bidding. They believe God does give a grace that is irresistible. Arminians believe God is willing to “unbind” wills. Arminians believe God does things in which people have “no choice”. Therefore, it is unclear on what grounds Arminians can say that irresistible grace makes genuine love impossible. They already believe in the irresistible grace of prevenient grace. Any choice to love God after was only possible due to a prior overwhelming, unbinding prevenient grace in which the sinner had no choice. According to their own standards, they don’t have a relationship of genuine love anymore.
The only significant difference I can see here between Arminianism and Calvinism is that Arminians believe God is willing to “force” people in certain matters, just not the one that means the absolute most: matters of eternal life and death. Calvinists, on the other hand, believe that God goes further in his irresistible work of grace to ensure that someone doesn’t die an eternal death.
Arminianism ends up saying, though not explicitly, that God loves the idea of a “free” choice more than people themselves. Let me illustrate this. Calvinism says God is like a father who sees his 5-year-old running into the street with a car heading right for them. The 5 year old knows not to run into the street, knows a car is coming, and knows if they get hit they will die. But they think in that moment it will all turn out alright, somehow. Watching on, the father, in love, rescues His child against the child’s will.
Arminianism, on the other hand, says God is like a father who sees his 5-year-old running into the street with a car heading right for them. The 5 year old knows not to run into the street, knows a car is coming, and knows if they get hit they will die. But they think in that moment it will all turn out alright, somehow. Watching on, the father, in order to preserve a “free” choice of love for years to come, allows the toddler to run into the street, get hit, and die. The father loved the idea of “genuine love” more than the child himself.
How does it follow that the father who lets the child die is more loving than a father who violates the toddler’s will to save him? That is not something we would ever conclude in that scenario. That father would probably go to prison. Yet, Arminianism seems to be asking us to conclude that about God concerning how He saves.
We violate the wills of our toddler children repeatedly, every single day, to save them from themselves. They choose to touch the hot stove and we stop them! They choose to climb into the dryer and we stop them! Violating someone’s will is actually the most loving thing someone can do for another person in certain instances, like a child running into oncoming traffic. Let me put this politely: I couldn’t care less about an Arminian’s idea of what genuine love is if it means God leaves it up to me to choose eternal life or not.
God, do whatever you have to do to save me from my idiotic, sinful self! If I had to choose between eternal damnation that I “freely” choose or eternal life due to God violating my will, then please, God, violate my will. Save me from myself. Take over. To use Arminian language, unbind me, force me, overwhelm me, and leave me no choice in the matter! Save me singlehandedly if that’s what it takes!
In all of this, let me make clear again that Calvinists do not actually believe God “violates” our will or forces us or “bends” our will. God gives us a new wills that will the good, beautiful, and true. Ezek. 36:26 - “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Thank God.
In conclusion, the Arminian objections to Calvinism actually turn back on Arminianism with greater force. Arminians, if God is so loving as you say, why isn’t God willing to singlehandedly save a single person? Because of the idea of genuine love based on freedom of choice? Alright, why does God seem to love the idea of “free” choice more than individual’s life? At least Calvinists think He loves people too much to let them go to hell forever due to their own evil stupidity.
