Does it really matter whether or not we preach the gospel? Will not God save those whom He has chosen to save whether we do anything about it or not? After all, is not God sovereign? God is in control of the universe. How could the actions of men affect the outcome of who is saved and who is not? And besides, does not God already know who will be saved and who will not, therefore, it is as good as done, right? There is nothing we can do to change it. Have you ever heard these arguments before? Have you ever thought them? Perhaps you have even used them from time to time. These arguments illustrate some of the basic tenets of Calvinism and its view of election and predestination. What is Calvinism? We will begin with a short history lesson so that you understand what we are talking about. Calvinism is a theological viewpoint based on the teachings of a great reformation leader named John Calvin. He lived in the 1500's, was born in France in 1509, but moved to Switzerland in 1536 where he ministered most of his life. He spent a short period of time in exile in Germany, but returned shortly thereafter to Switzerland. Originally, John Calvin was Catholic as were most of the people in Europe at that time. The Protestant reformation was just beginning at that period, so there was no other denomination besides the Roman Catholic Church. Over a period of time, John Calvin developed several doctrines that have been adopted by various denominations. Some of these will be explained later. In particular, John Calvin is noted for his views on predestination and church government. He is probably most famous for his views on predestination, but he also developed a theology of church government which is known as a Presbyterian form of government. The Presbyterian denomination is based on this form of government, consisting of an elder system which is quite scriptural. Unfortunately, he expanded it to the point of forming a denominational hierarchy which was in charge of all the local churches. This is where he broke from Scripture, for God desires each local church to be answerable to Himself, not to a human hierarchy. Calvin's views on predestination are generally condensed into five points, the first letter of each spelling out the word, "T.U.L.I.P." The "T" in T.U.L.I.P. stands for - Total depravity or total inability, "U" Unconditional election, "L" Limited atonement, 'T' Irresistible grace, and "P" Perseverance of the saints. Actually, these five points were developed after John Calvin's death through an interesting set of circumstances. John Calvin developed many followers in the course of his life. One of his followers was named Jacobus Arminius. Jacobus Arminius was contemporary with John Calvin for only four years. In other words, he was four years old when John Calvin died; therefore, he was actually schooled in his theology by Calvin's successor, Theodore Beza. Since Jacobus Arminius was originally taught under Calvinistic influence, he basically accepted the teachings of Calvinism but later rejected several points. He subsequently gained a following of his own who became known as "Arminians." Calvinism and Arminianism thus formed two theological approaches to predestination. Arminius, of course, died, and his followers published his viewpoints in a document known as the "Remonstrance." This document established five points of Arminian doctrine. Those who were teaching Calvinist doctrine recognized that these five Arminian points were almost exactly the opposite of what Calvin had taught. The Calvinists responded to the five Arminian points with the five points of Calvinism. These were developed into a "Counter Remonstrance" at the Council of Dort, Dortrecht, Holland in 1618-19. These five points are the familiar "TULIP" points which we will be considering in this study. We might truly say that the "TULIP" doctrine came from the land of tulips. While this is interesting, we must say that it is entirely without any spiritual significance! We will begin by outlining the contrasts between Arminianism and Calvinism, in general. First of all, Arminianism says that man has a choice whether or not to believe, whereas Calvinism teaches only those whom God chooses can believe. The second difference is, Arminianism teaches that foreknowledge is informative. This simply means, according to Arminian doctrine, that God looks ahead through time, sees who will believe, and then picks those people to be saved. Calvinism on the other hand, teaches that foreknowledge is determinative rather than informative. In other words, God knows in advance those to whom He will give faith. To the Calvinist, it is not a matter of looking ahead to see who will believe, but rather it is deciding in advance who will be given faith. This forms the basis by which God knows who will be saved, according to Calvinist doctrine. A third difference, and a very major point, is that Arminianism teaches that salvation can be lost if a person stops believing. Calvinism teaches salvation cannot be lost, because according to Calvinist doctrine, it was God who caused the person to believe in the first place, and God just keeps causing him to believe; therefore, the saints remain saved because God gives them perseverance to keep believing. The fourth difference is that Arminianism is the theology of the Methodist denomination. Also, the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Mennonite groups today are basically Arminian in their doctrine, particularly in the area of loss of salvation. This is one of the major points of their doctrine. Calvinism is the theology of the Reformed and Presbyterian denominations.2 Generally speaking, Calvinism also 1 Reid, Dictionary of Christianity in America, p. 79. Reid, Op. cit., p. 212. dominates in Baptist circles (except "Free Will Baptists") as well as many Fundamentalist circles. The mistake which Christians almost always make when considering these two viewpoints is the belief that in order to be consistent, one must be totally Arminian or totally Calvinistic in his thinking. This study will show that this simply is not the case. There are some elements of Arminianism which can be supported by Scripture. There are other parts of Arminianism which are clearly false. The idea that salvation can be lost is not supported by the Word of God, "rightly divided" (II Tim. 2:15). Some elements of Calvinism are accurate, such as eternal security. This is an accurate doctrinal belief, although the reason that Calvinists believe it is inaccurate. They believe that salvation cannot be lost because God simply continues to give faith to the believer. Paul teaches that salvation cannot be lost because the believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). If we rightly divide the Word of truth, we can sort through a lot of the errors whether they be on the side of Arminianism or the side of Calvinism. The fight division of Scripture holds the answers to many of the apparent contradictions that we find between these viewpoints.