THE NINE QUESTIONS: NINE OPPOSITE QUESTIONS 1. Which is first, Election, or Faith Truly Foreseen, so that God elected his people according to faith foreseen? 1. Is the decree “for bestowing Faith on any one,”…
Author of Sin
Sin and Guilt in John 9
The story of the blind man in John 9 is a study in guilt. What makes us guilty, and what’s the relation between guilt and our ability to obey and believe God? Let’s do a…
When It Comes to Calvinism, Logic Can Lead to Heresy
Most Calvinists I have ever read or heard or spoken to will insist that God is not the author of sin and evil. But can they, real Calvinists, say that with logic on their side? Or,…
Shane Scott, “Calvinism and the Two ‘Wills’ of God”
Those who hold to the Calvinistic concept of predestination believe that God predetermined everything that would happen before the foundation of the world in an eternal and unconditional decree. The Westminster Confession of Faith outlines…
Sin, Reprobation and Foreknowledge: The Calvinists Attempt to Have Their Cake And Eat it Too
The doctrine of the unconditional election of a part, necessarily implies the unconditional reprobation of the rest. I know some who hold to the former, seem to deny the latter; for they represent God as…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 5”
BEN: One of the major emphases in Stanglin and McCall’s fine book on Jacob Arminius is that Arminius did not agree with Beza et al. on the issue of monergism, which is to say that…
Arminian Theology Superior to Calvinism Regarding God’s Decrees
[Editor’s note: While SEA vigorously opposes supralapsarianism, it does not question whether supralapsarian Calvinists worship the God of the Bible as the author seems to. We generally accept both supralapsarian and infralapsarian Calvinists as brothers…
Steve Sewell, “Why the Draw to Calvinism?”
I find it strange for a Christian to be drawn to Calvinism — an anomaly, really. I don’t believe that Calvinistic theology is in harmony with who we are as followers of Christ. Christians are…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Six
BEN: In regard to the old chestnut about God’s knowing and willing it seems clear that Calvin would say God knows it because he wills it, and therefore Calvin makes God’s will (and its exercise…
Glen Shellrude, “My Problems with Calvinism (Summary)”
[This article may also be downloaded as a pdf.] 1. There is an inadequate exegetical basis for Calvinism. Determinism is based on a relatively small number of texts which are read in isolation from their…
In Calvinism, God Is the Problem of Evil
John Piper argues that, when kings are “in their God-appointed place, with or without Satan’s agency, they are in the sway of God’s sovereign will.”1 He quotes Daniel 2:20-21; 4:17, and Proverbs 21:1, failing to…
Joshua Thibodaux, The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #8: “Calvinism Doesn’t Charge God With the Authorship of Sin”
Related Fallacies: Red Herring Equivocation “All I have tried to do here is show how clearly, succinctly and simply that Calvinism does NOT charge God with the authorship of sin and so (to employ the…
Reward and Punishment Necessitate Libertarian Freedom
As is stated in previous posts on this site, libertarian free will is assumed throughout the tenor of the entire Bible, and determinism is exposed as not merely flawed but erroneous and damaging to the…
Günther H. Juncker, “The Dilemma of Theistic Determinism”
Please click on the link to view Günther H. Juncker, “The Dilemma of Theistic Determinism,” Journal for Theology and Ministry 12.2 (Fall 2015) 15-22. The link goes to a download of a pdf of the entire edition of…
Jerry L. Walls, “Why No Classical Theist, Let Alone Orthodox Christian, Should Ever Be a Compatibilist”
Please click on the link to view Jerry L. Walls, “Why No Classical Theist, Let Alone Orthodox Christian, Should Ever Be a Compatibilist,” Philosophia Christi 13.1 (Summer 2011), 75-104. The author’s abstract of the article: I argue…
God’s Circus
The Bible everywhere assumes free will within the context of God’s sovereignty. This renders any semblance of determinism erroneous at best and damaging to the character and integrity of God at worst. If God influences our…
The Parable of the Midwives
BREAKING: the midwife murderers have just entered the court room. Tamar and Gomer are each charged with 10 counts of infanticide. In the process of helping young Hebrew parents deliver their babies, Tamar and Gomer…
Dr. Grudem’s Erroneous Description of the Arminian View of Providence
In his otherwise excellent Systematic Theology, Dr. Wayne Grudem falls into some unsightly errors regarding Determinism and soteriology. He covers the doctrine of God’s Providence in chapter 16 (or chapter 8 in the abridged version).…
Roy Ingle, “Did God Predestine the Fall of Man?”
One of the difficult elements of Calvinism is that when you logically work through the doctrine of predestination you ultimately come to the conclusion that God caused Adam to sin or that He predestined the…
Rich Davis, “Calvinism’s Misplaced Culpability”
Calvinism and TULIP go hand in hand. When you think of the one, it’s rather hard not to think of the other. However, certain qualifications are in order. “The truth is,” says Michael Horton, “there…
Recent Posts
Why Does There Seem to Be So Much More Calvinist Than Arminian Scholarship and Is Evangelism a Problem for Calvinism?
Roy Ingle, “When Do They Become ‘Never Saved To Begin With?'”
Video: “A Wesleyan-Arminian View of Election,” with Dr. Ben Witherington III
Mark K. Olson: Famous Sermons of John Wesley 13: Justification by Faith
