Opening my inbox, I saw an email that caused me to pause. The subject line was Arminian Theology and the author was Robert Picirilli. Expecting anything but an email from the noted theologian of that name, I clicked…
Compatibilism
Free Will: Is There a Distinction Between Salvation and Everyday Actions?
A question we received through our website followed by our answer: I . . . have a question regarding the various views of free will and God’s sovereignty. Often, it seems to me,…
Andrew Lobb, “Why Knowledge Is Just Knowledge”
Let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine, if you will, you have a pretty sweet computer. Maybe one the size of a couple of solar systems – very powerful, lots of memory. Now, an important figure,…
William Lane Craig Answers Some Questions on Determinism
In his Q&A section of his site, Dr. William Lane Craig recently gave his thoughts both on Compatibilism and Determinism. One of the most interesting comments was that he doesn’t hold to the Principle of…
Accepting/Rejecting Calvinism (Pt. 12: Free Will)
This is from a series of posts which was copied with permission from Jordan Apodaca’s blog, “Thoughts & Anti-Thoughts,” which can be accessed here: https://jordanapodaca.wordpress.com/ This particular post, which allows comments, can be accessed here:…
Great Quotes: Thomas Ralston on Calvinist Arguments Against Free Will Based on Greatest Motive Force
Let us now contemplate these motives which are said to act upon the mind so as necessarily to influence the will. Let us look them full in the face, and ask the question, What are…
Bullets and Determinism
A Calvinist, attempting to explain an origin for sin that leaves God blameless, linked me John Piper’s “Where Did Satan’s First Desire For Evil Come From?“…a promising title, to be sure, since that’s a question Arminians…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 13”
BEN: Jonathan Edwards in his Freedom of the Will argues that there is no compulsion or coercion involved, only predetermination when it comes to human choosing. People choose according to their desires and will and…
The Teleological Argument for the Existence of Libertarian Free Will
All footnote links lead to original post Is Libertarian Free Will Cogent? Preliminaries One of the arguments that Calvinists argue is that the very notion of Libertarian Free Will (LFW) is incoherent. “It simply doesn’t make…
A Response to “A Few Of The Worst Arminian Arguments”
This article came from JC_Freak: The Irish Protestant. The original post can be found here. Richard Bushey has produced another article about Arminianism, and I felt that as a friend I should give it…
Rich Davis, “Clary’s 10 Concerns”
In my “The ‘C’ in Calvinism?” (reproduced here), I set out three difficulties for Calvinistic choice. In his “Calvinism and Choice,” historical theologian Ian Clary lists ten points at which my thinking is in need…
Steve Sewell, “Does Compatibilism Make Sense?”
My definition of “Compatibilism” : A desperate attempt by Calvinists to exonerate God of evil doing. Calvinists believe that God has predetermined all things, that all things happen in the world — including all sin…
The Practical Implications of Free Will
In the follow-up post to “A Beginner’s Guide to ‘Free Will’,” entitled “Six Practical Reasons ‘Free Will’ Matters,” John Piper expounds upon the practicality of Free Will. After all, he states, “It is a great…
A Beginner’s Guide to Free Will
Free Will regards the ability to make choices — choices that were not necessitated and brought into reality by a proactive and eternal decree of God — choices that lead to belief systems resulting in…
Steve Sewell, “Why the Draw to Calvinism?”
I find it strange for a Christian to be drawn to Calvinism — an anomaly, really. I don’t believe that Calvinistic theology is in harmony with who we are as followers of Christ. Christians are…
Perhaps Compatibilistic Calvinism is the Answer … Perhaps Not
Relatively recently, Arminian scholar Jerry Walls has engaged Calvinist responses to his 2011 article, “Why No Classical Theist, Let Alone Orthodox Christian, Should Ever Be a Compatibilist.” Steve Hays, of Triablogue, attempts to undermine the…
Calvinism and the Knowledge of God
In this brief post I intend to engage a thought experiment I had when I suggested that God, in Calvinism, cannot foreknow the future; hence that is why God, in Calvinism, must decree or foreordain…
In Calvinism, God Is the Problem of Evil
John Piper argues that, when kings are “in their God-appointed place, with or without Satan’s agency, they are in the sway of God’s sovereign will.”1 He quotes Daniel 2:20-21; 4:17, and Proverbs 21:1, failing to…
Jerry L. Walls, “Pharaoh’s Magicians Foiled Again: Reply to Cowan and Welty”
Please click on the link to view Jerry L. Walls, “Pharaoh’s Magicians Foiled Again: Reply to Cowan and Welty,” Philosophia Christi Vol. 17, No. 2 (2015) 411-26. Here is the author’s abstract: In this paper, I respond to…
Kevin Timpe, “Truth-making and Divine Eternity” (A Defense of the Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Libertarian Human Freedom)
Please click on the link to view Kevin Timpe, “Truth-making and Divine Eternity,” Religious Studies 43 (2007) 299–315. Here is the author’s abstract of the article: According to a widespread tradition in philosophical theology, God is necessarily…
