Augustine,Edwards,Whitefield, The Puritans (need I say more?), pretty much all of the Reformers who broke away from the Catholics, then more modernly, I began reading Sproul and people from ligonier.org and realized a completley different teaching caliber and regard for God's Word, so that said in my mind, "Hey, maybe there is something to this doctrine after all."
So, then I just studied the Bible for about a year, continued to meet with God in prayer, and finally my eyes were opened to it. It was not dramatic, but just gradual. I began to take piece in God's sovreignty, in His perfect plan for my life, ect.
Do you see what just happened? You came across the theology
then studied the Scripture "and finally your eyes were opened to it". Do you think it's possible the influence from Augustine, Whitfield, Sproul, etc. could have had anything to do with how you you perceived Scripture after that?
While I'm not a calvinist, this is my story how I almost became one. I was probably a day (or book) away from becoming one. An elder in my church who I admire very much (a very godly man) mentioned to me that he was a calvinist and how he became one. This came as a surprise because for whatever reason, he would always talk about calvinistic doctrine in the phrase "there are some that believe...". I assumed he was talking about others besides himself, but it turns out he was referring to himself. To this day I'm still not real clear why he just never came out during his teaching and state "this is what I believe".
He told me that he came across this doctrine by reading a book by Pink, and then Sproul's
Chosen By God (which I have read). His testimony sounded almost like that of christianyouth...it was
then he went back through Scripture and found the "truth".
I have to wonder how an elder who has been a born again believer for so many years, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in studying the Scripture and teaching it for so long, can not come across this "truth" without reading a book by Pink. I know there are some here who claim to never having read any book by a calvinist, but I believe there has to be some kind of outside influence to become one. That's just my opinion. I have yet to come across anyone who got saved as a calvinist. Every calvinist I know was saved as a non cal. To understand calvinism takes a greater understanding of theology in general, which is hardly the "milk" described in Scripture a new beleiver needs. It's definately a steak that has sat on the grill a little too long...it's tough to chew.
Since I highly respect my elder friend, I thought I owed it to God and myself to learn this truth. I studied the five points and the "proof texts" supporting them. I asked God continually to open my mind to His truth in Scripture...that I didn't want to either believe or not believe something based on how I had always been taught. I studied with the sole intent on proving my view wrong with Scripture, and calvnism to be the truth.
I admit after reading some of Spurgeon, Macarthur, Sproul, etc., it sure sounded like these great men of God sure knew what they were talking about, and I should follow suit. Something would just not sit right within my soul, however. I kept praying and asking God to overcome this feeling and doubt, since calvinism must be the truth. Not only did God NOT do that, the more I studied it, the more put off I became by it, which made for a very uneasy time in my life, because this doctrine HAS to be true! All of these great theologians teach it! My elder friend believes it! Why is God not allowing this to sit easy in the pit of my soul if it's truth? What the heck is wrong with me!
In my devotions trying to prove my viewpoint to be incorrect, God made aware Scripture that seemed to jump off the pages in understanding the "hard" proof texts like Romans 9, Ephesians 1, etc., and it fit into the big picture, not the narrow one used by calvinists.
While I don't have all the answers (no kidding

), God has given me a peace about where I stand in contrast to Him and theology. Both cal's and non cal's abide by the basic, immutable truths of Scripture. We are brothers in Christ because of this. It's where we branch off in opposite directions in the road that leads us off the road to immutable truth.
Some things we will never know about God until we get to see Him face to face, and I'm fine with that. It's only when I see phrases like "God has to...", or "God does..." through the lens of TULIP that I have a problem with.