Then Calvinism is not internally inconsistent. The inconsistency problem then is not with Calvinism as a theology, it is just with the Calvinists who deny the idea the Calvinism actually teaches fatalistic determinism.
Likewise perhaps the internal inconsistency with Arminianism is not with the theology itself, but with those who preach Arminianism on the one hand and then deny that they do believe they are, effectively, their own Saviors.
No, the idea of Calvinism actually teaches God's determinism.
It's the difference between chance and Christ.
perhaps the internal inconsistency with Arminianism is not with the theology itself, but with those who preach Arminianism on the one hand and then deny that they do believe they are, effectively, their own Saviors.
Arminian is internally inconsistent because it says it believes in God's sovereignty while putting the actions of men outside that sovereignty. Just look at the terms used for "free will" -- a "gift from God."
lol. Talk about inconsistent. There's nothing good about men's "free will." Men's "free will" is fallen and will always choose poorly. Men imbued by God's will, through the Holy Spirit -- THAT is the gift. THAT requires our thanks.
But I understand your complaint against Calvinism because Calvinists seem to be hedging their bets when they talk about wills being slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness and that men "freely choose" what their hearts (stony/flesh) desire.
But it's all of God. We just can't over-estimate that enough. ALL of God.
1) God ordains all things. Period.
1-a) All men are fallen and will choose to sin unless and until God has given them the free gift of the Holy Spirit to enable them to choose righteousness.1-b) Those two subsets of men have been determined by God from before the foundation of the world.
1-c) Since we don't know who's who, we preach to all men, trusting in God's perfect purpose which, one way or another, will result in His glory and our welfare.
"The system that Christians seek to obtain may be said to be analogical. By this is meant that God is the original and that man is the derivative. God has absolute self-contained system within himself. What comes to pass in history happens in accord with that system or plan by which he orders the universe. But man, as God's creature, cannot have a replica of that system of God. He cannot have a reproduction of that system. He must, to be sure, think God's thoughts after him; but this means that he must, in seeking to form his own system, constantly be subject to the authority of God's system to the extent that this is revealed to him." [Cornelius Van Til - A Christian Theory of Knowledge, p. 16]