A is for Arminianism: Getting Started

Welcome to A is for Arminianism!

My name is Richard Ellis, and yes, I am an Arminian!

Of course, that doesn't say a whole lot to some, and to others it may very well mean more than what I intend for it to say. So, let me briefly define what it is I mean by Arminianism before I lay out my plans for this site.

Broadly speaking, when I say "Arminianism", I am referring to a Protestant Christian soteriological stance that primarily underscores God's grace in enabling depraved individuals to respond positively or negatively to the offer of salvation.

In other words, you can be a Christian Classical Theist, or a Christian Neo-Classical Theist, or a Christian Open Theist and still be an Arminian. Likewise, you can be an Arminian and still be a Baptist, Wesleyan, or a Reformed Christian. There are many combinations that cohere with this title, and as such, it just isn't true that an Arminian has to be committed to one particular view of God or to one particular denomination. Of course, there may be additional doctrines or denominations that may cohere better with the Arminian persuasion, but such things are up for debate and discussion (Perhaps for a future post?).

As for this site and its vision, A is for Arminianism is committed to the exploration of all things Arminian, with the distinct purpose of providing 'good' Arminian content that is backed by real Academic Scholarship.

What does that mean?

Well, it means following the dialogues and voices of those who are doing Arminian research and sharing them here with you.

Voices like Richard Muller, Keith Stanglin, Freya Sierhuis, Brian Abasciano, William Den Boer, Roger Olson, and more.

Therefore, nothing is off the table- History, Theology, Philosophy, Biblical Interpretation, Debates - if it connects with Arminianism (as defined above), then it is fair game for this site.

It also means that your time, I earnestly pray, won't be wasted by exploring crappy content. And dang!!!- there is a lot of crappy content out there. One of the reasons I had for starting this site came about after I watched hours upon hours of YouTube videos on Arminianism. And UGHHH... That is time I won't get back... Many of the videos were boring, historically inaccurate, and often lacked scholarly citations. I want to hopefully change that.

Now I should admit something off the bat. I am not an Arminian scholar. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Microbiology, and I am a certified Medical Laboratory Scientist through the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). In turn, I have only completed ~30 credits hours of Seminary coursework- including basic classes in Theology, Greek, Hebrew, and History.

So, I totally get it if you want to turn to some actual scholars for your information on Arminianism.

That's what I've done!

However, if you don't want to personally dredge through the academic sources by yourself, then consider following A is for Arminianism.