Author/Scholar Index: Arminian

Calvinism and Consistency

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Admittedly, no systematic theology is perfect. That takes a load of pressure off of every sincere Bible student. Not one of us will ever have all of his or her doctrines correct. C. I. Scofield wrote that there will always exist a measure of false teaching in true, orthodox Christianity, due to our fallen nature and our design as finite creatures.

I was once convinced that Calvinism was right because people showed me a lot of proof texts to propagate this theology. I had read Chosen by God by R. C. Sproul and concluded that he, too, was correct. How could I have missed out on this teaching for so long? I will never forget what affect Sproul’s book had on my heart. How could God have chosen me and not others? Moreover, why would God have chosen me and not others?

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The God Who Blinds?

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The Bible Tools, “Sabbath-keeping, non-Trinitarian” post I was viewing read, “God Himself has kept Israel from seeing and hearing (understanding and applying) His truth, giving Israel a spirit of slumber to make possible the salvation…

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Arminian Perspectives on the Providence of God

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Arminius wrote, “Not only does the very nature of God and of things themselves, but likewise the Scriptures and experience do evidently show that Providence belongs to God. But Providence denotes some property of God, not a quality, or . . . a capability, or a habit; but it is an act which is not ad intra nor internal, but which is ad extra and external; and which is about an object . . . different from God, and that is not united to Him from all eternity in His understanding, but as separate and really existing.”1

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Free Will and the Why of Creation

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Free Will and the Why of Creation

I am not a big fan of arguing for free will. In general, I think it is a given for the moral character of humanity. Even Calvinists postulate some degree of freedom through the concept of secondary agency to present some kind of intelligible concept of morality. So generally, we are debating what everyone seems to really accept when we look at it rationally. But a conversation prompted me to post the following.

An acquaintance was listening to a Youtube presentation by a popular Calvinist concerning God’s knowledge of the future and its relationship to sin and free will. The Calvinist posed the common question posed by many Calvinists, which I have paraphrased below.

    If, as Arminians believe, God infallibly knew exactly what was going to happen when he created, and knew that sin would occur as a result of his creation, then why did he create in the first place?

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The House Fire

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The House Fire (Arminian version): Once upon a time there was a house on fire. Inside were three children. The dad was outside, and went in to rescue his children. He helped one child get…

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Mystery

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The biblical concept of mystery is simple. Mystery is an aspect of God’s plan which has not been revealed to humanity. Indeed, the biblical usage of mystery is always in anticipation of the mystery’s revelation.…

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I John 5:21; A Devotional

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Little children, guard yourselves from idols. -NAS

I have always thought that this sentence felt out of place in the letter. I mean, Jonah ends on a more satisfying note. It’s seems like the last thing John does is introduce a new topic, and then stop before he develops it at all. It most certainly doesn’t seem like an ending to a letter.

But it is not nearly as out of place as it may seem. I John overall is about Christian living, especially on what marks one as Christian as opposed to one of the world. This final instruction can be seen in that light: obstain from the gods of the world.

It is also important to follow the thoughts starting in verse 18. As a quick review, here again is the flow of John’s final argument:

  1. We know we are protected
  2. We know that the world is dominated by evil
  3. But we also know that Jesus is here now

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“Reformed”

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Recently, a very close friend of mine became a Calvinist. It was to be expected though, since he immersed himself with MacArthur and Piper and did absolutely no comparative research…none, nada, zilch. I challenged him…

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I John 5:20; A Devotional

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But we also know that the Son of God is now here and has given us acuity so that we learn the truth and so that we are in the truth; in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. -MGV

The beginning of the verse differs from verses 18 and 19 with the addition of the conjunction ‘de’. ‘de’ is most often translated ‘but’, and here I translate it as ‘but also’ to link it to the two proceeding verses. This indicates that this is the principle point that John has been building up to through 18 and 19. Using ‘but’ instead of ‘therefore’ shows that this thought doesn’t flow out of the proceeding thoughts, but takes the context of the proceeding thoughts and goes far beyond it to something greater.

So let us look at this line of thought:

  1. We know we are protected
  2. We know that the world is dominated by evil
  3. But we also know that Jesus is here now

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Friday Files: Goodwin on Romans 9

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John Goodwin’s 531 page commentary on Romans 9 is the longest and most detailed account of Romans 9 I have read. I loved it. I will try to give a brief overview and highlight what I found to be some of his most insightful points. The structure of his work is as follows: a brief overview of the chapter to show how his view flows with the contours of the text, a detailed exposition of the text, a table of scriptures mentioned with some commentary on them, some general comments on interpretation, and some questions on answers on the broader implications of the text. The work also includes the “Banner of Justification”, which explains justification in detail and it includes “Agreement and Distance of Brethren” which highlights the differences between Calvinists and Arminians.

Overview

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The New Covenant

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This post is an excerpt from the book review of Death of Death in the Death of Christ. Owen’s Argument 1: P1: The new covenant saves only believers P2: God only intended the elect to…

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