LDS (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and most other Christians find themselves totally opposed to Calvinism, more so than non-Christian religions like Buddhism or Islam. Consider this quote by John Wesley:
An LDS vs Calvinist theological war has erupted starting in around 2020. LDS who are typically too busy having lives to get involved in arguments on religion on the internet, finally had time during the pandemic lock-down to start defending their faith online. This was a huge problem for the least prepared of the LDS critics, Calvinists, who stand to lose a lot of money by losing congregation members from their paid ministry, to LDS congregations who do not have a paid ministry. The epicenter of this battle is Gilbert Arizona where the numbers of both anti-LDS Calvinists and mainstream LDS are in sufficient numbers to have a sustained conflict.
Calvinism and LDS are natural enemies because they are polar opposites of Religion in general. Though both can be considered forms of Christianity, they are so different that both religions have more in common with almost any other religion on earth than they do with each other. They interpret the Bible in radically different ways. Ultimately LDS believe that humanity is literally the same species as God, and that God is trying to make as many humans like Him as possible. Calvinists believe the perfect opposite: God sees us not as children but as creations, and the vast majority of humans were created specifically to burn in hell for all eternity.
Slayer is the scapegoat of heavy metal bands, because of their imagery and lyrical content with songs like "Hell Awaits" and "Raining Blood." However upon close examination of the lyrics, it appears they were simply describing the horror of the Calvinist God... what could be scarier than God creating most people just to have them burn in hell for all eternity? Like John Wesley said, this defames God, encouraging Atheism, by declaring God worse than the Devil.On one hand, the Calvinist argument is The Bible declares that this is the situation, weather or not humanity agrees. On the other hand, here are the Bible verses backing up the LDS view:
1. The entire Book of James explains that what we choose to do with our lives has everything to do with our eternal destinations.
2. John 17 expounds on how Jesus is "one" with the Father, and it's the same way we are to be "one" with Jesus.
3. 2nd Peter 1:4 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..."
4. 1 John 3:2: "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
5. John 10:34-36 'Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?'
We are children of God with divine potential, we have free will. The LDS view is far more Biblical than the Calvinist view, even though LDS do not have a closed cannon of scripture like the Calvinists.
This the first big debate I can remember between an LDS and a Calvinist on YouTube, and it's from around 2020:
