Providence
Does God repent? - Bible Answer Man clarifies
Submitted by drwayman on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 9:38amThe classic King James Version of the Bible says, “It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:6). Elsewhere, God says, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments” (1 Samuel 15:11). If God is perfect, how could he repent?
First, the Bible unequivocally teaches that God is perfectly good and thus incapable of doing evil (Psalm 5:4–5; James 1:13; 3 John 1:11). As such, God’s repentance must not be understood as entailing moral guilt. Indeed, the moral perfection of the Creator sets him apart from his sin–tainted creation (Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15–16).
Appalling Examples of Evil that Imply the Incoherence of Calvinism # 3: The Satanic Power of Pornography
Submitted by SEA on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 7:35amHere is a quote from Calvinist Al Mohler provided by Calvinist Justin Taylor on "The Satanic Power of Porn"(http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/01/23/the-satanic-...).
- Russell Moore (http://www.russellmoore.com/2012/01/23/should-i-marry-a-man-with-pornogr...):
Pornography is a universal temptation precisely because it does exactly what the satanic powers wish to do. It lashes out at the Trinitarian nature of reality, a loving communion of persons, replacing it with a masturbatory Unitarianism.
And pornography strikes out against the picture of Christ and his church by disrupting the one-flesh union, leaving couples like our prehistoric ancestors, hiding from one another and from God in the darkness of shame.
And pornography rages, as Satan always does, against Incarnation (1 Jn. 4:2-3), replacing flesh-to-flesh intimacy with the illusion of fleshless intimacy.
Scot McKnight, Roger Olson on The Five Conundrums of Calvinism
Submitted by SEA on Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:38amFollow the link to view Scot McKnight's description of Roger Olson on "The Five Conundrums of Calvinism" (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/26/the-five-conundrums-o...)
Another Appalling Example of Evil that Implies the Incoherence of Calvinism
Submitted by SEA on Mon, 01/23/2012 - 3:49pmHere is another post from Calvinist leader Justin Taylor that leaves one baffled at how Calvinists can hold to exhaustive determinism: 'The 200 Million “Missing” Girls':
- A new documentary, "It’s a Girl! The Three Deadliest Words in the World," explores the systematic gendercide taking place in India, China, and other areas of South Asia.
Ram Mushru of The Independent, reviewing the film, writes: “The trailer’s most chilling scene is one with an Indian woman who, unable to contain her laughter, confesses to having killed eight infant daughters.”
A Milestone in Calvinist Discipleship
Submitted by SEA on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 2:41pm[Humor]
See the attachment for a little theological humor with this added title:
“Finally, the big day came in Kermit’s Calvinist discipleship program, a monumental step in avoiding the pitfalls of frog centered theology."
The Fallenness of Man, the Will and the Workings of Grace: An Exposition on Historical Arminian Theological Thought
This exposition discusses the earliest, historical beliefs of the Arminian theological tradition regarding the effects of the fall upon man, the nature of the will of man and the mode of grace in salvation. The primary source writings of the earliest and most influential Arminian writers such as Jacobus Arminius, Simon Episcopius and John Wesley were examined in light of both Arminian and non-Arminian secondary source material and thus exposited according that general understanding.
Several points of interest were found, including:
Calvinism and the Evil of Kim Jong-Il
Submitted by SEA on Thu, 12/22/2011 - 10:20amAfter the passing of Kim Jong-Il (our font makes it look like "Jong the Second," but it is really the capital letter i followed by the lowercase letter L), Justin Taylor did a brief post highlighting how diabolical he was:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/12/19/inside-kim-j...
It is simply baffling that Calvinists can decry the diabolical, heinous actions of Kim Jong-Il (and others like him), and yet they hold that God first conceived in his own divine heart every one of the man’s wicked actions, thought them up without any influence outside of himself, and unconditionally and irresistibly decreed them without any influence outside of himself, resulting in the man doing them all without any chance, power, or ability to do anything else. It’s madness I tell you! Madness!!
Book Review: Providence and the Problem of Evil by Richard Swinburne
Submitted by SEA on Mon, 11/28/2011 - 7:36amPlease follow the link to view J.W. Wartick's review of Richard Swinburne's Providence and the Problem of Evil at the "Apologetics 315" website: http://www.apologetics315.com/2011/11/book-review-providence-and-problem....
Please note that the comments on the review reveal that the author mistakenly stated that Swinburne rejects the doctrine of original sin, when he actually rejects the doctrine of original guilt. SEA affirms the doctrine of original sin, and allows for differences on the issue of original guilt. For information about Arminian thinking on original sin, see Roger Olson's post here on SEA entitled, "Arminian Teaching Regarding Original Sin" (http://evangelicalarminians.org/olson.Arminian-Teaching-Regarding-Origin...). It is also worth noting that Swinburne is an open theist, a position rejected by SEA.
Scot McKnight, "For and Against Calvinism 3"
Submitted by SEA on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 8:16amFollow the link to view part 3 of distinguished NT scholar Scot McKnight's review of the books For Calvinism (by Michael Horton) and Against Calvinism (by Roger Olson): "For and Against Calvinism 3".
Do Calvinists Seek the Specific Will of God?
Submitted by SEA on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 6:43pmThis was a comment made by Rebekah Reinagel in regards to the nature of prayer within the Calvinist system. She gave us permission to publish it here.
Calvinists pray, even though they "know" that God has everything decreed in advance. But here's what I was wondering about: Do Calvinists seek the specific will of God?
And what I mean by that is that Arminians, in addition to following God's moral law (i.e. Do not murder), also seek God's will in specific situations in which it isn't clear which way to go. For example, praying about whether to take a job or not. This presumes that God knows which is the better option, and it is an attempt to seek His will in the matter.
