05/09/18 EXPLAINING THE "THEOLOGY" POST
Earlier I posted this statement:
"Don't forget: the same theology that teaches OSAS is based in the belief that Jesus did not die for everyone."
I actually phrased it in a way to make folks think it through. I also realized that some people would have no idea about what I was saying. Just in case you did not get what I was trying to say, let me explain.
When I pointed out that the doctrine of OSAS (once saved, always saved) came from the same THEOLOGY that denies Jesus died for everyone, I was referring to a major Theology rather than a Statement of Faith, such as you find associated with ministry websites or denominational documents.
I stated that OSAS came from the same THEOLOGY, which denies Jesus died for everyone. By saying "theology" I was pointing to a system of beliefs, not simply a doctrine (teaching) within a theological system. The "theology" (theological system) is Calvinism (which is basically Reformed theology).
Here is my line of thinking...
* God gave us His truth in the Old Testament and New Testament.
* God spoke through the apostles and prophets and gave us a written record of His revelation.
* After the Apostolic Period (100 AD) the only record of God's truth was the Bible, since the apostles were deceased.
* False prophets and misinterpretations began to fill the Church.
* Occasionally the Bible believers would hold Church Councils, in order to address, redress, correct and clarify doctrines that were being misrepresented.
* When the teachers of false doctrine would not abide by the council declarations, they would often start a "new form of Christianity," which were actually false representations of the true Church.
* There was a split between the two major parts of the early Church (Rome and Constantinople), which espoused two different theologies concerning the Bible.
* Over time, false doctrines and false teachers led the established churches (Roman and Eastern).
* With the corruption of leadership, Rome moved from a Biblical, New Testament theology to a man oriented, demon inspired theology (though it professed faith in some Biblical truths).
* Through the centuries there were "back to the Scripture" movements. Most of these movements addressed a small number of doctrines in the Roman religion, which had either corrupted or replaced Biblical teaching.
* Most, if not all, of these movements were short lived because the Roman religion killed the leaders and/or proponents. Therefore, there was little written, or it was destroyed by the Roman persecutors.
* During the "Protestant Reformation" there were men who addressed the entire body of theology. This is what I referred to when I said, "theology."
* The Roman religion had given us Augustinian Theology.
* The Reformation gave us Calvin's Institutes of Religion (which is based on Augustinian Theology), which is the basis of Reformed Theology.
* The Roman religion attacked and killed those who followed the teachings of the Reformers.
* Other groups who protested the theology of Rome also protested the theologies of Calvin and Luther (Zwingli), and then they were attacked, persecuted, tortured and killed by the Calvinists, Lutherans as well as Romanists.
* Many of those who sought to return to Biblical faith (and were nonviolent in their faith and actions) were attacked, tortured and killed by Reformers and Romanists before they had a chance to write a full theology.
* Calvin admittedly had built his theology on the theology of Augustine. This perpetuated the false doctrines of Definite Atonement and OSAS (Eternal Security, Perseverance of the Saints).
* Other second generation Reformers eventually spoke out against the Calvin's system of false doctrines (we refer to those doctrines as the Five Points of Calvinism). One of these was the Dutch theologian, Jacobus Arminius.
* At that point it is safe to say that there was an Eastern Theology, a Roman theology, a Reformed theology (from Calvin and Zwingli) and the theology of Arminius. There were some truths common to the different theologies.
* This is not a complete list of possible theologies, but it is a basic overview of the most important theologies in western Europe.
* Calvin's theology included,
DIVINE sovereignty that has led to believing God is the Author of sin and evil;
DIVINE, unilateral, double sided, unconditional election to eternal life;
ATONEMENT that deliberately excludes some people (meaning that Jesus did not die for everyone);
SALVATION that not only cannot be obtained without God's unilateral decree, but salvation that cannot be refused, denied, resisted;
SALVATION that is based on the un-Biblical theory of Penal Atonement, meaning that those who are unilaterally chosen cannot do anything to disqualify them from unilateral, unconditional, eternal salvation.
* Therefore I said that the theology, which "teaches OSAS is based in the belief that Jesus did not die for everyone." Of course, this refers to the Reformed theology, based on Calvin's theology, based on Augustine's theology.
Since the point addressed theologies from the Reformation Period, I have not included other Theologies, such as Covenant, Dispensational, Liberal and Liberation Theology.
