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In a recent conversation I had with a work associate the topic of Calvinism came up. It ran the gambit of Christian doctrinal truths/arguments that various denominations hold to, whether their 4 point Calvinists, 3/5 Arminian, or whatever. For a while I got sucked hard into the neo-Reformed stream of thinking, which is pretty much old Reformation cake with Emergent frosting. Well, I suppose that's simplifying things quite a bit and I'm sure there are more than a lot that wouldn't appreciate being associated with the "emergent church." In fact, a well-known Reformed pastor who has been outspoken about the fact that he is no longer connected to that "stream" of Christian "philosophy."

Doctrine can bring together or divide Christians, and one of the hot topics in evangelical churches today seems to be Calvinism vs. Arminianism. The Southern Baptist Convention is taking shots at prominent Protestant, Reformed, Calvinist apologists and vice versa. I don't know how much name dropping is appropriate, but it doesn't take much research to see how much debate is going on with the Church universal over the topic. A quick search on Google of "Calvinism vs. Arminianism" came up with 122,000 hits. That's just a taste (not of the background or history, but more) of the current debate that continues between the two theological highways to salvation.

Now, there are several sound, strong, Biblical arguments for both camps. The problem is that in arguing for one "side" each "team" ends up skipping over verses that would support the other. I'll take a look at some of the strongest supporting verses for each line of thinking. I'll start with Arminianism first and then move on to Calvinism.

1 John 2:2 - He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 - This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

And then there's the game winning touchdown of a verse that everyone knows, John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal

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