Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism

An important measurement that one can apply to determine the verity and reliability of a truth claim is to test its immutability over time. Real truth does not change. It withstands scrutiny, challenges, and calumnies throughout the ages without any need of retraction, revision, refinement, evolution or update. Upon learning the history and theology of Calvinism and Arminianism in this DVD, sincere reasonable students of the Bible would immediately sense there is something fishy about the Arminian doctrines merely by considering the fact they have undergone multiple contradictory changes from the days of Arminius; the traditional Arminianism; to their modern version in which the doctrine of the so-called prevenient grace was added as a significant deviation to answer the objections to the previous existing claims. Another modern deviation includes the death of Christ being the payment of sins, while the traditional view only claims Christ suffered for sinners, as quoted from Dr. J. Kenneth Gilder, a leading Arminian scholar.On the other hand, to the best of my knowledge, the five points of Calvinism stand firm to this very day, and I dare to add, since before the creation of the world, without any addition, subtraction nor revision, because their solid-rock foundation is nothing but the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God.Dr. Phillip Schaff puts it this way, as quoted in the DVD:"Calvinism represents a consistent, logical, conservative orthodoxy; Arminianism an elastic, progressive, changing liberalism."Eric Holmberg rightly states that the root of the Arminian errors is the fundamental error in their view of the spiritual state of post-lapsarian man. He clarifies it by comparing the Pelagian view which is the seed of the Arminian error, the Arminian view itself, and the Calvinist view, that post-lapsarian man is well like pre-lapsarian Adam and just needs a teacher, sick and just needs a physician, dead and therefore needs to be resurrected by a Savior, respectively. Those mistaken in this view are bound to be mistaken in their views of the attribute of God, particularly His sovereignty and activity being subservient to the autonomous will of man, the nature of salvation being synergistic instead of monergistic, the efficacy of the atonement that doesn't save anybody, but it only provides an opportunity to be saved because a decisive factor is the individual's free-will decision to be saved which is an inevitable consequence of a synergistic view of salvation, and eternal security of believers that is precarious since it is dependent on one's will to remain in the faith or not. On the contrary, total depravity, total inability to choose God, spiritual deadness necessitates salvation to be God's initiative and effort, through election, redemption, regeneration, and preservation. Here is grace in the fullest sense of the word.But the implication of Arminianism reaches beyond TULIP, as Holmberg and other speakers point out. The teaching of human autonomy, the heart of Arminianism, inevitably affects our worldviews. One troublesome consequence is that it challenges the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of Scriptures considering, what if what was written in the Scriptures was "the fallible author's free will" instead of God's will, asks Dr. Roger Schultz. Dr. Stephen Mansfield has the following to say on the pervasiveness of human autonomy,"We could expect the idea that God choosing would be offensive to the rebellion of the human soul, but even more so in our culture where free-will and I'll have it my way is almost at an idolatrous level."To the Calvinists, grace is amazing because God is amazing, specifically in his gracious monergistic exercise in Christ to save ill-deserved spiritually dead sinners, and therefore He alone receives the glory; Soli Deo Gloria. To the Arminians, grace is diminished, and men rob a portion of the glory that is due God alone and claim it to be theirs, though they may not do it explicitly. The words of John Owen ring in my ears as I thought about this. I was wondering if he was too harsh when he characterized it as "a proud Luciferian endeavor?" (The Display of Arminianism, 1642), but it is hard for me to disagree.Calvinists should get this DVD to solidify their conviction and kindle their love for the gospel truth. Arminians should get this DVD. May the truth be known, tested and embraced. Non-Christians should get this DVD because there is gospel in it; the best news anyone would ever hear that nobody should miss.

Pros:The presentation with its music and graphics is high quality. Keep in mind, the DVD version is over four hours long.Cons:As it has been pointed out by others (reviewing the DVD), the title of this video is a misnomer and somewhat disingenuous. It would more accurately be called: The Polemic Against Arminianism, or The Apologetic for Calvinism. I would say this video is merely an exercise in "preaching to the choir." It is amazingly one sided and I doubt it will do much more than make Calvinists feel good about being Calvinists.I suspect that most non-Calvinists who watch this are going to be irritated and want to give their side in their own words and arguments. While watching, I constantly wanted to cry out, "I DO NOT believe that, nor do I argue that way." You might find someone who argues in those ways, but I think for most of us, it's just beating up a "strawman." And they sometimes commit the "bifurcation fallacy" (false dilemma) and say if you are an Arminian, then you either have to believe this or this, when there are in fact other possibilities.I find it interesting that they keep referring to councils and the decisions made in them. Should a Christian's authority be the Word of God or human traditions, church laws, decrees of councils, and creeds which are constantly being changed and revised because of their imperfections?Also, they use a lot of "appeal to authority": You see, great and godly men are in favor of it so it must be right. There is a great flaw in this thinking. According to the Bible, after our lives are over, we will not be judged by what other people have said, no matter how godly or smart we may think they are, but by the words of Jesus (John 12:48). And they seem to miss the fact that there are those of us who are not Calvinists who don't follow Palagianism or Arminianism (and certainly don't like being categorized by the name of a man). Many of us don't care what Palagius or Arminius taught, but rather, we simply care about the Bible's teachings.Another problem is they come across as extremely arrogant which I find very off-putting. And every now and then they use loaded words, question-begging epithet, and even snark (like Spurgeon's "Armenian prayer" and the book sale in the graveyard). This kind of stuff just makes them look like bullies and jerks.They also like to use "slippery slope" arguments. They contend that Arminians are on a slippery slope to either Roman Catholicism or to liberalism. Oh, really? I felt like every time someone in the video said "Arminianism" they wanted to turn their head and spit.And continuing to repeat that Calvinism has not been defeated and that Calvinism cannot be defeated certainly doesn't make it so; it just sounds like bluff and bluster. Also, when arguing against a passage used by non-Calvinists, they will often throw out a strong statement like, "In fact, this is a powerful verse FOR Calvinism," but they are far from demonstrating that fact. It's like they think if the audience is told enough that Calvinism is true, that they will simply start to believe it.There is also quite a bit of "elephant hurling" where they quickly throw out a bunch of scriptures or scripture references and assume their point has been proven (without actually examining them). But, throwing out a bunch of proof-texts isn't helpful--passages need to be carefully examined in their contexts. And when one does that examination, they can easily see how these passages can be interpreted in different ways. The people in the video often act as if their interpretation is the only one out there.There are also some contradictory arguments. For example, at one point, they make a big deal about all-inclusive words and how "all" doesn't always mean "all." But, then, a bit later, they make the opposite argument from the word "never" in John 10 ("How long is never?").There were some other contradictory statements like their complaints against the depravity of our culture and saying: "The only antidote to the sickness of our present age--the gospel of the kingdom of God." But, I thought they taught that people can't accept the gospel without God forcing them to (Total Depravity/Irresistible Grace). And so, who cares if Arminianism causes liberalism (as they claim)? The only One who can do anything about it is God since we are all "totally depraved." Don't blame Arminianism, blame God (or at least Adam). That statement makes a lot more sense if Calvinism is NOT true.They even go so far as to say we can thank Calvinism for American liberty. And they say things like, "Calvinism is probably the MOST influential theological strain in ALL of constitutional history." Oh, don't be so modest; I’m sure they also “created the internet” (yeah, that’s sarcasm).One thing that I find interesting (the "elephant in the room") is if Calvinism is true, why make this video? If you really believe it's true, why argue about it--it doesn't make any difference what we believe and teach or what we want to do--it won't change my or anyone else's eternal destiny. There wouldn't be any point in discussing it because our teaching on the subject will not change the salvation or damnation of one soul. Amazing Grace? Only for those lucky enough to be one of the "elect." Why waste my time with this DVD?Here is a question I have (excuse the tongue-in-cheek): If I believe "wrong" on this, isn't that just proof that I'm NOT one of the elect (since it's a slippery slope into Roman Catholicism or liberalism)? Well, thank you so much for that confirmation! Now, I can sleep easy knowing for sure that I'm not one of the elect (no need to wonder). I can now just live any way I want (oh, goodie). I guess I'll quit praying and reading the Scriptures and quit trying to conform my life into the likeness of Christ; I wasn't lucky enough for God to love me. Oh, well, it didn't have anything to do with me anyway.Conclusion:I was hoping for a documentary on the "history and theology of Calvinism," but what I got was a browbeating with a bunch of weak arguments.After watching this, I'm reminded of Proverbs 18:17: "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him."