It’s the St. Gwinear’s Day edition of the Friday Files, SEA’s weekly rundown of stuff from the SEA archives, and relevant recent articles on Arminian/Calvinist issues. Inclusion on this page absoutely does not guarantee SEA’s…
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The Friday Files
The Friday Files compiles links to posts from Arminian and other non-Calvinistic bloggers from around the globe, and highlights older posts from SEA. Inclusion of a link here does not necessarily mean the linked material…
Recap of Unconditional Election Debate between Dan Chapa and Richard Bushey
I recently debated Richard Bushey regarding the doctrine of unconditional election (Part 1) (Part 2). The debate was nearly two hours and while I hope you enjoy watching the full debate, I will attempt to…
Ben Witherington and Chad Thornhill on *The Chosen People: Election, Paul and Second Temple Judaism*, Part 7
BEN: In terms of the modus operandi of this book, one of the basic approaches you take is to argue that if an idea is not found elsewhere in early Jewish literature, then it is…
A Concise Description of Prevenient Grace from a Surprising Source (spoiler: it’s John MacArthur)
In a Q&A, when asked whether regeneration precedes faith, he answered (in part): Why not say that the Spirit of God can move him along even in his unregenerate state to an understanding and can…
Rich Davis, “Calvinism’s Misplaced Culpability”
Calvinism and TULIP go hand in hand. When you think of the one, it’s rather hard not to think of the other. However, certain qualifications are in order. “The truth is,” says Michael Horton, “there…
Book Review: Whomever He Wills — Chapter 3: Unconditional Election
Dr. Andrew Davis wrote chapter three of Whomever He Wills: A Surprising Display of Sovereign Mercy,1 which counters Dr. Richard Land’s chapter in Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism, called “Congruent Election.” Two…
Arminian Principles for Interpreting Romans 9
Romans 9 is often the “go to” text for Calvinists. They hold that it is about individual election to salvation — that God unconditionally chooses to save certain individuals, and that he unconditionally rejects and…
Steve Sewell, “God’s Plan of Election (Commentary on Romans 9 – Part Two)”
Scripture quotations are from the English Majority Text Version (EMTV) unless noted otherwise. Does God Harden Hearts? (Still addressing verses 17 and 18): 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose…
Steve Sewell, “God’s Plan of Election (Commentary on Romans 9 – Part One)”
Scripture quotations are from the English Majority Text Version (EMTV) unless noted otherwise. Introduction Romans 9 is a very controversial chapter, but it shouldn’t be. All through the Word of God we learn about all…
Brian Abasciano, “A Response to Thomas Schreiner’s Review of My Book on Romans 9:10-18”
Thomas Schreiner reviewed my book, Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.10–18: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis for the online theological journal Themelios. His review may be found here. This is the response…
2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 – A Conversation with an Inquirer
We received a question through our public website about 2 Sam 24:1 and 1 Chron 21:1 and the inciting of David to take the sinful census. Here is the exchange between one of our members…
“Whatever that Scripture proves, it never can prove this…” – John Wesley’s Sermon on Free Grace
John Wesley SERMON 128 (text from the 1872 edition) FREE GRACE Preached at Bristol, in the year 1740 TO THE READER Nothing but the strongest conviction, not only that what is here advanced is “the…
William W. Klein, “Is Corporate Election Merely Virtual Election?”
This article can be viewed below on this page and is also contained in this pdf attachment (the pdf file retains the author’s formatting and uses footnotes while this page uses endnote style and has…
Book Review: Abasciano on Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:10-18
This book follows “Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9:1-9: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis” as Dr. Abasciano dives deeper into Romans 9 by examining 9:10-18. (link to Amazon) The work is organized,…
Origins: What comes from God vs. what comes from man
Regarding origins…in other of whether something comes from God or from man, note what John Calvin said about the *origin* of Paul’s expression of emotion towards his fellow Jews at Romans 9:1-3: John Calvin comments:…
Brian Abasciano’s Response to a Review of His Book on Romans 9:10-18
Brian Abasciano’s response to a review of his book on Romans 9:10-18
by Roger E. Olson, PhD
I don’t normally do this at my blog, but friend Brian Abasciano of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a leading evangelical Arminian, has written an important book on Romans 9-11 from an Arminian perspective. An early review appears to misrepresent some ideas of the book and Brian has asked me to post his response here. If you know someone who has read the review in question, please see that they read Brian’s response.
Here is the response:
Romans 9 in Context: God’s Just Prerogative in Confounding All Confidence in the Law of Works
Introduction
Romans 9 is one of the most controversial and often-misinterpreted passages of scripture among evangelicals. Controversy, however, should not make us timid when it comes to the things of God. This inspired chapter is valuable for teaching doctrine, and should not be ignored or glossed over. At the same time, it should not be treated as a comprehensive statement of Christian soteriology by itself, for the chapter is not written in isolation, but is strongly rooted in the context of both Testaments, touching on concepts present in the other Pauline epistles and the gospels, and quoting from the Old Testament frequently. The goal of this writing is a sound, objective exegesis of Romans 9 to explain the principles therein, expound upon its themes, and to show where and how its teachings fit into the contexts of the rest of the book of Romans, and scripture as a whole. All quotes are from the NKJV unless otherwise specified.
Dr. Brian Abasciano Introduces His New Book on Romans 9:10-18
Dr. Brian Abasciano has done a guest post in the blog of his publisher, T&T Clark/Continuum, introducing his new book on Romans 9:10-18. We have reproduced the post below, which was taken from http://tandtclark.typepad.com/ttc/2011/04/a-guest-post-from-brian-j-abasciano.html :
<a href="http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=125352&SearchType=Basic
Two Important Books Coming Out This Year
Here are two books to be on the lookout for this year: Roger Olson, Against Calvinism is scheduled to come out in October of this year (2011). There is no information available yet at the…
