I’m one of those people who likes to understand things. Not just know the commonly accepted answer and be able to parrot it back–to actually get underneath the hood of a concept and become intimately familiar with how it works. (Which is, incidentally, why I struggled so much with math. I didn’t get it, and I’m not big on working systems I don’t understand.) The way I see it, if something is not worth understanding, it is not worth defending. Unquestioningly defending an answer someone else has come up, even if you perceive that someone else as being smarter than you, has caused a whole lot of heartache throughout the course of human history.

So, I come at my faith the same way, with a lot of questions. I know the commonly accepted “Sunday School answers,” but I want to understand more, to understand deeper. If I’m wrong about something, or simply off-track, I’d rather know sooner than later. There are plenty of people who say we need to have “faith like a child,” implying that we are simply supposed to simple-mindedly believe what we have been taught, but frankly, I can’t believe that those people have spent a whole lot of time with children. Because healthy, secure, well-adjusted children ask a LOT of questions, questions that some would consider impertinent or improper, questions many adults are afraid to ask.

So, I’m cool with questions, and I think that examining and reexamining our beliefs is a good thing. I think many people are afraid of asking questions because they sense that their beliefs would not hold up under scrutiny, but you know what? I think that’s okay. GOD is not going to crumble, even if some of our personal pet doctrinal issues do. Just because we may be wrong about something doesn’t mean that God is wrong, that everything we have put our trust in is going to crumble under our feet, that we will be left in a free-fall through the cosmos with no one to catch us. If we place our trust in our own personal belief system, then yes, we are in trouble. But if we freely acknowledge our own weaknesses, foibles, and inadequacy and put our trust in God, well, then, what is there to worry about?

So, there was a long-winded introduction to the question of the day. This morning, Aaron and I were discussing the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism, and the different theories of atonement. (Theory 1 being the classical, ransom, or “Christus Victor” theory, theories 2 and 3 being the Anselmic theory of substitutionary atonement and the more specific penal substitution theory, and theory 4 being the moral influence theory.) (There-now you can look all of those up, LOL!) It all got started with a conversation about the growing popularity of Calvinism, and how neither Aaron or I can seem to get through a week without hitting our heads against something from either John Piper, Mark Driscoll, or the decidedly un-Calvinist Greg Boyd.

So here are my questions for you, fair readers. (How brave are you? ;-)) If you don’t know the answers, research them and let me know your thoughts on the matter, because I am interested!

1. Why do you think Calvinism has enjoyed such a resurgence in recent years?

2. Do you personally lean more toward Calvinism, Arminianism, or something else entirely?

3. What are your thoughts on the various theories of atonement?

Personally, the more I dig, the more I find my views aligning with orthodox or Anabaptist understandings of certain issues. I find this interesting, especially since I know that my family isn’t too many generations removed from Mennonite relatives. Did certain Anabaptist sensibilities seep down through generations of evangelical conservatism? Or did I just read too much C.S. Lewis as a kid? 🙂

As to questions # 1 and 2, I’m a little bit confounded by the rise of Reformed theology. :-/ It seems counter-intuitive in our day and age. Calvinism and Arminianism both have good cases, and I actually see them as splitting a really thin hair, but if the hair has to be split, I’d guess I’d rather land on the Arminian side. It seems harder, but more hopeful, more in line with my perception of God’s character. It’s the same reason “Christus Victor” makes more sense to me, although I haven’t settled my opinion on the matter of atonement yet.

Of course, I could be wrong. And that’s why I keep asking questions. Seek and ye shall find, right? 🙂