Calvinism and Arminianism

We present two competing perspectives on whether a genuine middle ground between Calvinism and Arminianism is even possible.

C. Gordon Olson’s hermeneutical approach stakes out a middle position between thoroughgoing Calvinism and Arminianism[1], and both Calvinist and Arminian motivations for missions are worthy and not mutually exclusive[1]. Rather than viewing the traditions as fundamentally opposed, this integrative approach recognizes that Calvinists engage in missions to glorify God among the nations, while Arminians emphasize obedience to the Great Commission and the need for the lost to hear the gospel[1]—yet both traditions ultimately desire God’s glory and obedience to Christ[1].

The most developed theological proposal for reconciliation is Molinism. This perspective attempts to protect human freedom in salvation, offering a middle ground by simultaneously holding to a Calvinistic view of comprehensive divine sovereignty and a version of free will generally associated with Arminianism[2]. Middle knowledge represents God’s knowledge of all things involving human will before he decrees them; by contrast with Calvinism’s future determined by God’s will or Arminianism’s future made by free creatures’ decisions, Molinism contends that God actively uses his foreknowledge to sovereignly decide which world to bring into existence among the many possibilities populated by free choices[2].

However, a classical objection argues that no logical intermediate between Calvinism and Arminianism can combine both systems, since it’s impossible to affirm that election is both unconditional and conditional, or that grace is both irresistible and resistible[3]. This tension remains unresolved—some find Molinism a genuine synthesis, while others maintain the systems remain fundamentally incompatible. The practical reality is that evangelical churches operate successfully under both frameworks, suggesting the disagreement, while theologically significant, need not prevent collaborative gospel ministry.

[1] John Mark Terry, “Sovereignty and Free Will: An Impossible MIX or a Perfect Match?,” in Paradigms in Conflict: 15 Key Questions in Christian Missions Today, ed. Keith E. Eitel (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2018), 45.
[2] J. D. Payne, Understanding Evangelism: Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments, and Contemporary Issues (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2025), 98–99.
[3] William Greenough Thayer Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, ed. Alan W. Gomes (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Pub., 2003), 364.