Part 4: Returning the Favor (Reversing the Argument) Patton: To the Calvinists, man is fully responsible for his choice, yet God’s election is unconditional. This creates a problem. It creates great tension. I agree that…
Henshaw. Ben
An Arminian Response to C. Michael Patton’s “The Irrationality of Calvinism” Part 3: False Assumptions and Question Begging
Part 3: False Assumptions and Question Begging
Patton: Therefore, [according to Arminianism] God’s predestination of people is “fair” and makes sense. After all, there are too many questions left unanswered when one says that God chooses who will be saved and who will not. Why did he choose some and not others? Did God make people to go to hell? Is God fair? “Why does he still find fault, for who resists his will?”
The Arminian chooses this position because, for them, it is the only way to reconcile human freedom and God’s election.
Here is where Mr. Patton really missteps.
An Arminian Response to C. Michael Patton’s “The Irrationality of Calvinism” Part 2: Theological Imprecision and Misrepresentations
Part 2: Theological Imprecision and Misrepresentations
Patton: However, I think we need take a step back and see that while the shoe fits when it comes to some particular issues in Calvinism these accusations are far from forming the bedrock of the primary issues in Calvinism. You see, one of the many reasons I am a Calvinist has to do with the tension that is allowed within the Calvinistic system that is not allowed in other systems.
The central core of Calvinism primarily centers on one doctrine: predestination. While the sovereignty of God has its place, it does not ultimately determine where one lands.
This is highly debatable among Calvinists. This may be Mr. Patton’s opinion, but I think that he is probably in the minority.
An Arminian Response to C. Michael Patton’s “The Irrationality of Calvinism” Part 1: The Set Up
C.Michael Patton is the President of Credo House. He has now written two separate and similar posts defending the “irrationality” of Calvinism as actually being a strength of the system, specifically over and above Arminianism.…
How Can God’s Glory be “Diminished” in Calvinism?
Calvinist John Mac Arthur in his article, Why Every Calvinist Should be a PreMillennialist, writes: It is impossible to fully understand biblical teaching about the end times apart from understanding the future of Israel, the…
Corporate Election Quotes
The following is a series of important excerpts from some of the best scholarly works espousing the corporate view of election. Taken together, these quoted sections give a very detailed description of the fundamental elements…
Dr. Brian Abasciano on the Conditionality Implied in Romans 9:16 and its Connection to John 1:12-13
By Ben Henshaw. From http://arminianperspectives.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/dr-brian-abasciano-on-the-conditionality-implied-in-romans-916-and-its-connection-to-john-112-13/, the original post, where comments can be made. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” Romans 9:16 (ESV) “But to all…
Does Jesus Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in John 6:37-65?
John 6:37, 44, 65 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out…No one can come to Me unless the Father…
Does Paul Teach That the Gift of Salvation is Unconditionally Irrevocable in Romans 11:29?
Romans 6:23; 11:29 For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord….For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Many see…
Does “Eternal Life” in Passages like John 3:16 Imply That Apostasy is Impossible?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Some emphasize the fact that eternal life…
Does Paul Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in Romans 8:35-39?
Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For you sake we face death…
Does Jesus Teach Unconditional Eternal Security in John 10:27-29?
Having examined the primary passages that teach apostasy we now examine the passages that the advocates of unconditional eternal security believe clearly support their doctrine: John 10:27-29 My sheep listen to my voice; I know…
Does 1 John 2:18-19 Support the Calvinist “Never Saved to Begin With” View of Apostasy?
1 John 2:18-19
Little children, it is the last hour and as you have heard that the Anti-Christ is coming, even now many anti-christs have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be manifest, that none of them were of us.
Debunking the False Faith View of the Hebrews Warning Passages
Below are some comments I made long ago in my perseverance series against the idea that the writer of Hebrews is addressing his warnings of falling away to those whose faith is not genuine, or…
Calvinist Prayer (and many other things) Explained
Application 2: God ordains means as well as ends. God is the Author. This is his story. We are his characters. Therefore, Be a faithful character in God’s story.* Taken from a sermon by Joe…
John Piper on God Ordaining All Sin and Evil Part 1: An Arminian Response to Piper’s First “Question”
John Piper preached a sermon on God’s sovereign control over all things. In this sermon, Piper highly praises the works of Jonathan Edwards and relies heavily on his accounting of sovereignty to explain how God…
1 Corinthians 15 and the Claims of Calvinism
Calvinism as a system claims that God reprobated a large segment of mankind so that they can never be saved. [1] It further claims that the atonement is for this reason limited only to the…
Provisional Atonement Part 1: Dealing With John Owen’s Arminian Dilemma
I lifted this from Jeff Paton’s website. He gives an answer based on his commitment to the “sacrificial” view of the atonement, which allows him to bypass the force of Owen’s argument. As I have…
Does Scripture Describe Two Types of Apostasy?
In my series on perseverance I dealt with the warning passages in Hebrews. I have changed my views on certain aspects of apostasy while studying the subject. However, my view that apostasy from true saving…
Does Erwin Lutzer Offer False Hope to Calvinist Parents?
I hope to do a few posts on Erwin Lutzer’s [1] book, The Doctrines That Divide: A Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians. One might expect that such a book would look…