History
Calvinist doctrine leads to the conclusion that there is no sin in the world
Submitted by drwayman on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 8:26amThomas Taylor (1738-1816) writes, in his seminal work, “A Solemn Caution Against the Ten Horns of Calvinism" (1819):
“There is no such thing as sin in the world. Everything is just going on as he would have it to be; all are acting in the department of life which is appointed. Therefore, go, ye jolly drunkards, and jovial song-singers; proceed, ye numerous tribes of profane swearers and Sabbath-breakers; curse on, ye horrid blasphemers and swarms of liars; ye murderers, plunderers unclean profligates, ye are all doing the will of God, answering the great ends for which you were made.”
Taylor continues:
The Westminster Confession of Faith: Handwaving
Submitted by drwayman on Fri, 01/27/2012 - 8:50amRandolph Sinks Foster, in his book, Objections to Calvinism (1852) writes:
[The Confession of Faith states,] "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; [and now your disclaimer,] yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature."
But this disclaimer [God is not the author of sin] by no means relieves my embarrassment -- it greatly increases it, by placing you [Calvinist brother] in the attitude, to my mind, of believing a palpable contradiction, namely, that God did cause all things, sin included, yet in such a way that he did not cause sin.”
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:
Vic Reasoner with James O. Jones, Jr., Review of F. Leroy Forlines, Classical Arminianism
[The following article was taken from http://fwponline.cc/v29n2/review-Classical-Arm_Reasoner-Jones.html and may also be accessed in the attachment.]
F. Leroy Forlines, Classical Arminianism . Nashville: Randall House, 2011. 379 pages ISBN: 9780892656073
Dr. Vic Reasoner with James O. Jones, Jr.
THE ARMINIAN MAGAZINE. Issue 2. Fall 2011. Volume 29.
In 2001 Forlines wrote The Quest for Truth, which was a readable systematic theology written at a popular level. Classical Arminianism has omitted his discussion on such topics as revelation, inspiration, the nature and attributes of God, the Trinity, creation, and the Incarnation to focus on the Calvinistic-Arminian controversy.
A Brief Introduction to Charles Wesley
Submitted by SEA on Mon, 12/05/2011 - 8:00amA brief video introduction to the great Arminian church leader and hymn writer Charles Wesley, brother of John:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xv1l8q3PjM0&nored...
HT: Justin Taylor
CALVINIST RHETORIC: Idealistic Abstractions
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Fri, 11/18/2011 - 11:21amOr “Plato: Imagination Taking Shape”*
What I Mean by Idealistic Abstractions
To be abstract means to be “thought of apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances.” To put it more simply (at least for our purposes), something which is abstract is something which is not defined by our five senses. For instance, love, peace, faith, grace, sovereignty, etc. As we can see from the examples, abstraction is quite important for Christianity. Indeed, it is quite important for life, since most subjects deal with abstractions, including science, politics, and even sports.
Back to the Fathers: A Christianity Today Interview with Thomas Oden
Submitted by SEA on Tue, 11/01/2011 - 1:17pmPlease follow the link to view an interview with distinguished Arminian scholar, Thomas Oden: “Back to the Fathers: A Christianity Today Interview with Thomas Oden”.
(Article by-line: "Every turn in Thomas Oden's theology took him further left, until he came face to face with Augustine and Wesley.")
The Synod of Dort vs. Arminius and the Remonstrants
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Fri, 10/21/2011 - 5:51amNearly a decade after the death of Arminius, the States General hold a synod (council or assembly), wherein religious and state officials from various regions accuse the Arminians of heresy and expel them from both pulpit ministry and teaching theology in Holland (read "Dutch Calvinists against Religious Freedom: Synod of Dort"). The result of the Synod of Dort comes to us in the Canons of Dort. ("Canons" refer to a Rule of Decrees or Judgments.) Therein are statements of affirmation and denial of various subjects, both theological and soteriological (i.e., doctrine of salvation).
The Liberalism Straw Man of Young, Restless Reformers
Submitted by A.M. Mallett on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 9:28amAs Arminians, we often have to deal with a number of scurrilous charges and various innuendos inflicted upon our faith by an assortment of polemicists, predominantly at the hand of the young, restless, Reformed variety and their elder teachers. Whether it is a straw man of “free willism,” salvation by works, or open theism and a host of other unsupportable accusations, each is brought to nothing by the revelation of plain, simple truth. Truth will always bring to naught any straw man fabricated for divisive purposes. I came across another bale of straw dressed up as knowledge today. The following quote was offered to buttress another’s doctrine of mush and as always, truth will grind it to chaff.
"We are living in a day in which practically all of the historic
churches are being attacked from within by unbelief. Many
of them have already succumbed. And most invariably the
line of descent has been from Calvinism to Arminianism,
Dutch Calvinists against Religious Freedom: Synod of Dort
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 11:03amArminius and the Remonstrants fight tenaciously for religious freedom in Dutch society (link), but early seventeenth-century Calvinists are adamantly opposed to any semblance of theological toleration -- not to mention freedom -- other than their own. This is an uncontested historical fact.1 Granted, Arminius considers Anabaptist ecclesiology, and especially Anabaptist beliefs on believer's baptism -- to be heretical, meaning that he is not willing to tolerate such beliefs in the Reformed churches.
