What Does it mean to be Wesleyan Arminian?

Acts 2:42-47 (KJV)

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Do you ever have questions?

Questions are amazing things, they help us learn and understand things not known or understood previously.

The Boston Globe, used to carry a daily column designed to answer readers' queries, one article listed the top ten unanswerable questions. Here's one: "I am nine years of age and have a cat that eats regularly and needs to go on a diet. He also eats mice when he is out. How many calories in a mouse?"

Sunshine Magazine.

An event in George Dantzig's life became the origin of a famous story in 1939 while he was a graduate student at UC Berkeley. Near the beginning of a class for which Dantzig was late, professor Jerzy Neyman wrote two examples of famously unsolved statistics problems on the blackboard. When Dantzig arrived, he assumed that the two problems were a homework assignment and wrote them down. According to Dantzig, the problems "seemed to be a little harder than usual", but a few days later he handed in completed solutions for the two problems, still believing that they were an assignment that was overdue.[4][7]

Six weeks later, Dantzig received a visit from an excited professor Neyman, who was eager to tell him that the homework problems he had solved were two of the most famous unsolved problems in statistics.[2][4] He had prepared one of Dantzig's solutions for publication in a mathematical journal.[8] As Dantzig told it in a 1986 interview in the College Mathematics Journal:[9]

A year later, when I began to worry about a thesis topic, Neyman just shrugged and told me to wrap the two problems in a binder and he would accept them as my thesis.

Years later another researcher, Abraham Wald, was preparing to publish a paper which arrived at a conclusion for the second problem, and included Dantzig as its co-author when he learned of the earlier solution.[4][10]

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig>

Last week I mentioned that this series is a compilation of questions I had as a young Christian and wanted to share them with you and hopefully answer some questions. While being raised Bible Holiness, I would often be asked questions and not know how to answer them, I knew the way we always did things, I knew what traditions we had, I understood and appreciated our culutre, but I did not understand some of our ways and the reasons behind them. This is not hanging out dirty laundry this is my feeble attempt to put words to the answers I have found.

Last week we looked at what it meant to be a Christian. Now I found it interesting that the forward to our articles of faith and bylaws in speaking of our history and methods says that in the Bible Holiness Church, "Emphasis was placed upon repentance, restitution and praying through to a definite knowledge of sins forgiven…."

Tonight I want to look a little more in-depth at our theological and doctrinal persuasions. What a person believes is so important as that will often dictate their behaviors. How a person reads or interprets the Bible will determine how his beliefs and behaviors are formed. I have met many who tell me they only teach the Bible at their church, but you dig deeper and whether or not they want to admit it they will usually fit into a particular school of thought or doctrinal persuasion.

As Bible Holiness People, we Believe the Word of God to be both inerrant and infallible and, " containing all things necessary to salvation as our sole authority for doctrine."

All that being said some very wise in my opinion, understood how important it is to identify ourselves with a particular school of thought. While the words may not be used In every place it is often implied that we are Wesleyan - Arminian. What does that mean? What does that entail? Well you know most if not all that it means you just may not know that is where it comes from.

WESLEYAN-ARMINIANISM is a theological position that blends concepts Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) and John Wesley (1703-1791).

Most of us are familiar with John Wesley considered the founder of the Methodist church, who experienced a heart-warming experience while hearing the reading of Luther's Preface to the book of Romans. God saved him and revolutionized his ministry and teaching.

Wesley's revivals brought about a renewal of the teaching of Sanctification and Holy living, now if you read or study what he has to say, not everything always lines up with what I've heard preached as holiness today but you get the gist of it. Wesley taught that Christians can and should be able to do whatever the Bible commands and that includes the command to "Love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves" His sermon on "The Better Way" is powerful, convicting, and resonates with my soul. Wesley tells somewhere in his writings upon being accused of inventing the doctrine of holiness, that he simply took it off the shelf, dusted it off and presented it anew and fresh to the people.

Being adherents of the Wesleyan thought we believe in imparted righteousness which teaches that we are made acceptable to the Father because the Blood of Jesus has really made us pure and has changed us inside. We are holy in God's sight because Jesus has made us so.

So that is the Wesley part, what about the Arminian part? Five simple things that Wesley adopted from Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) was a Dutch Reformed minister and a Professor of Theology. He was well known for his strong stand against Calvinism especially the doctrine of predestination - the belief that God determines even before a person is born whether they will go to heaven or hell and no matter what is done on earth, they are predetermined citizens of their eternal fate.

Simply put the five points of Jacob Arminius are

Human Free Will--This states that though man is fallen, he is not incapacitated by the sinful nature and can freely choose God. His will is not restricted and enslaved by his sinful nature. Conditional Election (Foreknowledge of God)--God can see into the future who will or who will not follow him he does not determine Universal Atonement--The position that Jesus bore the sin of everyone who ever lived. Resistible Grace--The teaching that the grace of God can be resisted and finally beaten so as to reject salvation in Christ. Fall from Grace--The teaching that a person can fall from grace and lose his salvation.

Now I am glad that our salvation does not hinge on these things - but this is the doctrine we have received and I believe that this is right, and what the Bible teaches. I open all questions I can't say I will have answers for all of them but you are welcome to ask questions.