Does God choose us, or do we choose God?
With the abundance of time afforded me this fall, I (Peter) have been doing more reading in theology than I have over the past thirty years. The majority of my reading has been of blogs featuring renowned pastor-theologians.
Much of what I've read has been clear explanations of biblical texts with insight into their connectedness to form an integrated system of biblical thought – also called "systematic theology." Some of my reading has been of authors who have forced biblical texts into their predetermined outlines to try to make sense of difficult passages and hard to connect verses.
My motivation for reading theology has been to find an answer to this posting's title. The formative theologians of the Protestant Reformation (Luther, et al) reclaimed the teachings of the Bible stating that salvation is received by faith alone, according to God's grace alone, through the death and resurrection of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
The second generation of Reformation theologians gave more precise definition to the movement. The two most prominent theologians were John Calvin and Jacob Arminius. Arminius was born seven years before Calvin's death in 1564. Two familiar theological systems are their namesakes, Calvinism and Arminianism, which hold many common ideas and are at polar opposites on others.
My seminary studies were of the Calvinistic stripe. Over the years I have benefitted greatly from the writings of well-known Calvinistic theologians - among them Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, J.I. Packer, and John Piper. Great stuff is available from today's Calvinist thinkers at www.thegospelcoalition.org.
In my recent reading I've been exploring the thought and writing of the evangelical Arminian theologian and church historian Roger E. Olson (formerly of Bethel University and Seminary and currently at Baylor University). Check out his refreshing blog at www.rogereolson.com. He writes a new posting almost daily. His Bible interpretation is conservative, his reasoning is clear, and his tone is irenic. Be sure to read the responses too. Dr. Olson has some highly articulate followers.
What I have concluded from my seminary education and current reading is that, in a nutshell, Calvinism promotes the idea that God chooses which sinners will become believers and Arminianism the idea that the sinner is capable of choosing God.
I'm no professional theologian, but it seems to me that the Bible's answer to "Does God choose us, or do we choose God?" is "Yes!" Both parts of that statement are true. Ephesians 1 is clear that believers are the elect, predestined, ordained by God before the beginning of time. The Bible also teaches that not-yet-believers are called upon to "repent" (Acts 2), meaning they are given a choice and the ability to decide which choice.
There are some questions that need to go unanswered. For nearly two hundred years a debate raged about the unanswered question of the nature of light: Is light a particle or is it an electromagnetic wave? The particle theory of Isaac Newton persisted for most of those two centuries, finally to be overturned in the late 19th Century. Except for a select few, the theories of the nature of light are immaterial to everyday life; it's a mystery to us. The use of light, though, is accessible and useful, illuminating our Christmas trees and helping us find those tasty leftovers in the fridge.
The world needs theologians debating our knowledge of God in the same way it needs physicists debating the nature of light. We need the Calvinist and Arminian theologians to stimulate each other to clear thinking and biblical integrity regarding the apparent contradictions, opposing views, and mysteries of God.
As much as theological systems want to give definitive answers to hard theological questions, there are some questions that need to go unanswered.
If you are a worship planner, a worship leader, a worship committee member, be sure to leave room in your corporate gatherings for some unanswered, and unanswerable, questions about God and faith. Leave a little room for the mysteries contained in the infinite God of the Bible.
