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#1 StevePage

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 05:49 AM

Is the CMA Calvinist?

#2 Rob Jeffrey

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 03:57 PM

No, actually we're Hobbes.:lol: The C@MA does not take a stance one way or the other. Which is one of the reasons I joined the Alliance. Read the attached article for some insight into the background of the denomination.

http://www.alliancel...icle.php?id=105
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#3 Joel Stoddert

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Posted 23 June 2011 - 08:23 PM

Is the CMA Calvinist?


Some of us are Reformed, but the general bent of the C&MA is Wesleyan/Arminian.

#4 Ruthie Hankins

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Posted 24 June 2011 - 09:17 AM

No, actually we're Hobbes.:lol: The C@MA does not take a stance one way or the other. Which is one of the reasons I joined the Alliance. Read the attached article for some insight into the background of the denomination.

http://www.alliancel...icle.php?id=105


Thanks, Rob, for the link to a great article. I think A. B. would be cheering on the new inovative ideas for reaching into our communities that I see in the Alliance today.

#5 Robert Fugate

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Posted 28 June 2011 - 11:16 AM

Dear Steve, the vast majority of Alliance members live outside the US around the world. I am a missionary in Chile where there are over 120 Alliance churches. The Chilean Alliance has seminaries, rural elementary schools, world missionaries, and girls homes. We could say that from a Latin American perspective we are Hobberos.....Posted Image as Rob would say.





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#6 StevePage

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 04:32 AM

No, actually we're Hobbes.:lol: The C@MA does not take a stance one way or the other. Which is one of the reasons I joined the Alliance. Read the attached article for some insight into the background of the denomination.

http://www.alliancel...icle.php?id=105


Thank you for you reply Rob and for the good article.

Hobbes...... :D

#7 Peasetown

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Posted 29 June 2011 - 08:50 PM

I believe that all those who have shared on here, have done a fine job explaining the Christian and Missionary Alliance stand. A.W. Tozer often said - and I paraphrase - that where the Bible proclaims security, I prach security; where the Bible proclaims falling from grace - I preach the possibility of losing one's salvation. The Alliance takes NO stand; however - overall, one might say that it "leans" somewhat towards the Arminian view.

#8 Irislibertad

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Posted 04 July 2011 - 05:20 PM

Even though the article cited in My linkdoes not take a position concerning our position (whether we are Calvinist or Armenian), the overall reality in many Alliance churches es that we lean towards being Armenian in regards to our salvation.

#9 Jennifer Whiteman

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Posted 08 July 2011 - 03:00 PM

So here is an unofficial reply from the Archives!

We got a request on this topic awhile back. I had one of our volunteers look into answering the question since he was much more familiar with Simpson/C&MA theology. He concluded that although the C&MA probably tends to lean more towards Armenian, the answer is "all of the above". He wrote up a paper to explain his research...on Alliance Development Fund letterhead! See attachment.

Hope this helps answer your question. Please let us know if the Archives can ever be of more assistance.

Blessings,

Jenn Whiteman
C&MA Archivist
archives@cmalliance.org

Attached Files


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#10 GoeschlGary

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Posted 11 July 2011 - 01:52 PM

I am and always have been. However, many are not. The Alliance concentrates on practical ministry. Personally, my Calvinism helps me because when I preach the Gospel I KNOW that his sheep hear his voice, and that no one can come to Jesus except the Father draws him (John 6:44). That's why I can preach with confidence.
Gary Goeschl

#11 JayHerrera

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Posted 05 October 2011 - 05:16 AM

I'm new to the site and would love to be On the front line as a missionary were people are needed I'm ready to go into the jungle with the only sword I know how to swing the BIBLE... Its good to remember where we came from, what matters is where we are going, and what we do with our energy and time is who we are. So what r u trying to figure out, we are all Brothers, and Sisters in Christ and need to worrie about spreading the Word of the Bible and its teaching to everyone in our daily lifestyle and be an example to the world showing His love to all, as we all tend to loose focus on what's important we need to be like Jesus, so I guess that makes us all belivers in God, and not to worrie about a certain name and invest our energy in becoming more like Him telling Others who we are, and proud of it.

#12 David Love

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Posted 06 October 2011 - 05:07 PM

First off, I must have missed this thread when it started - I love the quote that we're Hobbes - may I use that :rolleyes: I suspect that I'm getting to an age where the teens in my Sunday school won't get it though :huh:

In some seriousness, I hope we see ourselves as followers of Christ. I once heard a preacher say something that I like - no one in heaven wants to hear their own name being glorified on earth - they want to see the name of Christ glorified - lets try to live like that!

In Christ,

Dave

#13 Tricia Wallace

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Posted 17 October 2011 - 06:40 PM

This is my first time on this forum and found it amazing that my pastor just preached on this subject. I am new to the CMA and honestly had never really understood Calvinism vs Arminism. I am not steeped in theology, nor even claim to be well versed in the depths of biblical teaching. In a nutshell, my pastor's message was this; what really matters is our relationship with Christ. Do we intimately know God and does God know us? He gave an analogy of a boy who was facinated with frog, the wonderous energy and life the frog possessed. One day the boy decided to try and figure out where the source of this energy came from so he took out a knife and you can imagine what happened. In the attempt to find the source of the frogs life, by dissecting it, we kill it. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9 Some things will just remain a Spiritual mystery while on this earth; and that is ok with me.

#14 Wade McGarvey

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Posted 31 October 2011 - 12:31 PM

I am personally Reformed, I have seen to many Arminians routed in debates with Reformed Scholars to actually give any viable credence to Arminianism as a total system... plus the fact that allot of honest Arminian Scholars end up philosophically being Open Theists, which rely heavily on academic speculation rather than scripture to make their points (see Gregory Boyd). These reasons (along with scriptural exegeses) and others have kept me basically Reformed although the fallen nature of man and the basic problems with Systematizing faith leave possibilities for error on all sides. I personally believe that our loftiest Ideas of God fall woefully short of the realities of who He is. I personally think that the Alliance is moving away from its Holliness background and actually becoming as a whole more Reformed than it has been since inception. I say this as a general and subjective observation I have no hard statistics to back this up. I have however, witnessed a growning number of proclaiming Calvinists at Crown and Nyack college and a youthmovement in the Southeast which is returning to Calvinism. The Holiness movement did have some good points to it, but I would assess that when the fire burned out... and it did! The majority of the Arminian denominations were left with a lot of excess legalism. A desirable alternative would be another Great Awakening....All that junk just to say I hope the Alliance is moving toward a more Reformed stance, but in the end, we are in the Alliance left to make up our own minds and that's probably the best possible stance!

#15 Theodore Rice

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Posted 06 November 2011 - 12:56 PM

Back in the '70's when I was moving around I noticed that C&MA churches in the East tended to be Calvinist, while those in the Midwest tended to be Armenian. Never got to the Far West!
Things probably have changed since then.

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#16 bcuzofhim

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Posted 07 April 2012 - 04:12 AM

So here is an unofficial reply from the Archives!

We got a request on this topic awhile back. I had one of our volunteers look into answering the question since he was much more familiar with Simpson/C&MA theology. He concluded that although the C&MA probably tends to lean more towards Armenian, the answer is "all of the above". He wrote up a paper to explain his research...on Alliance Development Fund letterhead! See attachment.

Hope this helps answer your question. Please let us know if the Archives can ever be of more assistance.

Blessings,

Jenn Whiteman
C&MA Archivist
archives@cmalliance.org



Excellent, and great article.. I know this post is quite old. I am new to C&MA and doing a lot of reading and reearch. Thanks.
Jeff L

#17 JoAnn M

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Posted 29 April 2012 - 01:07 PM

This reply isn't about the CMA view but about Cavinism vs. Arminianism. I found an interesting article on the discussion of the two which can be found here - http://www.gotquesti...rminianism.html. But what I like most about the article with the closing thought - "Ultimately, it is our view that both systems fail in that they attempt to explain the unexplainable. Human beings are incapable of fully grasping a concept such as this. Yes, God is absolutely sovereign and knows all. Yes, human beings are called to make a genuine decision to place faith in Christ unto salvation. These two facts seem contradictory to us, but in the mind of God they make perfect sense." I have held this belief myself for a long time. I no longer see this as an either or situation. With God it doesn't have to be either/or, with Him it can be both and neither. We can not understand the mind of God and while it makes for interesting discussions it should NOT lead to a dividing point among Christians. Those who are saved by the blood of Jesus and worshipping the triune God should be able to fellowship together despite what differences they have in interpreting the unknowables.

#18 StevePage

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 04:34 AM

JoAnn, I'm just stopping back after not being here for quite some time. I have read that article in the past. I think the real problem with the Cavinism vs. Arminianism things is that they are both wrong. Christianity did not start with the reformation. Christianity was ill defined by the Reformers. We need to define the New Testament by the Old Testament not by Calvin who was overly influenced by the Greeks and their philosophers or Arminius who was also swayed by extra-Biblical influences.

I think we just need to get away from Reformation theology and see what scripture says without that incredibly biased lens.
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#19 montigokylie

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