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Old 01-20-2009, 11:58 PM
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Luke Luke is offline
 
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Samuel, there is no clear line between Calvinists and Arminians.

Some dispensational teachers have taken to calling themselves "Moderate Calvinists" (Chafer, Darby, Scofield, Newell, Stanford, Nyberg, Ryrie) in an effort to stay the debate between calvinism and arminianism, but even moderate calvinism (a misnomer) does not resemble either of them.

Moderate Calvinism denies the TULIP.

Men is totally depraved, but not inable to respond to God.
God's election is conditional and man is responsible for sin
God's atonement is unlimited in scope, but limited in application
God's grace is irresistable and can be rejected
Christ preserves the saints for eternity through His grace, not their perseverance.

It's nothing like Calvinism at all, because it essentially denies every point. My Pastor calls himself a Biblicist (which gets the calvies mad). The only thing it has in common with calvinism is Eternal Security, but even the Calvinists hate that term, preferring "Perserveranc of the Saints" which is a works based gospel (backloading the gospel with works - grace to be saved, works to stay - it's arminianism in disguise, the difference being Armi's say you lose your salvation, Calvies claim you never had it).

If I go by any kind of theology, it's dispensational teaching. I don't understand it all, but I can't ignore the verses which teach man's responsibility to respond to God, nor can I ignore the hundreds of promises to Israel, yet unfulfilled.