Against God

"Someone has said that no theology is worth believing that cannot be preached standing in front of the gates of Auschwitz."

- Roger E. Olson, Against Calvinism

Because, you see, the death of Jews is a holy thing, and God Himself must approach Auschwitz on His knees.

Olson is an Arminian, and not a very bright one. He's also a moralist who really is not very approving of God. The above quote exposes that. His argument against Calvinism also comes down to equating Calvinists to Nazis. And hence God to Hitler. He really doesn't like God very much, not very much at all.

He also unconsciously uses the term theology as if it's something we choose to accept from a smorgasbord of choices, and our choice determines how moral we are. He doesn't see theology as something that is objective and outside us, needing the Spirit in us to be seen, valued, and accepted, by the grace of God. To Olson theology is whatever meets his demands as a moral and correct-thinking human being.

Are Arminians Christians? If one believes in faith alone then yes, one doesn't need to understand apostolic biblical doctrine to the level of Federal Theology to be saved. Yet this can be said about that: without understanding (and accepting) apostolic biblical doctrine you won't have the complete armor of God and hence you won't be much of a soldier of Christ. Calvinists, real Calvinists, are soldiers of Christ in real armor of God. Arminians may be the water-carriers or something like that. And maybe reluctant ones at that.

I'm not going to deny the work of the Holy Spirit in any self-identified Christian. Man-centered and making demands on Scripture to satisfy our fallen nature, disdainful of real armor (doctrine is armor of God) is a bit telling though. Though again I won't deny the work of the Holy Spirit in any self-identified Christian.