Depravity
Arminius vs. Calvin on Total Depravity
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 10:40amTotal Depravity teaches that every single human being has been affected by the fall. Every part of a person has been affected; hence, total depravity. This has never meant that people are as bad as they could be. This doctrine insists that no one can do anything meritorious for salvation, nor be good enough for salvation. Not only do people not keep God's law perfectly, but they are also unable to do so (Rom. 8:7).
The doctrine of Total Depravity is also known as Total Inability. The apostle Paul writes: "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:14 NIV). Thus people cannot understand spiritual truths, i.e. the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10) without the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
"Thoughts on Original Sin" by Robert Hamilton
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Thoughts on Original Sin
Bob Hamilton, Copyright 2000
Introduction.
The traditional view of "original sin" includes two related ideas:
Exegeting Romans 3:10-18
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Mon, 04/12/2010 - 7:06amHowever, and this is the crucial point for what Paul will write at Romans 3:10-18, the Jewish people had no eternal or salvific advantage over Gentiles. The Jews' elect status was not one of unconditional election unto faith and salvation.
Conflating Arminianism and Secularism
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Tue, 03/30/2010 - 6:44amCalvinist Southern Baptist pastor Mark E. Dever, having reviewed Richard A. Muller's 1991 book, God, Creation, and Providence in the Thought of Jacob Arminius, notes, in his concluding remarks:
- Personally, as a pastor with Reformed [he means Calvinist] convictions, I found this book to be a telling intellectual journey, suggestive of the unwitting capitulations [surrendering] made by our Arminian brothers and sisters to secularism itself. At the end of the day, in a consistent Arminianism, the understanding of God and of humanity must be seen to be "rational" by the world around. Therefore I fear that their notions of God and of humanity can rise no further than the surrounding unbelieving culture. As an evangelical pastor in postmodern America, this is my fear. I pray that I am wrong.
Kenneth Keathley and the Doctrine of Overcoming Grace
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 6:40amKenneth D. Keathley, Professor of Theology and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, has completed his latest book, Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach, published by B&H Academic. Today's post will interact with his chapter on Overcoming Grace (pp. 101-37).
From the back cover of the book, one reads the following: "Salvation and Sovereignty begins with author Kenneth Keathley asking, 'What shall a Christian do who is convinced of certain central tenets of Calvinism but not its corollaries [conclusions]?' Like many, he suspects the usual Calvinist understanding of sovereignty (that God is the cause of all things) is not sustained by the biblical witness as a whole."
Some Excellent and Concise Comments on Free Will, the Bondage of Sin, and Prevenient Grace
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 8:20amOverall, the following comments by F. Leroy Forlines are an excellent representation of the Arminian viewpoint:
“Freedom of will is a freedom within a framework of possibilities. It is not absolute freedom. Man cannot be God. He cannot be an angel. The freedom of a human being is in the framework of the possibilities provided by human nature. Also, influences brought to bear on the will have a bearing on the framework of possibilities.
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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Mission Possible: A Response to Shai Linne
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 7:48amThe following is an edited response to Shai Linne's Limited Atonement rap
song, "Mission Accomplished." The original version was posted by "Murray" in the comments at the Gadgetry, Thoughts, Unleashed! blog. What is in brackets has been re-written or re-worded for this posting on SEA.
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Well excuse me Mr. Linne, but I think you’re confused.
And there are one or two verses which you have misused.
It’s true – God only saves the group He’s elected.
But that doesn’t mean we’re born preselected.
The "children of promise" He’s chosen to save;
All who seek God through works remain in the grave.
And God truly desires all men to believe;
His words in The Book weren’t meant to deceive.
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And the elect themselves were just like all others,
Once children of wrath, just like their brothers.
So even if His death was selective,
Al Jolson vs. Toby Mac Theology
Submitted by SEA on Mon, 12/14/2009 - 8:40am1) 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
