[stripes1776]

What we disagree about is original sin. This wasn't an invention of Calvin but is documented through Augustine writings.

You have Calvin and Augustine viewed throught the eyes of Calvin and scripture interpreted through the eyes of Calvin. Where is +Theophilus (god lover) of Antioch, +Irenaeus, +Athanasius of Alexandria, +Basil, +Gregory of Nazianzus, +Gregory of Nyssa, +John Chrysostom, +Cyril of Alexandria, +Macarius, +Maximus the Confessor, +John Damascene, +Simeon the New Theologian, +Greogory Palamas?

Man corrupts himself but this is all part of God's plan. The problem I find with a lot of non-Calvinist folks is they don't understand that Calvinism does not make God the "author of evil". It simply states that God ordained Adam step, Adam fell and the rest is history.

Well, what Calvinists don't understand is that most Christians don't view God as a master computer programmer.

I gave you about five verses that states otherwise.

I don't filter scripture under the lens of Calvin. I study how the Fathers, saints, and theologians of the church understood scripture and the experience of their participation in the life of the Holy Trinity throughout the 2000 year history of Christianity. In my opinion, this is the only thing that can prepare the ground for reading scripture.

Incredibly you ignore all these verses and make the statement that God doesn't consider man to be evil

I don't play Jeopardy: "Alex, can I have 'One verse quotes from the Bible' for 200?" You can twist it and turn it any way you want. How did the Fathers, saints, and theologians understand their experience of the Holy Trinity over the past 2000 years? Now that is a category that can help to understand scripture.

[HarleyD]

You have Calvin and Augustine viewed throught the eyes of Calvin and scripture interpreted through the eyes of Calvin.

Weren't you the one who was telling me earlier that people take:
"...one facet of Christian doctrine and exaggerating it to the point where it takes up your entire view and eclipses every other aspect of a long and rich theological tradition is error."

I would love to hear how you balance man's "free" will against God's sovereign will. How specifically does God rule over our life? Does God have complete control guiding our steps or does He just pop in now and then to check up to see how things are going? I have yet to find an Arminian who can clearly and succiently articulate a position on God's sovereign rule.

People run around here screaming, "free will, free will" like it something to be defended. They ignore the balance and tension of God's sovereign rule over their lives. The Bible clearly states that we are either "slaves to sin" or "slaves to righteousness" (Rom 6) and we need to wake up to that fact.

I would submit the answer to man's will and God's sovereignty lies in this proverb:

Pro 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Or better yet how about James:
Jam 4:13-16 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Man plans his ways but God directs his steps. We are either bound to do sin or we're bound to do righteousness-that is the limit of our freedom. And it is all because of God's guidance. He did it with Adam, Pharaoh, and Pilate. He does it with you and I. Failing to understand and admit this simple view, that our destiny is as the Lord wills is, according to James, evil.

Where is +Theophilus (god lover) of Antioch, +Irenaeus, ...

There were a number of people who agreed with Augustine. A whole Council, who you happen to disagree with, agreed with Augustine. I'm sure they were just as acquainted with the early authors (probably moreso) than you or I. Perhaps you're viewing these authors through Platonian eyes?