Calvinism response

I am writing in response to Mr. Barber and his criticism of Calvinism (in a letter to the editor published Oct. 1). I have no intention of attempting to defend the tenets of Calvinism nor do I intend to defend the points of Arminianism. Rather I would like to address Mr. Barber’s statement “I am not a Calvinist, and I am not an Arminian; I am Southern Baptist.” My remarks are not intended in any fashion to be a personal attack against Mr. Barber. I have read and heard these very words so many times before. This statement is nonsense. It is like saying, “I am not a Democrat nor am I a Republican. I am a vegetarian.”

I would also like to note that being “Southern Baptist” would historically still place a person in one camp or the other. Just as most Southern Baptists are ignorant of theology, they are also ignorant of their own history.

The vast majority of people that I have encountered have never studied the historical debate for themselves. They have simply taken the word of another. Furthermore, when they argue against either the Arminian or Calvinistic position, they often misrepresent the doctrines of both, and hence they wage their war against a “straw man.”

Every Christian is a student of theology. It is simply a matter of are we good students or poor students. This debate seems to place most of us in the latter category.

Barry G. Carpenter
Russellville, Ala.