Preaching our Theology

http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/ministry/theology/preaching_our_theology/

[sydneyanglicans.net] 9 Jan 2009--“A Calvinist on your knees and an Arminian in the pulpit” has been the counsel to young ministers for many years.

It is the thoughtless advice of pragmatism, declaring theology to be irrelevant to the work of ministry.

The short hand terms ‘Calvinist’ and ‘Arminian’ refer to the interplay of God’s will and the human will. To grossly oversimplify for the sake of this article - in the matter of our salvation and in preaching, the Calvinist emphasises the sovereignty of God whilst the Arminian emphasises the ultimate responsibility of the human.

I am not talking here of one sermon but generalising (with all the strengths and weaknesses of arguing this way) about the preaching agenda and pattern of two theological systems. In any one sermon it may be impossible to determine if the preacher is Arminian or Calvinist, though the theologically discerning can usually pick it. But over time the real theology of the regular preacher is demonstrated – even sometimes against his own profession. For many a preacher has not worked out how to practice his own theology – but rather follows the pattern of the day.

The “Calvinist on knees and Arminian in pulpit” saying appears to take the best from both theological systems. Unfortunately, instead of complimenting the two systems on their strengths, the saying insults both. It is an insult to say that Arminians do not depend upon God in prayer or that Calvinists do not preach challenging sermons.