Love requires risk and risk requires freedom,
love risks to love -
w/o conditions, expectations, qualifiers or obligations.
it is freely given, freely risked, freely offered.
it's response is in the form of a "relationship"
w/o conditions, expectations, qualifiers or obligations.
it is freely given, freely risked, freely offered.
it's response is in the form of a "relationship"
of an "I" and a "you" -
previously non-existent
previously non-existent
be/come alive with a "you" and an "I".
Today I felt like laughing and thought you may too. Rachel had a great blog on Arminianism and so I thought it should be passed along in the fun and the banter that it creates. On a side note, my personal preference leans towards Arminianism and the DAISY metaphor was great; so I think I'll keep it and kiss the TULIP goodbye. Too, Emergent Christianity necessarily favors Arminianism which is another reason that the idea of "God's love" gets so bantered about, misused, misunderstood, and held hostage by Calvinistic dogma. A little Arminianism will help open God and his love up to the mystery of life and meaning in much more encouraging ways than the dry desert lands we too often find ourselves lost within by our fellowships or our own hearts. Peace my brothers and sisters, and enjoy the laughter - we mustn't always take ourselves too seriously!
skinhead
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
12 Ways to Make Arminianism Cool Again
12 Ways to Make Arminianism Cool Again
April 18, 2011
Roger Olson’s interview (http://rachelheldevans.com/roger-olson-evangelical) with Homebrewed Christianity got me thinking about how, with all the talk about the Neo-Reformed movement, Arminianism has been underrated. Maybe we just need some better PR. Here are some ideas:
1. Petition Microsoft to make Arminian an actual word so that bloggers ranting about the pros and cons of Armenians don’t sound like complete racists.
1. Petition Microsoft to make Arminian an actual word so that bloggers ranting about the pros and cons of Armenians don’t sound like complete racists.
2. Create a Stuff Arminians Like blog. Entries could include: love, freedom, and “secretly wondering if we’re not elect.”
3. Three words: Driscoll. Boyd. Cagefight.
4. Instead of the “Gospel Coalition,” we’ll form the “Gospel Welcoming Committee.”
4. Instead of the “Gospel Coalition,” we’ll form the “Gospel Welcoming Committee.”
5. Get Roger Olson some thick-rimmed glasses and a pipe and send him to Catalyst.
6. The Calvinists have their own flower, so why shouldn’t Arminians? But instead of TULIP (“total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints”) we’ll adopt the DAISY (depravity of all, atonement for all, inclusion of all, salvation is a gift, you can accept or reject).
6. The Calvinists have their own flower, so why shouldn’t Arminians? But instead of TULIP (“total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints”) we’ll adopt the DAISY (depravity of all, atonement for all, inclusion of all, salvation is a gift, you can accept or reject).
7. Start referring to Donald Miller as “Arminian Donald Miller.” (I don’t know if he’s actually an Arminian, but it’s worth a try.)
8. To counter the “young, restless, and Reformed” movement we’ll create the “middle-aged, Arminian, and not-in-the-mood-to-argue ” movement.
9. Start a “I bet we can find 1 million people who don’t want to be predestined to hell” Facebook group.
10. Launch an Arminianism Awareness Day to address some of the common misconceptions about Arminians—that we think grace is earned, that we have a “man-centered” theology, that we’re all dispensationalists, that just because we lost that one argument with our Calvinist roommate back in 2003 we’re always wrong.
11. Calvinists make T-shirts that say “Jonathan Edwards is my homeboy.” Arminians can make T-shirts that say “Arminius is my homeboy…but not in such a way that I uncritically accept everything he teaches” (because we’re nuanced like that).
12. Keep talking about how real love requires freedom while extending kindness and grace to those with whom we disagree…because living your theology is more important than arguing it.
8. To counter the “young, restless, and Reformed” movement we’ll create the “middle-aged, Arminian, and not-in-the-mood-to-argue ” movement.
9. Start a “I bet we can find 1 million people who don’t want to be predestined to hell” Facebook group.
10. Launch an Arminianism Awareness Day to address some of the common misconceptions about Arminians—that we think grace is earned, that we have a “man-centered” theology, that we’re all dispensationalists, that just because we lost that one argument with our Calvinist roommate back in 2003 we’re always wrong.
11. Calvinists make T-shirts that say “Jonathan Edwards is my homeboy.” Arminians can make T-shirts that say “Arminius is my homeboy…but not in such a way that I uncritically accept everything he teaches” (because we’re nuanced like that).
12. Keep talking about how real love requires freedom while extending kindness and grace to those with whom we disagree…because living your theology is more important than arguing it.
Can you think of a #13?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humorous Commentary (Just for the fun of it)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audie - (Spoken in deep confident voice) Look at me..Look at your Calvinist, now back to me...back to your Calvinist...I'm on a horse but I'm letting him choose where we go, now look at your Calvinist....don't you wish you were on the horse with me??...Arminian's we may not know exactly where were going but we will have more fun getting there!!
Tim - T-shirt: Calvinism: 500 Year of Reasoning Logically to the Wrong Conclusions
Tim - T-shirt: Calvinism: 500 Year of Reasoning Logically to the Wrong Conclusions
Dave - Arminimergent!
Rachel - Lol! What a mouthful!
Dave - Guess maybe I'm complegalitarimolimergent. Suddenly it all becomes clear...
Alan - Please, you Arminians most certainly don't want to become the annoyance that the neo-reformed crowd is, do you? On a more serious note, one of the most critically undefined terms in Roger's interview was the word "freedom" and you have used it in a serious way in #12. Theologically speaking, what is "freedom"? My sense is that most people who reject Arminianism do so over how this word is understood. Can we understand our freedom apart from God's freedom?
Cherie - #13. Another 2 ideas for T-shirt and/or bumper sticker:
JOHN WESLEY WAS NOT A CALVINIST (although he may have embraced some Reformed notions).
or,
ARMINIANS RULE!!! (well, metaphorically, because the idea of ruling kind of goes against our nature...)
chad - My wife already made a shirt for Roger Olson that says "Arminius is my homeboy" as a gift from his TNT 2 class last summer. You should ask him about it.
Cherie - Love this list. Re: #11, you should totally include the "(because we're nuanced like that)" on the T-shirt.
Cherie - Love this list. Re: #11, you should totally include the "(because we're nuanced like that)" on the T-shirt.
Nick - Perhaps you could call the distinction "John Calvin, Origen and the Stoics vs. Everyone Else."
Melinda - I like DAISY ... it was the first flower I heard associated with Arminianism, though it was as "daisy"-- re, "He loves me, He loves me not." I think we can TOTALLY rock that.
Cherie - I also like the daisy metaphor, because it's an open-faced flower. Tulips, once they open up, fall apart...
Chad - I think the problem is, Arminianism
Niki - The only reason Calvinism sounds cool, let's face it, is thanks to Calvin and Hobbes. Without C&H, Calvin would just be another theologian's name (well, and a movement, but I digress).
Ed - I think it's all about the name. I agree with Chad and Niki, though Calvin has two syllables and Arminius has 4. That's a huge number of syllables. Also, Calvinists can also say they're "Reformed," but Arminians don't have a word of their own even though they came from the same reformation. I think we need to keep things simple.
Ed - Here is the new Arminian acronym I propose - N.I.C.E. - Not . Interested in . Calvinist . Exclusivity. Then we can just say we're "NICE" Christians, and we're good... ;)
Ed - Here is the new Arminian acronym I propose - N.I.C.E. - Not . Interested in . Calvinist . Exclusivity. Then we can just say we're "NICE" Christians, and we're good... ;)
continue to -
No comments:
Post a Comment