Bruxy Cavey recently bemoaned the fact that Arminians have no cute flower nicknames like the Calvinists have with their TULIP acronym. Greg Boyd agreed and issued a challenge for Arminians to come up with one.
I won’t pretend to have a full grasp of Arminian theology, but for me a great start is a great piece of writing that predates Calvin’s, the Schleitheim Confession. It’s language is a little old sometimes, but five hundred years later it still summarizes the Anabaptist position quite well. I will only quote it briefly, but if you want the full version with footnotes, etc, you can find it here. It has seven points and with a little rearranging, it spells out the word AMOEBAS.
- Arms – Christians are not to bear arms, as it is outside the perfection of Christ.
- Memorial observance – the Lord’s Supper doesn’t not magically transform into the actual body and blood of Christ, but when we gather with other believers to celebrate it, God blesses our act of worship and remembrance.
- Oaths – Christians shouldn’t swear oaths, in keeping with Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, instead we should live lives of truth and let our yes be yes.
- Election of sheep – each church has the right to choose their own leaders, rather than them being handed down from a higher level of the church.
- Ban – following Matthew 18, Christians are to peacefully, lovingly send non-repentant members outside of their circle.
- Adult baptism – baptism should only be given to those who have come to a full confession of faith, which automatically excludes infants who are not capable of doing so.
- Separation – the church should live separate from the world, guided by separate values and separate motivations. In the world but not of the world.
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