If you’re reading this chapter, you’re likely already familiar with the TULIP acronym, listing the five points of Calvinism:
T—total depravity
U—unconditional election
L—limited atonement
I—irresistible grace
P—perseverance of the saints
There is no necessary, core arguments between Calvinists and Arminians regarding “total depravity” and “perseverance of the saints” (the first and fifth points), although Calvinists and non-Calvinists would certainly nuance these beliefs differently and see differing implications. It might be safest to say their understandings of these two points somewhat overlap. Regardless, because these points aren’t necessary to our discussion, we’re not going to spend time going over them in this chapter. The debate between Calvinists and non-Calvinists is mostly focused on the three center points. So let’s consider each of these in turn.
The U in TULIP stands for unconditional election. This has to do with God’s “election” or choice of those who would be saved. They are, therefore, the “elect” or the chosen. Calvinists believe God’s election or choice of these people has absolutely nothing to do with any prior condition God observed in the life of particular individuals, so his election is unconditional. Many prefer to describe this belief as sovereign election, emphasizing that any cause for God’s choice lies only in the good pleasure of his will (drawing from Eph 1:5), not in anything inherent in lost humans.
Arminians have often countered with belief in conditional election, the idea that God’s choice is conditioned on his foreknowing who will place their faith in Christ and who will not. Those who will believe, God chooses to save. But the Calvinist can point out an obvious weakness in this understanding: Does God simply choose those who he knows will choose him? Is God really that passive in this process of election or choosing, with everything riding on the choice of the individual?
Other Arminians and non-Calvinists present instead a concept of corporate election. This view understands God’s election or choice to be primarily about choosing a people, a corporate group. God has chosen to save a group from his creation and make them his church, and anyone who places their faith in Christ is saved and becomes part of this chosen people. Calvinists don’t deny that God chooses to save a corporate people, but they would challenge just which one is primary: God’s choice of a corporate people, or his selection of individual people whom he will save. Does God choose each individual he will save, and then these individuals collectively make up his chosen people, the church? Or does he choose to save some indeterminate group, and allow individuals to self-select whether or not they will be part of the chosen people? You can see how this can quickly become a chicken-or-the-egg kind of debate.
Biblical universalists don’t have to try to thread this needle. They don’t have to prioritize either corporate election or personal election. Christian universalists will have differing nuances in their exact understanding of God’s process of election or choosing. But there’s nothing preventing someone who believes in universal reconciliation and restoration from affirming both that God has chosen to save a corporate people, and that he sovereignly chooses each person whom he will save and make part of his church. They just believe God has sovereignly chosen to save each individual he created. They believe this because that’s what they see in Scripture, and because this best fits the biblical character of God. So, evangelical universalists have no problem believing that God’s election is corporate, personal, unconditional, and sovereign.
From (bonus) chapter fourteen, “Calvinism, Arminianism, and Universalism” in Until the Last One’s Found: An Introduction to Universal Reconciliation and Restoration by Curt Parton.
Calvinism, Arminianism and Universalism
Divine Sovereignty and Human Free Will: Comparing 3 Views
Universalism and Limited Atonement
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