Does Calvary Chapel Blend Calvinism and Arminianism?
I have been reading the Calvary Chapel statement of faith and also Chuck Smith’s book on Calvinism and Arminianism. Am I correctly understanding that Calvary seems to take a blended approach to these two doctrines which can sometimes be contradictory?
The quick answer is yes. Some people would say it’s one or the other, that you need to be either Calvinist or Arminian and there’s no other option. They would argue that if you’re not a Calvinist, then you must, by necessity, be Arminian. I would respectfully say that the vast majority of people in our Calvary Chapel circle would disagree with that. That’s not really how it is for us. Within Calvary Chapel, we don’t buy on with all the major tenets of Calvinism, although we wouldn’t necessarily disagree with all of them, and neither do we define ourselves as Arminian.
I’ll give you my own personal experience as a pastor. Over many years, as part of the Calvary Chapel world, there have been times when people came to my church and thought, “Oh, that guy is for sure a Calvinist.” There have been other times when people came to my church and thought, “Oh, for sure, that guy’s Arminian.” Why? Because, to the best of my ability, I’m just trying to let the Scripture speak for itself.
I know that our brothers who are Calvinist or Arminian also say they’re doing the same thing. I’m not trying to throw shade on their claim. But I’m not going to take a passage that could be regarded as being in the favor of Calvinist arguments and try to preach it like an Arminian. Neither am I going to take a passage that, in the view of many people, would be supportive of Arminian doctrines or truths or assertions, and try to preach it like a Calvinist. It depends on what passage of Scripture I’m preaching on. If I’m preaching on “whosoever will come,” I’m going to preach it “whosoever will come.” If I’m preaching on God’s predestined plan, I’m going to preach God predestined plan.