Posts By SEA

New Book Announcement: Arminius Speaks: Essential Writings on Predestination, Free Will, and the Nature of God

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We are happy to announce the publication of Arminius Speaks: Essential Writings on Predestination, Free Will, and the Nature of God, edited by SEA member John D. Wagner and dedicated to SEA.

Here is a book description and some endorsements (for an attractive flier with a picture of the book on it and information on the publisher, see the attachment to this post; the book can be purchased at a discount through the publisher’s website [less expensive than listed on the flier]):

James Arminius is one of the most maligned and misunderstood theologians in
church history. In an era of major debate over predestination, free will, and
related concepts, Arminius was accused of being Pelagian, Semi-Pelagian, or a
heretic of all sorts. This is a trend that started in his time and has continued
to this day.

The truth is that he was a brilliant theologian who shook the foundations of
Calvinism to the core. Yet he was quite orthodox in his thinking, as he had

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Laurence Womock, The Calvinists Cabinet Unlock’d

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Laurence Womock, The Calvinists Cabinet Unlock’d is a major anti-Calvinistic work written by Laurence Womock, a 17th century English Puritan Arminian bishop and theologian, published in 1659. Book length is 634 pages. The full title…

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Paul Copan, “Divine Exasperation”

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Please click on the link to view Paul Copan, “Divine Exasperation”, which surveys biblical passages that express God’s exasperation with sinful, human resistance to his grace, revealing “God’s legitimate expectation of spiritual fruitfulness, repentance, or obedience.…

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Brian P. Irwin, “Yahweh’s Suspension of Free Will in the Old Testament: Divine Immorality or Sign-Act?”

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Please click on the attachment to view Brian P. Irwin, “Yahweh’s Suspension of Free Will in the Old Testament: Divine Immorality or Sign-Act?” Tyndale Bulletin 54.2 (2003) 55-62.

The author’s summary:

Several passages in the Old Testament portray Yahweh as behaving in
ways that seem unfair or immoral. Two such narratives are the
episodes describing the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and the spirit
dispatched to deceive Ahab. In each of these two cases, careful
attention to the literary context and the final form of the MT shows that
Yahweh’s behaviour is best understood as a sign-act directed toward a
specific end.

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Jerry Walls, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH CALVINISM?”

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Taken from http://www.catalystresources.org/issues/351Walls.htm

WHAT IS WRONG WITH CALVINISM?

One of the most longstanding debates in the history of theology concerns the relationship between predestination and human freedom. On one side of this dispute, the most famous name is John Calvin, and on the other the most noted name is probably John Wesley. Although Wesley was primarily concerned with evangelism and church renewal, the very nature of his work required him to take positions on certain controversial issues. Perhaps the most significant of these involved his disputes with Calvinism; indeed, his work on these issues represents one of his most important contributions to historical theology.

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Jack Cottrell on “Whether God Has Free Will If He Can’t Sin And What This Means For Human Free Will”

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Taken from http://arminiantoday.blogspot.com/2010/06/jack-cottrell-on-free-will.html

QUESTION: Many (usually Arminians) argue that without free will in a significant (libertarian) sense, i.e., the ability to choose between good and evil, human actions would not be worthy of praise or blame. Thus in order to preserve moral responsibility, human beings must have free will in the libertarian sense—the freedom of opposite moral choice. But is this consistent with the freedom of God Himself, whom we assume to be the ultimate model for freedom? The following are said to be true of God:

1. God is surely the freest being in the universe. He is free to do whatever he pleases (Psalm 115:3), and all his choices are surely praiseworthy.

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Another Chilling Calvinist Quote

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The sovereign God “decides who will believe and undeservingly be saved and who will rebel and deservingly perish.” —John Piper, “How God Makes Known the Riches of His Glory to the Vessels of Mercy,” sermon…

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Don’t Be a Jerk

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We would do well to apply the message of the cartoon in the attachment to the Arminian/Calvinist debate (see the attachment). The debate is very important, ultimately having to do with the character of God.…

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Retraction Concerning Some Improperly Used Quotes of Calvin

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We recently ran a blog post entitled “Some Chilling Quotes of John Calvin” (http://evangelicalarminians.org/SEA.march-2010.some-chilling-quotes-of-John-Calvin) that used two of three quotes improperly, and we apologize for the error. Someone alerted us to a response he put together (www.corkfpc.com/chill.html) demonstrating that, out of context, one of the quotes gave the wrong impression of Calvin’s meaning, and that another quote was actually Calvin quoting an opponent’s characterization of Calvin’s view for the purpose of denying that to be his view. However, the SEA member who provided the quotes to us has written a response explaining that he did not intend to quote improperly and detailing why the quotes remain chilling in light of Calvin’s theology and other things he said: http://examiningcalvinism.blogspot.com/2010/03/clarification-on-chilling-quotes.html. There was no problem with use of the third quote from that post; it remains chilling without qualification.

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Ironside on Calvinism

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Taken from: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/8145 Ironside on Calvinism “Turn to your Bible and read for yourself in the only two chapters in which this word predestinate or predestinated is found. The first is Romans 8:29-30, the other…

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Do Calvinists Read the Same Bible?

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Here is an exchange that took place in our private discussion group (edited a bit): One SEA member said: I read the following during my daily reading time today. FIRST: David was being pursued by…

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