The Preening Disciple

“Arminianism has always promoted the idea that people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) and because of this, He has given man a limited freedom of the will.”

http://arminiantoday.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-you-might-find-more-charity-among.html

Notice that he doesn’t attempt to exegete this conclusion from his prooftext.

“This has led Arminians to believe that since God has created humans free creatures who are given free will then we believe that all people should be allowed to freely worship whether they be an Arminian or a Calvinist or a Baptist or a Muslim.”

Does that include the freedom to practice jihad? What about the freedom of witches to sacrifice babies as a part of their “worship”?

“This has led to Arminians being champions of freedom of religion. The history of Arminianism shows that we don't burn at the stake those who disagree with us nor do we behead those who disagree with. John Wesley led the fight against slavery as did later Methodists in the United States. They viewed humans as free creatures not bound. Ironically it was Calvinist George Whitefield argued before the state of Georgia officials for slavery being justified. In 1751 Whitefield succeeded in getting slavery legalized in the state of Georgia and though he treated his slaves fairly, he nonetheless never gave them their freedom even when he died.”

That's a classic case of confirmation bias.

i) What about Calvinists like John Newton who opposed slavery?

ii) What about the fact that the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. condemned slavery? Read the minutes: (pp401-404):

http://tinyurl.com/22vdr2n

iii) Conversely, what about Arminians who supported slavery? For instance:

Slavery continued to cause problems in mainline denominations. Methodists founded their first anti-slavery association in 1834. By 1841, Michigan Methodists grew uncomfortable with the general unwillingness to act that they withdrew to form the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Mainline Methodism faced the issue in 1844. A Baltimore Methodist minister married into a family which owned slaves. When he refused to set them free, his conference released him. At the same time, James Andrews, Georgia's bishop, also owned slaves. Northern abolitionists demanded he free them or face suspension. Southern Methodists protested but since northern Methodists saw slavery as a moral issue they demanded his expulsion. After 11 days debate, the northerners won the vote by a 2-1 margin. They won the vote but lost anyway. The southern Methodists withdrew to form the Southern Methodist Church.(1)

http://www.christianchronicler.com/history1/slavery_and_the_churches.htm

iv) What about the historical fact that the dividing lines on slavery were basically geographical rather than regional? Consider the split between Old Princeton and Southern Presbyterians?

“However, what you will find is that, in general, there is much charity among Arminians toward Calvinists.”

I doubt that Calvinists at SWBTS feel as though Paige Patterson’s Arminian regime has been distinguished by its benevolence towards Reformed faculty.

Likewise, I doubt that victims of the Arminian Archbishop Laud thought he was especially charitable in dealing with his theological opponents.

“For instance, google ‘Arminian heresy’ and see how many hits you get from Calvinist sites. Do the same with "Calvinism heresy" and see how many hits you get from Arminian sites.”

Yes, Arminians don’t generally say that Calvinism is “heretical.” Instead, they use more charitable adjectives like “diabolical” and “Satanic.”

And, as everybody knows, it’s better to be a devil-worshiper than a heretic.

“Why are Arminians more likely to be charitable?”

A better question would be: “Is there something about Arminian theology that fosters this combination of self-righteousness and self-deception?”

“We believe that the nature of God is love and we should follow His example (Ephesians 5:1-2). To follow Jesus is not to be condescending but loving (John 13:34-35 towards brothers and Matthew 5:43-48 toward our enemies).”

That’s pretty rich in the context of his über partisan hit-piece. And that’s no exception. In my experience, Arminians excuse their own, cover for their own, love their own kind. Myside bias is endemic among Arminian epologists.