We have looked at Francis Turretin the last few BLOGS, but now we will move on to John Owen who was the greatest of the theologians during the time of the Puritans. John Owen wrote his treatise on Arminianism while indeed Reformed theology was under heavy assault from Laud. Perhaps in a day where Reformed theology is not practiced by many of those who claim it, this treatise of his should be at the top of our reading lists. The longer title of his treatise on Arminianism is very instructive and even sets out an outline of his points:
A DISPLAY OF ARMINIANISM
BEING
A DISCOVERY OF THE OLD PELAGIAN IDOL, FREE-WILL, WITH THE
NEW GODDESS CONTINGENCY,
ADVANCING THEMSELVES INTO THE THRONE OF THE GOD OF HEAVEN, TO THE
PREJUDICE OF HIS GRACE, PROVIDENCE, AND SUPREME
DOMINION OVER THE CHILDREN OF MEN.
Notice how he words this and sets things out in opposition to each other. He defines Arminianism as really being a discovery of the same idol as the Pelagian heresy. It looks as if he agrees with Luther who thought that semi-Pelagianism (Arminianism) was even worse than Pelagianism. While they have discovered the old idol of free-will, they have a new goddess of contingency. John Owen sees free-will and contingency as being idolatrous because it advances a person into the throne of God. In other words, free-will is opposed to the freedom of God. One cannot maintain the freedom of God and free-will at the same time. When one asserts free-will one also denigrates God’s grace, providence, and supreme dominion over men. In other words, Owen is showing us that Arminianism is to him such a serious error that it has a different view of God and of grace. This assertion of his will be fought against, but let us all think through these things carefully. Despite the creeds that we have and the words that we use, there are huge differences between the ways we understand the issues.
If free-will is accepted as true, there are necessary things that go along with it. It is like throwing a rock into the water. The rock does not just sink into the water with no side-effects at all, but water is displaced where the rock goes in and it causes ripples across the water for quite a distance. When the rock of free-will is dropped into a theological pond, it causes a lot of ripples because of what it has displaced. Another picture that might help is that of a person’s beliefs all being bound together. When one belief is assaulted or changed, all of the rest have some changing to do because they are all held together. The human mind wants consistency and it strives for consistency with all of its beliefs. When a new belief is brought in, the mind must adjust previous beliefs in order to accept the new teaching. The same thing is true in theology. One belief necessarily impacts all other beliefs in some way and at some point.
If the will is truly free, then indeed the actions of man are contingent on human beings instead of the will of God. This is a huge teaching in Scripture. Once free-will is accepted as fact and contingency is received as true, the ripples into our theological pond become more like tsunamis. At that point the tsunami of free-will will topple the grace of God in all things as the efficacious power in salvation and as the restraining power in sin. No longer does man trust in grace alone, he trusts in grace to help his will. When that happens the tsunami continues pushing on and hits the providence and sovereignty of God which are overthrown as a result. While one may retain a creed or the words of “providence” and “sovereignty,” of necessity those things do not mean the same when free-will and contingency are accepted.
Let us get down to the basic issue. As can be seen the doctrine of free-will versus the doctrine of free-grace have huge differences. They differ on the essence of the Gospel and they differ on the character of God. They differ on the basic issues of who runs the universe in a very practical way. One will say that Christ makes salvation possible while the other says that Christ saves in all ways those whom He saves. I hope that it is clear that while the issues of free-will may appear small at the beginning, if one traces the ripples out far enough one will see that the issues are major and are at the very heart of Christianity. These cannot be ignored except at the peril of the Gospel.
God Loves... Himself 
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