Roger E. Olson, “Is God’s Love Limited to the Elect? Rebutting a Calvinist Challenge to the Gospel” from Enrichment Journal: http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/201203/201203_044_limited_atonement.cfm.
Author/Scholar Index: Arminian
Jerry Walls, “Does God Love Everyone? Clarifying Calvinism”
[From Dr. Walls’ Facebook page, and posted with his consent] Several days ago, we had a rather energetic discussion on this page in response to classic Calvinist theologian Arthur Pink’s forthright claim that God does…
A New Book on Justification and Some Questions about Calvinism and Heavenly Rewards
A New Calvinist Book on Justification Perplexes by Roger E. Olson, Ph.D. I have been asked to review Justification: A Guide for the Perplexed by Reformed theologian Alan J. Spence (T&TClark, 2012). Spence is a…
Justin Taylor, “A Conversation with My Favorite Wesleyan Theologian”
Calvinist Justin Taylor’s post on, “A Conversation with My Favorite Wesleyan Theologian”: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/06/26/a-conversation-with-my-favorite-wesleyan-theologian/ Taylor talks about Calvinist John Stark’s interview with Wesleyan theologian Fred sanders. And in so doing, Taylor makes some of his own…
Allowing is not commanding
This reprint of a blog post by Randal Rauser, PhD is placed here due to his accurate reflection of the Arminian position on the allowing vs commanding controversy. Note that Dr. Rauser is not a member of SEA and does not necessarily claim an Arminian stance.
Over the last week I have heard on at least three different occasions claims made to the moral equivalency of God allowing x and God commanding x. The argument has been made by Christians to demonstrate that if I accept that God providentially allows evils like genocide and infant sacrifice, I should have no problem if God also commands genocide and infant sacrifice. The argument has also been made by non-Christians to argue that if I have a problem with God commanding genocide and infant sacrifice, I should also have a problem with God allowing genocide and infant sacrifice.
Did Jesus Reveal the “Who” in “World” in John 3:14-16?
Did Jesus Reveal the “Who” in “World” in John 3:14-16?
There is a lot of debate between Arminians and Calvinists about the meaning of the word, “world” in the NT, as it relates to who Christ died for. Calvinists believe that it refers only to the elect among the various people groups in the world. Arminians, on the other hand, believe that it means what it says, that it literally refers to every individual in the world, from Adam to the very last person to be born.
This disagreement has continued for hundreds of years, but I believe we have before us a unifying passage of Scripture that settles the debate. I believe Jesus Himself reveals who He is referring to when He speaks of the world in John 3:16. Before He states the beloved promise in that verse, He takes us back to the Old Testament where He makes a comparison between an incident that took place there, to the cross He would die on:
Arminians Can Be Consistent and Pray for God to Save the Lost
By Brian Abasciano I have seen Calvinists argue that when Arminians pray for God to save lost souls, they are being inconsistent with their theology and are really praying like Calvinists. Even Arminian theologian and…
Why Does One Person Accept Christ, While Another Rejects Him?
Why does one person accept Christ, while another rejects Him?
Notwithstanding God’s prevenient, enabling and intervening grace, free will is reasonably the cause of the aforementioned divergence, and which certainly requires greater explanation, and I believe that there is one. However, the first thing that Arminians point out is Adam and Eve, because the equation of total depravity no longer applies in their situation, and which begs the question: Why did they choose the way that they did? Arminians argue that God presented them with the opportunity to choose well, and by choosing well, to form good moral character. The same matter of free choice also applies to the angels as well, pre-Fall. No issues of depravity applies to their equation either. It is to this point that Calvinists, even such as R.C. Sproul, state the following:
You’re a Calvinist, Right? A Calvinist Interviews a Wesleyan Theologian
Calvinist John Stark interviews a Wesleyan theologian he has great respect for, Fred Sanders: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/06/25/youre-a-calvinist-right/. Introducing the interview, Stark writes, “And so, I had to know: For a guy who loves, quotes, and depends upon…
Does Jesus Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in John 6:37-65?
John 6:37, 44, 65 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out…No one can come to Me unless the Father…
Does Paul Teach That the Gift of Salvation is Unconditionally Irrevocable in Romans 11:29?
Romans 6:23; 11:29 For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord….For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Many see…
Free Will in Heaven?
Due to the contradictory and confusing nature of Calvinism, Calvinists often struggle to articulate their own arguments. So Arminians with whom they are in dialogue, are often found having to first unscramble their own logic…
The New Calvinism and Preaching
This post is from the blog of Roger E. Olson, PhD written by Austin Fischer Neo-Calvinism Preaching My Conversion…to Calvinism I was converted to Calvinism because of the preaching of John Piper. I was in…
Roger Olson, “Thoughts about the Terms ‘Heresy’ and ‘Heretic'”
By Roger E. Olson, PhD The recent “dust up” over possible semi-Pelagianism among certain Baptists has given rise to the usual confusion about terms like “heresy” and “heretic.” So let’s clear things up a little…
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,…
So What Is Faith Anyway?
SO WHAT IS FAITH ANYWAY? by Matt O’Reilly, PhD (Cand) You no longer have to go to church to hear about faith. We are constantly surrounded with talk of faith and belief. From Hollywood to…
PREVENIENT GRACE: ENOUGH TO CONVINCE? A New Testament Theological Appraisal by Josh Ratliff
In this paper, originally presented at the Wesleyan Theological Society Conference, Josh Ratliff examines the doctrine of prevenient grace based on a New Testament theological method. He asks whether prevenient grace is salvifically sufficient or…
Playing With Dolls
A question that I was recently considering was whether or not God could truly love us if we did not have free will. Clearly He could care about us like I care about my grandfather’s jacket or my car, but could one really say that He loved us? I think the answer is both yes and no.
For context let us consider the kind of love that we are dealing with. In the Bible, it uses the analogy of marriage to define God’s love for His elect people. However, it uses the analogy of a parent and child to define His relationship with creation. When we are talking about free will, we are naturally talking about how God designed us. Therefore the parent/child relationship is at the forefront and so it is this kind of love that I am going to be addressing.
Does “Eternal Life” in Passages like John 3:16 Imply That Apostasy is Impossible?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Some emphasize the fact that eternal life…
The Empty Set Criticism of Corporate Election
One of the most common criticisms that I have heard against corporate election is the argument of the empty set: if God elects a group what happens if there is nobody in that group. There…
Recent Posts
Roy Ingle, “Calvinism and the Atonement”
Why Does God Deny the Opportunity of Choice for or Against Him to Young Children Who Die and the Mentally Impaired?
Mark K. Olson, “Wesley’s ‘Warmed Heart’ at Aldersgate – What Really Happened?”
Adam Roe, “The Crucial Thread of Prevenient Grace: A Wesleyan Perspective on Divine Drawing”
