Rationale
In recent years, we saw the resurgence of a theology embraced by some of our fellow believers who espouse what they call “Doctrines of Grace” (TULIP). Many in these groups tagged as Neo-Reformed or New Calvinists go from one church to another promoting an exclusively deterministic soteriology and monergistic understanding of salvation. They stir debates by finding issues in theology that are controversial and secondary and then proclaim that their theological system is the only correct answer and all other views are "heretical". They write blog posts, publish books, and hold conferences to convince their recruited followers that they are the sole guardians of true orthodoxy. Any Christian who disagrees with their five-point-perspective they now angrily accuse as unbiblical, unorthodox, and unchristian.
Today, many Evangelical believers are resisting this type of arrogant, divisive, destructive, hurtful, hateful, “Cage Stage” behavior among many Calvinists. Instead of honoring the rich theological range of views within historic Christianity, and appreciating the beauty of a united-yet-diverse body of Christ, these Neo-Reformed or New Calvinists think and insist that they have the monopoly of Christian orthodoxy.
Moreover, these groups claim that God does not really love every person in the world and does not want to save every person in the world. For them, God loves and desires to save only a chosen few, and that Christ did not die for the world but only provided salvation for some preselected individuals before the world began. They teach that these special chosen ones will be compelled to believe because humans do not have the free will to choose at all. They say that the saving grace of God is not for everyone but only for the chosen few; and that God's loving invitation to come to Him is actually not true for all people because only those who are chosen will be granted the ability to actually come. Some of them even argue that their version of divine sovereignty requires that God has tight meticulous control over every event in the world so that God Himself is the One who ultimately authored, decreed, orchestrated, and planned all things including human sin, horrible evil, heinous crimes, and demonic activities in the world.
Most believers honestly disagree with this kind of theology. While all Evangelical Christians embrace the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation ― Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scriptures Alone, Christ Alone, God's Glory Alone ― however, not all Evangelical Christians are Calvinistic in their soteriology.
Because of this, we have formed the Grace for All Coalition in order to gather all Non-Calvinist Evangelical Christians who mutually agree that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people” (Titus 2:11). We rally all Christians who are convinced that God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), that the Gospel is to be proclaimed as good news to all people in the world (Matthew 24:14; 28:19; Acts 1:8), and that God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30) implying that the invitation to receive the gift of salvation is issued to all people and not only to a selected few (Matthew 11:28 and Revelation 22:17).
While we disagree with many of the finer points of their theology, we still consider many Reformed-Calvinists as brothers and sisters in Christ. Hence, we seek to become bearers of grace towards fellow believers who differ from our theological persuasions.
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We also celebrate that some “Moderate Calvinists” such as Norman Geisler, Millard Erickson, James Quiggle, John Murray, Ned Stonehouse, John Howe, Henry Venn, Edmund Calamy, Daniel Williams, Joseph Alleine, John Janeway, David Bogue, Jeffrey Johnson, William Laud, Matthew Henry, and many Amyraldians seem to resonate with our theological affirmations regarding God’s sincere love for all people, His genuine offer of salvation for everyone, and Christ’s sacrificial death for all humanity.
We endorse the writings, views, and thoughts of many contemporary Christian theologians, pastors, writers, apologists, philosophers, and church leaders who affirm that God’s saving grace if offered to all sinners, not only to a preselected few. They include:
A.W. Tozer
C.S. Lewis
N.T. Wright
Howard Marshall
Ben Witherington III
Doug Stuart
Gordon Fee
Scott McKnight
David Baker
William W. Klein
Grant Osborne
Roger Olson
William Lane Craig
Billy Graham
Adrian Rogers
Adam Clarke
John Lennox
Michael Brown
Leonard Ravenhill
Norm Geisler
Alister McGrath
Henry Orton Wiley
Carl O. Bangs
J. Kenneth Grider
B. J. Oropeza
Keith D. Stanglin
Craig S. Keener
Thomas H. McCall
Robert Shank
Craig Blomberg
David Bentley Hart
Mike Licona
Lewis Sperry Chafer
C. I. Scofield
J. Vernon McGee
Charles Ryrie
Robert Lightner
David Wilkerson
Bruce Reichenbach
David J. A. Clines
William G. MacDonald
James D. Strauss
C. Stephen Evans
Gary Habermas
Bruce Wilkinson
Earl Radmacher
David A. DeSilva
Bill T. Arnold
John Oswalt
Brian Abasciano
Thomas Oden
Craig Keener
Jack Cottrell
Gerald O. McCulloh
James Luther Adams
Russell Henry Stafford
Geoffrey F. Nuttall
Dale Moody
Paul Copan
James D. G. Dunn
Jerry Walls
Joseph Dongell
Donald M. Lake
William G. Witt
A. Skevington Wood
Vernon C. Grounds
Terry L. Miethe
Fritz Guy
Klyne Snodgrass
Robert Picirilli
F. Leroy Forlines
Matthew Pinson
Stephen Ashby
Chuck Smith
George Bryson
Greg Laurie
Paul R. Eddy
William J. Abraham
A. Philip Brown II
Derek Prince
Jack Hayford
Gene L. Green
Gareth Lee Cockerill
James Leonard
Charles Edward White
Anthony Chadwick Thornhill
Aaron Sherwood
Leighton Flowers
David Lewis Allen
Steve Lemke
Adam Harwood
Jerry Vines
Paige Patterson
Richard Land
Malcolm Yarnell
Bruce A. Little
Robert W. Wall
G. Walter Hansen
Philip H. Towner
Paul Ellingworth
William MacDonald
James Strauss
Philip Towner
John Wenham
Nigel Turner
Max Turner
Peter Cotterell
Michael Brown
David Jeremiah
Dave Hunt
J. W. MacGorman
E. Y. Mullins
Herschel Hobbs
W. T. Conner
Frank Stagg
Fisher Humphreys
Bert Dominy
Ken Keathley
Merrill Unger
Miles J. Stanford
Zane C. Hodges
Robert Wilkin
Charles Stanley
Jerry Vernon Lloyd
Tony Evans
Chuck Swindoll
Ernest Pickering
Robert Thieme
William Newell
Lance Latham
David Anderson
Joe Wall
Larry Moyer
Charles Bing
Joseph Dillow
Fred Chay
J. Paul Tanner
