June 2008
Are Arminians Semi-Pelagian?
Calling Arminians Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian is somewhat of a tradition within Calvinism. The Synod of Dort repeatedly did so, clearing the path for generations to come. I recently completed a study on John Owen’s book Death of Death in the Death of Christ, where he relates Arminians with Pelagians. Additionally, J. I. Packer calls Arminians Semi-Pelagian in his introduction to Death of Death in the Death of Christ. The charge that Arminians are either Pelagians or Semi-Pelagians is false. I intend to demonstrate this through 1) comparing the Canons of Orange to Arminius and 2) critiquing Packer’s argument.
1 John 2:24-27; A Devotional
Submitted by Ron C. Fay on Sat, 06/28/2008 - 1:59amYou, what you heard from the beginning, let it remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning would remain in you and you in the Son, you will remain in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which he himself promised to us, eternal life. 26 I wrote these things to you concerning those trying to deceive you. 27 And you, the anointing which you received from him, it remains in you and you do not have need that anyone would teach you, but as his anointing teaches you about all things and it is truth and it is not a lie, and as it taught you, remain in him.
Libertarian Free Will
Submitted by Kevin Jackson on Fri, 06/27/2008 - 6:57amLibertarian free will is the concept that men and angels have the ability to make real choices that have not been pre-determined by God. Arminians believe in free will, while Calvinists generally do not.
The Arminian belief in free will is rooted in our understanding of the goodness of God. We believe in free will not because we are interested in usurping God's authority, but instead because we want to protect God's character. We also recognize that free will comes directly from the hand of God. Man has free will because He is made in the image of God. To the extent that man can make any decision on his own, it's only because God has given man that ability, because it pleases Him to do so.
Robert Rakestraw. "John Wesley as a Theologian of Grace"
Please click on the attachment to view Robert Rakestraw. "John Wesley as a Theologian of Grace," published in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27:2 (June 1984): 193-203.
Calvinism And Free Will: An Exegetical Vindication of Matthew 23:37
Submitted by Patron on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 6:12amThe content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf.
The following post was first published at http://www.indeathorlife.org/. I decided to re-post it as it relates to the previous post regarding God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Will. A few minor revisions have been made.
Arminians have long pointed to Matthew 23:37 to respond to the Calvinist doctrines of determinism, limited atonement, and irresistible grace.
Calvinism teaches that Christ died only for the elect (particular atonement), that he has decreed whatsoever shall come to pass in human history (determinism- no human free will as pertains to true contingencies), and that man has nothing to do with his own salvation (monergism), which necessitates their doctrine of irresistible grace.
Links Added to Our Links and Books Page
Submitted by SEA on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 1:48pmThe following links have been added to our "Links and Books" page:
Under Bible study tools:
- New Testament Gateway – Comprehensive and award winning web directory of internet resources on the New Testament, maintained by Dr. Mark Goodacre.
Old Testament Gateway – A comprehensive, annotated, academic directory of internet sites on the Old Testament.
Resources for New Testament Exegesis – Excellent annotated list of resources maintained by Dr. Roy Ciampa of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
The Blue Letter Bible – Numerous bible study tools including original language resources, searchable Bible with various versions available, commentaries, dictionaries, lexicons, charts, outlines, timelines, and more.
Under blogs from an Arminian perspective:
A recent reading of Ephesians
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 7:19amMy wife and I have a daily reading of Scripture where we read through large sections of the Bible at once, to get the bigger pictures in Scripture, and cover the full ground of Scripture as often as possible. (This is not our only devotional time). Last week, we read Ephesians in one sitting. During the second chapter, I started to cry. Not balling, more just tearing up. My wife looked up at me and said, "To me, this is neat stuff. But it means so much more to you."
She was right. So many make Ephesians out to be this herald of predestination; a triumph of Calvinism. But such a reading loses the very message that Paul is communicating, the very thing that brought me to tears.
Two Quality Resources Removed
Submitted by SEA on Tue, 06/24/2008 - 11:18pmUnfortunately, we have had to remove two quality resources that we recently added to the site by way of links because the the sites they link to have allegedly posted these materials in violation of their copyright:
(1) I. Howard Marshall, New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel, a New Testament theology by one of the most respected evangelical New Testament scholars of our day. Marshall does not identify himself as an "Arminian", but his theology is essentially Arminian, and he has provided important criticism of Calvinism and support of Arminian theology in his career.
(2) Craig Keener's Bible Background Commentary on the New Testament, not specifically an Arminian commentary, but Keener, another top notch NT scholar, supports Arminian theology in some of his comments, as in his comments on Romans 9.
Sacrifice And The Nature of Human Freedom
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Tue, 06/24/2008 - 6:49amThe word of God commands people to submit and surrender their wills to the will of God. This is inherent in the nature of sacrifice. Paul tells us to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. What does this mean?
My Pastor used to put it this way, “When our will comes in conflict with God’s will, our will dies.”
We can see a vivid illustration of this in the garden of Gethsemane where Christ says, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Here Christ surrendered His will to the will of the Father. This directly correlates to the cross and the impending sacrifice He would make there.
Struggling With Regrets
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 7:45amDo you sometimes struggle with regrets? I certainly do.
Part of the glory of Christianity is the forgiveness we have in Christ Jesus. We should never cease to rejoice in the fact that the blood of Christ has cleansed us from the stain of past sins (2 Pet. 1:9). This forgiveness does not, however, always alleviate consequences from the poor decisions we made prior to trusting in Christ, nor does it always relieve us of the consequences of sinful decisions that we make after conversion.
David is a stunning example. God forgave David for his sin with Bathsheba, and against Uriah, but he still had to suffer tremendous consequences for that sin. His child died, and his son, Absalom, rose up against him, and was killed as a result (2 Sam. 12; 15-18). I would bet that David had regrets. He suffered the scars of his decisions for the rest of his life. Sin is devastating and regrets can be crippling.
1 John 2:21-23; A Devotional
Submitted by Ron C. Fay on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 7:54amI did not write to you that you do not know the truth but that you know it and that all lying is not from the truth. 22 Who is the liar if not the one who renounces that Jesus is not the Christ? Such a man is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 All who deny the Son do not have the Father, the one who confesses the Son also has the Father.
I think it is interesting here that John goes out of his way to state that all lying is not from the truth, the truth being, of course, Jesus the Christ. Thus, by stating something as true that is not, one shows how Jesus is NOT living in them. Lying is the opposite of being a Christian.