Is it wrong to preach on perseverance? This seems like a logical question to ask if you come from a Calvinist perspective. For many Calvinists, it would not be wrong to preach on perseverance and…
Warning Passages
Craig Keener, “Once-Saved-Always-Saved? Maybe not”
Please click on the link to view Craig Keener, “Once-Saved-Always-Saved? Maybe not.”
Arminius vs. Perkins: Arminius’ Finger on the Pulse of Perseverance
I think Arminian scholars Keith Stanglin and Thomas McCall are correct in suggesting that “most scholars agree that Arminius taught that true believers can fall away.”1 The authors acknowledge that, for some readers, Arminius himself…
J. Matthew Pinson, “Daniel Whitby on the Warning Passages in Hebrews”
Recently I was reading an old book from Daniel Whitby entitled A Discourse Concerning the True Import of the Words Election and Reprobation (1710). Whitby was a well-known Anglican Arminian in the late seventeenth and…
The FACTS of Salvation: A Summary of Arminian Theology/the Biblical Doctrines of Grace
The FACTS of Salvation: A Summary of Arminian Theology/the Biblical Doctrines of Grace By Brian Abasciano (For a pdf file of the present article, see here.) The distinctive tenets of Arminian theology may…
Brian Abasciano, “Outline of Approaches to the Warning Passages in Hebrews”
Approaches to the Warning Passages in Hebrews by Brian Abasciano [The pdf attachment has better formatting and can be accessed here.] The heavy emphasis in Hebrews on exhortation to persevere in faith in Christ and warning…
The Contradiction Between “Perseverance of the Saints” and the Scriptural Warnings Against Apostasy
I’ve written plenty on this topic before, this is what I consider the strongest argument against inevitable perseverance/eternal security in a nutshell: The primary purpose of a warning is to provide incentive to avoid its…
Friday Files: Marshall “The Problem of Apostasy in New Testament Theology”
I. Howard Marshall’s article “The Problem of Apostasy in New Testament Theology” was part of a symposium in honor of Dale Moody and serves as an epilogue to Marshall’s book Kept by the Power of…
J.C. Thibodaux, “The Calvinist Mitigation of the Divine Warnings Given to the Saints”
Central to the debate over inevitable perseverance are the the numerous warnings in scripture cautioning the saints against falling away. A prominent explanation offered as to why the scriptures would say such things, if falling away is not truly possible for a believer, is that God uses such warnings as a means to spur Christians on to perseverance. Despite these efforts, the scriptural warnings addressed to genuine believers, some of which pronounce eternal destruction for violating certain commandments of God, constitute an airtight argument against the Calvinist teaching of inevitable perseverance of the saints, in that teaching that what the scriptures warn against could not truly occur strips the divine warnings of all relevance, making them of no effect.
Robert Shank on Calvinist Pastors and the Warning Passages of Scripture
In 1960 Robert Shank published a book called Life in the Son. This book was written to refute the teaching of eternal security. At the time of it’s publication Robert Shank was a Southern Baptist minister. The book caused no little stir among the Southern Baptists and it led to the author eventually leaving the Southern Baptist denomination and joining the Churches of Christ. In this book Shank writes about the way Calvinist Pastors preach and teach the warning passages in Scripture. Though a bit polemical, I found it expresses well the way Arminians view the Calvinist understanding of the warning passages. Following the quote by Shank I will give an example of what he’s talking about from popular Calvinist Pastor John Piper. Shank writes,
“Completely absurd is the assumption that men are to be sincerely persuaded that apostasy is impossible and, at the same time, sincerely alarmed by the warnings…
Friday Files: McKnight on the Hebrew Warning Passages
Scot McKnight’s article “The warning passages of Hebrews: A formal analysis and Theological Conclusions” reviews the warnings of apostasy in Hebrews 2:1-4, 3:7-4:13, 5:11-6:12, 10:19-39 and 12:1-29. McKnight identifies four alternative interpretations of the warning…
Jim Leonard, “Eternal Security and Exegetical Overview of Hebrews”
This article derives from: http://jmleonardfamily.googlepages.com/eternalsecurityandexegeticaloverviewofhe2 and may be viewed there (where the formatting is better) or by clicking on the pdf attachment: Leonard. Eternal Security and Exegetical Overview of Hebrews.
Recent Posts
A Letter to Dr. R. C. Sproul Sr. by John Wagner
The Friday Files
Remonstrance Episode #9: Ten Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Arminianism
Does an Arminian Understanding of Grace Lead to a More Missional Worldview?
