Michael Wrenn
New Member
A wealth of sources that are in disagreement with the UMC official position are supposed to refute what they say they themselves believe on the matter?! Do you know what that is called??? Are you kidding me?! You obviously continue to miss the point of objection to others resorting to present a strawman and if you can’t understand that you brought the matter to a head because while doing so you gave nothing but a rhetorical baseless response continuing with a strawman and based simply on your word I can’t help you.
Sorry if you feel insulted but “ignorance” shouldn’t always be taken as an insult and in this case the term could be taken as a statement of fact especially when presented with a valid argument which shows the view of Wesleyan Arminianism which is officially held by the UMC on the matter which in fact did clearly support my statement.
P.S. It is of no surprise you would disregard the whole in depth explanation and interpret it as a confession of a belief that one can lose their salvation while ignoring the “establishment of true faith issues” and the clear words of Wesley, “Now, which of you has thus fallen away? Which of you has thus ‘crucified the Son of God afresh?’ Not one.”
I see no point in continuing to explain it to you as I see where it is heading.
This is what you said in the first post I responded to: "Arminian beliefs add up to is that "if one turns from the faith" he was not a "true" believer in the first place." That's what the OSAS crowd believes, not Wesleyan Arminians, and not Wesley. If you cannot discern that from the man's own words, then you may be beyond help. The only way that Arminian beliefs could add up to what you are claiming is if 2+2 equals 5. Further, the article I posted a link to shows what Arminians believed centuries ago and still believe -- Baptist and non-Baptist Arminians. I know that the article was long; did you read it? Once again, it's the 1-point Calvinists, the OSAS crowd that believes that if a professed believer turns away, that person was never really saved in the first place. Mr. Wesley did not believe that, the General Baptists did not and do not believe it to this day, and the Wesleyan Arminians do not believe it. Mr. Wesley's own words show that he did not believe it. If you get that he did out of the quotes you provided, you simply have not studied him enough, or you are not comprehending what he is saying. The same is true about the UMC position; it does not agree with you -- you obviously do not understand or comprehend what it is saying. No Arminian I know of believes what you are claiming they do, and they have never believed it. Now I am not talking about Classical Arminians, as there was and is a diversity there. Some may believe like the OSAS people about this issue, but certainly the Wesleyan Arminians do not and never have -- that goes for United Methodists, Congregational Methodists, Nazarene and other Holiness bodies, the Salvation Army, and all kinds of Wesleyans. It also goes for the General Baptists and Free Will Baptists. I have moved in Arminian and non-Calvinist circles in years (and Calvinist, too), and I have extensively and thoroughly studied Arminian and other non-Calvinist theology, and I can assure you that Baptist and Wesleyan Arminians do not believe what you are claiming they do on this issue. That's what the OSAS folks believe, but not Baptist and Wesleyan Arminians.
Go thoroughly study UMC theology and Wesley's theology; you'll see that neither believe what you are claiming they do about this doctrine. Read carefully to catch also the nuances as well as what's obvious, and hopefully you will see how you are misinterpreting and misunderstanding what they are saying.
I have sought to engage you in discussion in this post in a respectful way.
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