Do the various Pentecostal denominations teach Arminianism?

[siliconwafer]

Do the various Pentecostal denominations teach Arminianism? I went to a Pentecostal high school. After high school, I learned about Calvinism and Arminianism. As I look back on my high school days, I don't remember being taught any Arminian theology. Here is a list of some of things that I was taught:

All people are sinners and everyone deserves to go to hell.
People are born evil.
No one has any righteousness of their own.
There is nothing in man or about man that can cause God to have the desire to save man.
Jesus is God and He became a man. When He became a man, he never stopped being God.
Jesus lived a perfect life.
Jesus paid sin's penalty for other people.
Jesus rose from the dead demonstrating that His sacrifice was accepted by God.
Jesus alone saves sinners.
God commands everyone to repent from their sins and to trust in Christ alone for their salvation.
Man contributes nothing to his salvation; he is too evil to contribute something.
As soon as a person trusts in Jesus to save him, God imputes Christ's righteousness to that person and declares that person righteous.
There is no loss of salvation.

In high school, I didn't hear about the doctrine of election. There was no discussion about whether faith precedes regeneration or regeneration precedes faith. I never heard that Jesus came to merely make salvation possible. I never heard about Calvinism or Arminianism in high school.

Who ultimately decides who will receive salvation? My high school never addressed this question.

I bring this up because I have heard that Pentecostals are supposed to be Arminian.

[Phat8594]

I bring this up because I have heard that Pentecostals are supposed to be Arminian.

In high school, I didn't hear about the doctrine of election. There was no discussion about whether faith precedes regeneration or regeneration precedes faith. I never heard that Jesus came to merely make salvation possible. I never heard about Calvinism or Arminianism in high school.

That is most likely because most churches in the US, and around the world hold to some form of Arminianism. BUT...with that said, most of these churches do not focus on the doctrinal points of TULIP, because it is not seen as central to the gospel (since election is open). However, at least in my experience, most Calvinists churches frequently teach TULIP because it is central, in their opinion, to the gospel. In fact, I have even heard Calvinists say that TULIP IS the gospel; without TULIP, there is no gospel. I of course disagree.

Who ultimately decides who will receive salvation? My high school never addressed this question

Are you telling me that you never learned that God is the ultimate judge????

In either case...

According to the list that you put forth in your post, it is clear who decides whom will receive salvation. God. Its simple deduction. If man can't do anything to make God want to save man, then God chooses who receives salvation.

And from the Bible, we know that those who receive salvation are those who have faith. In other words God decided (from before the foundation of the world) that all those who have faith will be saved. He predestined that all those who believe will be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ.

The important question then is "Who decides who will have faith?"

[RBerman]

The Sovereign Grace churches are Charismatic but soteriologically are Calvinist.

[theblueprint_Ni]

I lived in the Tampa area not too far from Lakeland so I've been to a few Pentecostal churches and knew many Pentecostal Christians, and I've never met a Calvinist Pentecostal (not to say there aren't any, but I would think that they would no longer be considered Pentecostal). Some say that Pentecostalism was influenced by the old Wesleyan tradition, which would account for the Arminianism that most of them hold too. Of course, I don't think that they would define themselves in those terms. They are either of the libertarian type or the eternal security type. I would say that most of them are libertarian.

Believe it or not, many people don't struggle with the question of who decides. It's sufficient for them to know that they believe in the Gospel. Many Baptist churches don't directly address the question either. People are told that they are sinners, to repent and believe and Christ, and they will be saved.

[siliconwafer]

That is most likely because most churches in the US, and around the world hold to some form of Arminianism. BUT...with that said, most of these churches do not focus on the doctrinal points of TULIP, because it is not seen as central to the gospel (since election is open). However, at least in my experience, most Calvinists churches frequently teach TULIP because it is central, in their opinion, to the gospel. In fact, I have even heard Calvinists say that TULIP IS the gospel; without TULIP, there is no gospel. I of course disagree.




Are you telling me that you never learned that God is the ultimate judge????

In either case...

According to the list that you put forth in your post, it is clear who decides whom will receive salvation. God. Its simple deduction. If man can't do anything to make God want to save man, then God chooses who receives salvation.

And from the Bible, we know that those who receive salvation are those who have faith. In other words God decided (from before the foundation of the world) that all those who have faith will be saved. He predestined that all those who believe will be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ.

The important question then is "Who decides who will have faith?"

I learned that God is the ultimate judge. I meant to say that this question was never addressed: Who decides who will have faith?

[siliconwafer]

The Sovereign Grace churches are Charismatic but soteriologically are Calvinist.

That is true.

My high school wasn't associated with a Sovereign Grace church; it was associated with a Foursquare church.

[Littlejoe]

I lived in the Tampa area not too far from Lakeland so I've been to a few Pentecostal churches and knew many Pentecostal Christians, and I've never met a Calvinist Pentecostal (not to say there aren't any, but I would think that they would no longer be considered Pentecostal). Some say that Pentecostalism was influenced by the old Wesleyan tradition, which would account for the Arminianism that most of them hold too. Of course, I don't think that they would define themselves in those terms. They are either of the libertarian type or the eternal security type. I would say that most of them are libertarian.

Believe it or not, many people don't struggle with the question of who decides. It's sufficient for them to know that they believe in the Gospel. Many Baptist churches don't directly address the question either. People are told that they are sinners, to repent and believe and Christ, and they will be saved.

Pentecostalism (at least in the U.S.), in pretty much all stripes, sprang from the "Azusa Street Revivals" that started in 1906 in Los Angeles, CA. The leader William J. Seymour was a Weslyan Methodist. Although many several denominations participated, most were of the arminian persuasion...as well as of the "Holiness" persuasion.

I think most "Pentecostal" faiths are of the Arminian persuasion, but I have heard of a few that were Calvinist. Not many in the U.S. though.

[Phat8594]

I learned that God is the ultimate judge. I meant to say that this question was never addressed: Who decides who will have faith?

Well that's a big difference. Every orthodox Christian affirms that it is God who ultimately decides who is saved and who is not.