Grace

Calvinist Scholar Finds: "The Remonstrants Clearly Were Not Pelagians"

Submitted by SEA on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 8:57am

“The Remonstrants clearly were not Pelagians.”

You would think that such a statement comes from the lips or pen of an Arminian scholar or pastor, but it originally came from Reformed Baptist scholar Mark A. Ellis, who had even pastored a Reformed Baptist church. This quote appears in Ellis' introduction to his landmark scholarly translation of The Arminian Confession of 1621 (Mark A. Ellis [trans. and ed.], The Arminian Confession of 1621 [Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2005]). We are excited to be able to make this introduction available.* Click on this link to read the story behind this historically significant document.

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Glen Shellrude, “The Freedom of God in Mercy and Judgment: A Libertarian Reading of Romans 9:6-29”

Please click on the attachment to view Glen Shellrude, “The Freedom of God in Mercy and Judgment: A Libertarian Reading of Romans 9:6-29”, Evangelical Quarterly 81.4 (2009), 306–318.

Here is the author's abstract:

Romans 9:6-26 is commonly interpreted to mean that Jewish unbelief and Gentile
responsiveness to the Gospel was something ordained or predestined by
God. This article identifies elements in the whole context of 9 – 11 which call this
approach in question. It then proposes that Paul’s intent is to rebut the claim
that God was under obligation to ensure that Israel recognize the time of fulfillment.
Paul argues that God: 1. is free to define his people on the basis of who
responds to his gracious initiative; 2. is free to respond to Israel’s unbelief with
a judgment of hardening rather than turning up the heat of irresistible grace; 3.
is free to use the occasion of a hardened Israel for a broader proclamation of the

Al Jolson vs. Toby Mac Theology

Submitted by SEA on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 8:40am

1) Calvinist theology found in the opening lyrics to a famous song by Al Jolson:

YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU

You made me love you
I didn't want to do it
I didn't want to do it
You made me want you
And all the time you knew it
I guess you always knew it

You made me happy sometimes
Sometimes you made me glad
But there were times, dear
You made me feel so bad

2) Better theology by Toby Mac:

I WAS MADE TO LOVE YOU (chorus)

That I was made to love You
I was made to find You
I was made just for You
Made to adore You
I was made to love and be loved by You
You were here before me
You were waiting on me
And You said You’d keep me never would You leave me
I was made to love
And be loved by You

John Goodwin, Redemption Redeemed

Now available here online, John Goodwin's Redemption Redeemed may be the best defense of Arminianism ever written. Published in 1651 by the Arminian Puritan John Goodwin (1593-1665), it is written in seventeenth century English with a Puritan writing style, which can make for challenging reading. But it contains tremendous biblical exegesis. The patient reader will be rewarded with a powerful, classic, comprehensive, biblical defense of five point Reformation Arminian theology.

The book runs 740 pages and is made available here in eight file attachments. There is a table of contents along with the first part of the body of the book in the first file. Besides the last part of the body of the book, the final file also contains a Scripture index, a subject index, and a table of general rules for interpreting Scripture. The material is arranged like so:

File 1: Preliminary matter through page 78
File 2: Pages 79-173
File 3: Pages 174-268
File 4: Pages 269-363

Resistible vs. Irresistible Grace: The Key Issue

Submitted by Godismyjudge on Mon, 09/28/2009 - 9:45am

The topic of resistible vs. irresistible grace is of vital importance. In my experience, the Calvinist's biggest objection to Arminianism is that it is a man-centered theology and gives man a reason to boast. In contrast, they view Calvinism as the "doctrines of grace". But what's the key issue?

The key issue is not:

Does God fail if we Resist?

Submitted by Godismyjudge on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 8:31am

Hodge’s first argument¹ against resistible grace is:

P1: God, being infinite, cannot fail in any of His “serious intentions”
P2: God ordains all things according to His purpose
P3: If God wants His grace to convert us, and we resist and stay unconverted, God fails
C1: so grace is irresistible

Response
P1 & P2 are true but equivocal. P3 is false, so the conclusion does not follow.

The Difference Maker

Submitted by Godismyjudge on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 6:39am

Hodges' Argument
Hodge argues that unless grace is resistible, the ultimate reason some believe and not others is found in us and not in God. Hodge says this would make believers better, more impressible or less obstinate than others.¹

Problem Non-Unique

Personally, I find this one of the most powerful Calvinistic arguments. The idea that I can take credit for my salvation is intolerable, as is the idea that I am better than someone else. But the Calvinistic solution is no solution, and it creates more problems than it resolves.

Let’s take the argument that believers can take credit for their faith. But Calvinists also say that people believe. Therefore Calvinism entails that people can take credit for their faith.

The Equivocation of Regeneration

Submitted by Godismyjudge on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 6:04am

In the order of salvation, which comes first, faith or regeneration? Before we can answer that, don't we first need to understand what regeneration is? In this post I plan on contrasting Hodge's view with that of Arminius. Hopefully, in the process we can clarify the issue of monergism vs. synergism.

Hodge’s Order of Salvation

Which Comes First, Faith or Regeneration?

Submitted by Godismyjudge on Tue, 09/08/2009 - 9:45am

Although I argued that “what” regeneration is is more important than “when” regeneration happens, we do still need to touch on the question of the timing of regeneration. These passages show that regeneration comes after faith. (Ephesians 1:13, John 1:12-13, Romans 5:18, John 5:24-28, Romans 6:2-6, Galatians 3:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

By grace we are:

The Failure of God?

Submitted by SEA on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 8:59am

The following post is comprised of comments submitted to our website by sirhemlock@yahoo.com, slightly revised with the author's permission.

Insofar as such infamous "failed God" arguments clearly assume the doctrine of irresistible grace (grace=force/deterministic salvation) as the very thing which God "fails to achieve," such arguments are entirely circular if they are intended as a counter to non-Calvinist theological systems.

If God fails to save some deterministically, this would not entail that God is therefore palsied or impotent, but rather that He is neither a Calvinist nor a determinist.

Society of Evangelical Arminians