The problem with Arminians

A moral and spiritual problem with most internet Arminians of my acquaintance is their single-minded obsession with Calvinism. They are more obsessed with Calvinism than many Calvinists. That’s just about the only thing they ever blog about. It’s all about Calvinism, all the time. Their identity is essentially comparative. 

And the problem with that myopic orientation is that when you define yourself and judge yourself by another, when it’s always the same target, when the comparison is invariably invidious, then that’s bound to foster an insular, complacent, self-righteous attitude. It disables any self-critical sense. If you always measure yourself by your opponent, and if whole the point of that exercise is to prove to yourself that your opponent never measures up, then that’s morally and spiritual corrosive. It’s a recipe for spiritual pride. It hardens you to criticism from outsiders. That’s automatically discounted.

This is less true of Arminian Bible scholars because they don’t incessantly compare themselves to Calvinists. Rather, they spend most of their time exegeting Scripture. That, of course, sometimes draws them into the Arminian/Calvinist debate, but it’s not-all consuming. I also think that’s why Nick Norelli is head-and-shoulders above the average Arminian blogger. He has interests outside of the Arminian/Calvinist debate. Same thing with Wintery Knight.