Calvinism and Arminianism:
Myths & Realities
Calvinist, James White: “While [Dave] Hunt defends a system that stands shoulder to shoulder with Rome on the issue of the will of man and the idea that grace, while necessary, is not sufficient without the cooperation of man (i.e., Mr. Hunt is an avowed synergist who opposes the monergism of Luther and Calvin), he asserts that it is Calvinism that in fact contains ‘so much Catholicism.’” (Debating Calvinism, p. 240, emphasis mine)
James White: “Calvinism is genetically related to Augustinianism; Dave Hunt’s Arminianism is genetically related to Rome’s semi-Pelagianism. These are facts.” (Debating Calvinism, p.245, emphasis mine)
That’s odd, because I don’t recall that an advocacy of Free Will had begun with the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, Free Will was the universal view of the early Church for nearly three centuries, until the Gnostic convert, Augustine, came along in the 300’s. If anything, Calvinism is genetically related to Gnosticism, and Arminianism is genetically related to the early Church.
James White: “Indeed, as I listen to Mr. Hunt speak on these issues and read his writings, I fear that he is so intent upon defending libertarianism that at times in his strong reaction against the common view of the Protestant Reformation that he goes beyond the positions held by Rome and comes dangerously close to Pelagianism.” (Debating Calvinism, pp.331-332, emphasis mine)
The fabricated connection between Arminianism and Catholicism (as well as to Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, Open Theism, Universalism and Liberalism) is a strategic attempt by Calvinists to “poison the well.”
Question: Are Arminians guilty of poisoning the well, in terms of connecting Calvinism <-- Augustine <-- Gnosticism?
Answer: Well it’s a fact Augustine was a former Gnostic for almost a decade, and it’s a fact that the Gnostics affirmed Determinism while rejecting Free Will, which rejection of Free Will, had drawn a strong response from the early Church in support of Free Will.
Alleging a genetic link between Arminianism and Catholicism (due to a shared view on Free Will), is invalid because the early Church had already affirmed Free Will, before there ever was a Roman Catholicism in the first place, and therefore a more honest genetic link would be between Arminianism and the early Church.
Calvinist Charge: Arminianism inevitably leads to Catholicism.
Myth or Reality: This charge is more rhetoric than reality, since there is no evidence that there is a sweeping wave of Arminians converting to Catholicism.
