If you are an anti-Calvinist, you must be Arminian? Huh?

 

[Updated - Dec 16, 2023]

There is a common misconception in Evangelicalism that when you write or say something against Calvinism - aha, you must be an Arminian.

Calvinists assume this to be so. In fact, Arminians think this to be so too! They think you are one of them when you oppose Calvinism.

What a false dichotomy fallacy! 

This post is meant to correct this impression - by tracing the situation via history.

Calvinists are quite quick to assume that there is no one else who opposes them except Arminians. Arminius we can recall was the Reformed minister who kicked back against 5 points of Calvinism.

For example, let's take R. H. Lenski - a famous Lutheran NT Scholar well respected by other non-Lutheran who wrote a compelling commentary on Romans 9, which rejects and assails the way Calvinists interpret this to support their decretal/unconditional predestination. Many recognize the formidability of Lenski as an NT Exegete that even the Calvinist Apologist Dr. James White had to write a rebuttal of Lenski's exegesis proving Calvinists exegesis wrong  here. 

Some Calvinist mis-identity Lenski as Arminian - see that here

Furthermore, Arminians love to take Lenski as their own, since he fought Calvinism. In fact even US Synodical Lutherans from LC-MS/WELS/ELS etc who hate Lenski because he rejects their Universal Objective Justification, label him to be Arminian too, not Lutheran! 

Arminianism is a boogey man word. If you want to denigrate a theological opponent, just identify the person as Arminian! Calvinists often resort to straw-man propaganda labelling them as Pelagians or Semi-Pelagians which Arminius, a highly researched theologian, was unlikely to be unfamiliar with these positions. 

Needless to say, Lenski a well respected NT Exegete from the Lutheran camp is loved by Arminians to point as their champion too. See the Theology section of the Wiki article about Lenski here, where there are those who identify him as Arminian.

I read most of R H Lenski's commentary and I don't think he will appreciate being mislabeled and not thought about as Lutheran.

I had a discussion with someone of an Arminian persuasion and I was puzzled why by history and shear evolution of thought why there is reluctance to give credit to where credit is due - that Arminius must have been influence of those who went before - the Lutherans.

Thankfully, I was helped by Arminians who do credit the Lutherans who influenced Arminius with proofs I link below. HT: Andrew David

If you are one of those who would like to make Arminius as an original thinker, here are the facts:

1. The Lutherans have been opposed to Calvinism even before the Arminians came to the scene.  The earliest opposition from Lutherans that can be traced is from 1570.
2. The Lutherans wrote about Calvinism even before the Book of Concord was signed - 1580.
3. Jakob Andrea, a co-editor of the BoC cross "swords" with Theodore Beza, who was Arminius' senior in the university where Arminius studied.
4. Jacob Arminius came to the scene in 1610, that is 1 generation away from 1570.
5. Jacob Arminius claimed that he was influenced by a Danish Lutheran - Neils Hemmingsen and read the writings of Melanchton the author of Augsburg Confession. Here are references to this connection:
1.  Something for Arminius Geeks
2.  The Doctrine of Prevenient Grace in the Theology of Jacobus Arminius