From General/Arminian to Particular/Calvinist, Baptists have struggled to locate themselves along the theological spectrum. Some have unsuccessfully tried to avoid the debate, labeling themselves Calminians.[1] Others, however, have attempted to escape the paradigm altogether and articulate…
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Two Book Reviews of Matt Pinson’s Arminian and Baptist at the Helwys Society Forum
Here are two book reviews of Matt Pinson, Arminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition that were posted at the Helwys Society Forum: (1) Arminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition: A Book Review by Dustin…
A Revamped Response to a Revamped Post That Was Terrible
So I was looking through Alpha and Omega ministries looking for a concise presentation of Dr. White’s view of Romans 9, for reference purposes, when I came across a primer in their blog roll. Now,…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 10”
BEN: How would you distinguish the Calvinist notion of God’s providence from the Arminian one? It is interesting to me that if one reads Wesley’s Journal, one finds the phrase ‘a singular providence of God’…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 7”
BEN: I take it as given that you have established both that there are some strong incompatibilities between Calvinism and Arminianism, but at the same time there are some strong agreements between the two theological…
Prevenient Grace: An Introduction
Understanding the doctrine of prevenient grace was one of the most valuable studies for me after leaving Calvinism. It provided an answer to one of the simplest arguments I used to make for Calvinism: I…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 4”
BEN: On p. 55, you talk about Wesley’s treatise on divine sovereignty compared to Calvin’s view. Would you say that while Wesley agrees with Calvin that God is sovereign, absolutely so, and could do what…
“Tactics And Total Depravity”
A recent article stated: “Millennials leaving the church in droves, study finds.” We could say, “oh, that’s just young people these days”, or “it’s a sign of the times!” Or, perhaps we should consider that…
Calvinist Misconceptions: The Arminian View Of Man’s Fallen State
Calvinists often accuse Arminians of being Pelagian, or Semi-pelagian at best, when it comes to original sin and the depravity of man. And it’s no wonder, as many Calvinist websites paint quite an inaccurate picture…
Roger Olson, “Why I am an ‘Evangelical Arminian Christian’ Part 9: My Third Reason for Embracing ‘Evangelical, Arminian Christianity’: ‘Arminian'”
*First read my first six posts in this series. They set forth my fundamental “principles” for living and thinking. *Now continues a second part of this series; this series is about my reasons for being…
The Gift of Faith
When Calvinists accused Jacobus Arminius of insisting that faith in Christ is not the gift of God, he responded: “I never said this, I never thought of saying it, and, relying on God’s grace, I never…
Reformed Forum Interview of Arminian Scholar Keith Stanglin
Please click on the link to listen to the interview. Here is the Reformed Forum’s description of the interview from the interview’s web page, which also has a bibliography of Dr. Stanglin’s works: Dr. Keith…
Calvinists Concerned about the Salvation of Arminians
[Editor’s note: What is said in this post about Calvinists applies only to some Calvinists, not all.] Google-search “Are Arminians saved?” and you will discover how so very concerned Calvinists are regarding the possibility of…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Nine
BEN: One of the things that is not clear to me from reading your book is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and prevenient grace in the thought of Arminius. Does by grace Arminius simply…
Matthew Pinson, “Who’s Afraid of the Word ‘Synergist’?”
A Theological Dirty Word Recently I’ve noticed that, over the past century, Arminians have increasingly used the word “synergist” to describe themselves, rather than seeing it as a negative epithet, as most Christian theologians have.…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Seven
BEN: Why was Arminius accused of Pelagianism or semi-Pelagianism if in fact he was clear that prevenient grace comes to a person purely by unmerited divine initiative? KEITH: This controversy is inherent in the Protestant…
Enabling the Cage-Stage Calvinist
The “cage stage” refers to new Calvinist converts by or through which the individual becomes rabid with Calvinist dogma to the degree that, unless she or he is “caged,” so to state the matter, the…
Once More Unto the Breach: Total Depravity and Total Inability
Those who deny the doctrine of Total Depravity, and especially its corollary Total Inability, demand we show them from Scripture where an inherent inner inability to freely believe in Jesus Christ and His Gospel is…
Why Calvinists Should Advance Arminius
Arminianism, as with the overall theology of the early Church fathers, will never die. Calvinism experiences ebb and flow in popularity but Arminianism and other non-Calvinistic theological systems remain constant. I argue, though, that Calvinists…
The Cause of God and Presuppositions: Irenæus
English Baptist and theological hyper-Calvinist John Gill (1697-1771), in his work, The Cause of God and Truth, is found guilty of not only committing numerous logical fallacies regarding the writings of the early Church fathers…