The Calvinist has the better argument Scripturally speaking. The Arminian has the better argument emotionally speaking.
God'Word vs man's emotions, guess which I'll go with?
One is Christ-centered, the other is man-centered.
Christ versus man. Guess which one I'll go with?
This applies many ways, in both causes and results of our thinking, mindsets and [human] means.
1. I was just thinking this morning how we separate the physical from the metaphysical. In years past, and probably still more than I want it to be, considered such things as yielding to God, or worse, invoking some spiritual effect, to be the result of my choice and force of will. I remember many years ago at some conference, the audience being told to one-at-a-time to kneel down (everyone was standing—there were no seats provided) and to just 'wash one another's feet' symbolically. I was in a bad way at the time, trying to 'let God talk to me' and trying to understand what was going on in my life, so different from the things I had been told by Christendom, y'know, like, "God has a wonderful plan for your marriage". I went down and put myself into a mental "physical-irrelevant" state, almost like an out-of-body experience, or turning my eyes toward the back of my skull, as though to impart (and receive) some spiritual blessing. Looking back now, I see I was an utter fool, and even hogged the time the others of my group were supposed to do the same!
The Arminianistic—including many more than just Arminians—view of the ability of man, should make one second-guess their POV for the poor results they get, or even for the lack of them. And the empiricism of which they boast —"We DO make choices, y,know...", and, "How else are we to be motivated to obey?"— should show them the inability of the flesh, and the relationship of the flesh to the spiritual.
This is not an emotional vs scriptural matter. It is a scriptural matter, and emotions are involved.
2.
@Ben Avraham posted today:
Today, we have the Word of God. YHVH speaks to us through his written Word, but also through dreams, at times, through other people who are very sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, YHVH conveys messages through events in our lives. If we look back in our lives, we can see that YHVH has been right there working and preparing events/people to bring us to where we are now.
I'm not going to say he's wrong, but that God uses people's mindsets most amazingly—even humbly, I'd say—as though we each have it right. And in this, he gets the job done tenderly, elegantly and intelligently. If one goes superstitiously, or goes emotionally, or goes 'by the book', or goes 'Scripturally' (or so one thinks himself to be doing), or goes any of many other ways, God uses them in spite of themselves, but always for God's own purposes. I'm not
@Buff Scott Jr. , but I have despaired of ever finding a group that "does things right". No matter where I go, my emotions get the better of me, in consternation at what foolishness is being taught, at whole congregations that are missing the point, at whole denominations overcome by the flesh, or by somebody saying what turns my heart into pain. (BTW, I did find a group where I feel at home, among 'family', so to speak. (And God uses me there in spite of people's eyes glazing over when I'm trying to get something across to them.)
)
This is not a scriptural vs metaphysical matter. It's scriptural, and our minds play games with us.
3. We are emotional beings, and God has given us the anchor (God's word) upon which our intelligence must depend, and toward whom (The Word of God) we must direct what passions drive us, depending on his mercy for our foolishness.
