OAIM Christian Essentials Course Essential 5

The final two pieces of the Christian Essential's study are understanding the role of grace in our lives and what exactly it means to be predestined. Both of these come together in a study of two opposing theological views called Calvinism and Arminianism.

These are doctrinal issues that often divide the Body of Christ. To begin with, we will research two major views that most Churches stem from in one form or another. The general belief between these two views is that you have to be one or the other, and there is no middle ground. For our study, it will be important to research these two views in order to have a greater understanding as to why these two extremes have caused such a great dissention between various denominations. Of course, there are variations even within each belief, but in this study we want you to look at the big picture and overall beliefs of these groups.

One belief you will be studying is that of the reformed theology of TULIP that was derived from the teachings of John Calvin. The other is Free Will teachings that derived from the teachings of James Arminius. The first is generally called five-point Calvinism and the other is simply called Free Will (although it often is put forth in a five-point rebuttal to the TULIP teachings).

A Free Will Church usually has the words Free Will included in the title of the church such as Free Will Baptist Church, for example, however, some do not, such as the Nazarene and Methodist Church. Both of these basic teachings travel through most denominations in one form or another in various degrees.

For instance, Pentecostal Churches, for the most part, stem from Armininism. Baptist churches can be from either side and Presbyterian churches are generally five-point Calvinists. The purpose of this study is not to divide churches or to put them in a box because many who may be within these two groups may have softened their stance or no longer even teach from these two views in the strictest sense. It's important to investigate what an individual church practices, as opposed to what the denomination believes. These two do not always coincide.

As you research these two camps of beliefs, keep in mind the previous studies you have done and the conclusions you have made to write your assignments. Use those conclusions to base your agreements or disagreements with what you will read in the articles listed below.

Your assignment:

You need to read the information in each lesson and research the answers to the included questions so you can write up a summary of your conclusions for each. We suggest 300 words to answer each question, but we are much more interested in seeing quality than quantity. Write enough to completely express what you believe on the topic. When you finish writing your first conclusion, you can submit it to us at the address below, and we will send you back our comments.

Lesson 1: Calvinism

This lesson will be about discovering what Calvinism is and what is meant by the five-point TULIP doctrine.

We suggest you print out this Lesson 5a.txt file so you can read the lesson at your own leisure. The assignment for this lesson is located at the bottom of the text file. When you finish, submit your assignment to Christian Essentials and label it in the subject line as Lesson 5a. Then continue on with Lesson 2.

Lesson 2: Arminianism

In this lesson, you will research the doctrine taught by James Arminius and is now called Arminianism.

We suggest you print out this Lesson 5b.txt file so you can read the lesson at your own leisure. The assignment for this lesson is located at the bottom of the text file. When you finish, submit your assignment to Christian Essentials and label it in the subject line as Lesson 5b. Then continue on with Lesson 3.

Lesson 3: Graceful Fundamentalism

For this lesson, we will ask you to read OAIM's stance on these two beliefs and to formulate your own view on these topics.

We suggest you print out this Lesson 5c.txt file so you can read the lesson at your own leisure. The assignment for this lesson is located at the bottom of the text file. When you finish, submit your assignment to Christian Essentials and label it in the subject line as Lesson 5c.

Procedure:

For those who are new to researching a topic, here are some ideas of a procedure to follow. Examine the above questions. Do these questions lead you to even more questions you personally might have? What information will you need to gather in order to answer these questions? Where can you go for more information on this? Are there friends you can talk to? Are there books you want to read on the subject? Have you seen any articles that might help you make your conclusions?

Once you have asked yourself questions, you are ready to plan out your search. What search engines would you like to use? How are you going to determine the accuracy and reliability of a site? What are the steps you will take to research this topic?

Next you need to gather material together. Find the websites that seem to be most appealing to you and bookmark them. Talk to friends who are knowledgeable about this topic. Perhaps go to chat and discuss the issue with people in there.

After gathering the material, you need to sift through the material and find what is most important to you and the answers you are looking for. Analyze what you have, revise the questions you might need to ask yourself to find better information, and then search and sift again.

When you are satisfied with the material you have gathered, spend time thinking through your own conclusions on the matter before you begin writing. Organize your thoughts in a logical fashion. Perhaps even make a short outline to give yourself a roadmap to where you want to go with your conclusion. With clearly organized thoughts, put down your own conclusions on paper and let someone else read them to see if they understand what you are trying to say. If you do this before you submit them to us, we will see only your best quality work.

Research TIPS:

Take a few minutes to read the HELP page on your favorite search engine. You might be surprised how they can help you narrow your search to the best ones for your purpose. (For example, using " marks around your topic will return only those pages that have the exact phrase.)

Gather your information from several sources. Read both sides of the issue before you make your final decision. Examine the reliability of the source you are using.

Include a bibliography. It doesn't have to be college-perfect, but for your own sake, you may want to go back and refer to those resources again. Also, we'd like to see where you are getting your information. Who knows, maybe you've found a really good site we'd like to refer to?

Research Helps:

Please read the following websites before you complete your assignments. You may do your own search by putting in the words "Calvinism" or "Arminianism" in any search engine and do your own research. Please note that although we list these links for your perusal this does not mean we agree with them. Some links are given so you can view both sides of the issue. Also, while we may agree with a particular article that an author writes, we may not agree completely with their theology.

http://www.mslick.com/tulip.htm
http://www.letgodbetrue.com/bible/salvation/calvinism-arminianism-truth2.htm
http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/comp/cw20calvinismarminianism.htm
http://lionofjudah.tribulationforces.com/questionable/calvinism.html
http://www.cresourcei.org/arminianism.html

Please read the above sites before you read the following article from the OAIM site.

http://www.oaim.org/calvinism.html

Final Product:

When you are ready to turn in your conclusions, remember these basic things.

Please use a spell-checker and use good grammar. It is difficult to read communication that is grammatically lax. Chat spellings are fine for chat, but cul8r is just not as easy to read as "See you later." :o)
Instead of attaching your writing to an e-mail, it is much easier to read if it is inline text. This can easily be done by cutting and pasting your writing into the body of the e-mail.
Remember that we cannot read your minds. Don't assume we will know what you mean. Explain it to us as if we disagreed with you on the issue.
Be patient with turnaround time since we are just starting this and do not know what kind of volume we will have. If you believe it has taken too long and your work might have been lost in cyberspace, send a short follow-up e-mail asking us if we received it.
Keep a copy of your writing for yourself.Include a bibliography (a listing of where you obtained your information for your conclusion). Remember, this does not have to be in college-type bibliographic form, but we should be able to find the same sources you found.

Send to:

Your final conclusions on the above questions should be sent to:

Christian Essentials Course

Congratulations!

You have completed
the OAIM Christian Essentials Course.