Arminianism and the "American Spirit"

[Frosty]

Does anyone here believe that the American "virtues" of self-determinism; "I control my own destiny"; "I am the master of my own fate"; etc. have contributed to the relatively high popularity of free will theology in this country? I know that we did not invent it, but free will Christianity seems to thrive like it does here in few other places.

I do not believe there is anything inherently wrong with an attitude of, "I am going to take initiative and do my best because no one else is going to do it for me." In fact, that is a great attitude. I wonder if this has historically trickled into American Christianity, however.

It seems that those American qualities could lead to "me choosing my own destiny" in terms of salvation, too. The idea that Christ died for all, but you need to reach out and accept Him yourself in order to have a good future. He has done all He can do- Now it's up to you!

Am I reading too much into this? Is there any basis for this at all?

 

[Jack K]

The desire to get God to respond favorably to some sort of religion we've manufactured is instrinsic to fallen human nature. We can trace it all the way back to Cain. It's the bedrock of most false religion, and it's not surprising that it easily takes root in Christians as well.

That said, I suspect your theory is correct. American self-determinism only adds fuel to the fire. However, we must not think the problem would go away if American values changed.

 

[EverReforming]

The desire to get God to respond favorably to some sort of religion we've manufactured is instrinsic to fallen human nature. We can trace it all the way back to Cain. It's the bedrock of most false religion, and it's not surprising that it easily takes root in Christians as well.

That said, I suspect your theory is correct. American self-determinism only adds fuel to the fire. However, we must not think the problem would go away if American values changed.

 

[RobertPGH1981]

Does anyone here believe that the American "virtues" of self-determinism; "I control my own destiny"; "I am the master of my own fate"; etc. have contributed to the relatively high popularity of free will theology in this country?

I believe it has but I also believe its more than just self-determinism. I think it is democracy and that fact that in our culture everybody has to be equal. If you ever talk to somebody that is Armenian, and they speak about Free Will and Election, they judge by its fairness. Mainly because it doesn't seem fair that God would only choose some to save and not others. God's rules a kingdom and as Americans we are not used to this type of rule. There is a great book about how key moments in history have shaped our culture of today. Its called, "How should we then live?" ~ Francis A. Schaeffer

 

[DMcFadden]

This is analogous to the observation that Martin Marty once made about the "baptistification" of American religion.

It is difficult to identify the chicken from the egg in this one. But, the demoncratizing ideal exerts a broadlyl leveling tendency towards egalitarianism generally. With respect to the will, Americans are sooooo ingrained in their political philosophy and approach to the social compact that they seem pre-wired to incline toward an emphasis upon "decision," "voluntary choices," "free will." I am not surprised credo baptism has become such a popular practice in so many American religious bodies. Regardless of the biblical/theological basis for the issue, the "default" posture for Americans has got to be one of "I decide for myself."

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Does anyone here believe that the American "virtues" of self-determinism; "I control my own destiny"; "I am the master of my own fate"; etc. have contributed to the relatively high popularity of free will theology in this country?

Yes. In fact, I wish I had the quote from Mike Horton that I heard years ago from WHI. Within a couple of generations, the American colonies went from Calvinism to Arminianism and the "American spirit" had a great deal to do with it.

I think there's a great deal of difference between the idea of being "self-confident" (I'm the master of my ship) and having confidence based upon a sense of vocation before the face of God. The two might look somewhat the same but they are very different.

The WCF has a whole section on Christian Liberty that does not make man autonomous but sees God alone as being able to bind the conscience of man through His Word. This idea, recovered by the Reformation, was instrumental to the way men thought about social institutions. Neither the government nor the Church could step beyond the sphere of sovereignty that it possessed from God. Many came to America to be free of religious or civil tyranny and I think America's greatness owes, in large measure, to the many Christians that left Europe and came here. These were hard-working people who feared God.

Yet, man being fallen, it is never a very noticeable shift to stand against tyranny because you're honoring God and simply being a libertarian who wants no government (not even the one God has ordained). Every good thing has its outward appearances that make the counterfeit hard to detect because people might say the same things at certain points and cooperate on certain things and it's not always easy to see that an entire culture has drifted away from the bedrock where certain principles arose.

 

[BobVigneault]

Definitely! Eve's sin was a sin of autonomy and if there is a virtue that is cherished more highly in the US than autonomy then I don't know what it is. "You can't tell me what to do, I'm an American!" We cling to our freedoms, the problem is we blur the distinction between freedom and license.

But yes, the Arminian will say God respects our freedom so much that he would never violate it. He expresses his love toward us in that he gives us the final word. Jesus died just in case we choose to believe in God. Of course the new American virtue is ENTITLEMENT and entitlement theology is beginning to sweep through American evangelicalism. Why there is NO END to God's grace! (sarcasm)