Thanks, that brings back memories. Here's another major difference that I see, thing getting more and more complicated. (and I'm basing this on the second website that came up in a google on "prevenient grace").
Reformed theology says that God has individually chosen each and every person that He will save. He draws them to Himself and they believe. Simple.
On the site I read it talks of three positions on the doctrine of prevenient grace, and what happens is the scope of grace widens and things get more complicated.
- "The first of the two prominent positions on the doctrine of prevenient grace in classical Arminianism is that until the Gospel, the instrument by which God draws sinners to Himself, is presented to a sinner, the sinner is in complete bondage to sin. The Holy Spirit works with the presentation of the Gospel through teaching (John 6:45) and convicting (John 16:8) the sinner, enabling the sinner to respond in the exercising of saving faith in Christ"
That's like the reformed position except that the person has the final choice.
- In "The second position ... there is, essentially, a lesser and greater drawing via prevenient grace, which comes through the proclamation of the Gospel and the internal calling of God, sometimes referred to as the "full intensity" of prevenient grace. That is, God is drawing all men in a lesser sense and then drawing those who have the Gospel presented to them in another, greater sense. ... similar to the other position in classical Arminianism, people are not completely freed from their bondage of sin until the Gospel is presented to them and God calls them internally through its presentation."
So here the scope is widening and now God's drawing "all men". Not fully effectively though as people need to hear Gospel to believe.
- The last position on the doctrine of prevenient grace is that of the Wesleyans (also known as Wesleyan-Arminians). In this position, because of the first coming and atoning work of Christ, God has dispensed a universal prevenient grace that fully negates the depravity of man.
In this last position fully effective grace is offered to all men. We possibly don't need the Gospel any more.
As I said at the start, as you go through views of prevenient grace the scope gets wider complicating things to the point of asking is the Gospel necessary?
And you would have probably noticed that the result of the scope widening is that it gives more and more people the "opportunity" to be saved, hence moving further away from idea that God has of His own volition chosen to show mercy to only some.