Soteriology 101: Former Calvinistic Professor Discusses Doctrines Of Salvation

These are some recent comments sent to me via social media: “Your theology is man-centered…” “You are a humanistic Pelagian…” “You start with man and build your view of God around humanistic reasoning.” “Making God in your own image is not theology, Mr. Flowers!!!” And those were the nice ones. First, I would like us to try and objectively consider which soteriological perspective is actually more “humanistic.” To do so we need a good working definition. The American Heritage Dictionary defines humanistic as “one who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans.” I’ll objectively concede this point: When compared to the claims of Calvinism related to God’s ultimate desire for self-glorification it does appear that our soteriological perspective does put more emphasis on God’s concern with humanity over and above His concern for self-glorification. Notable Calvinists are known to argue that God’s primary concern is not the welfare of man, but for Himself and His own glory. In my journey to becoming a