Calvinism

John Piper, God’s Sovereignty, and Sin

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John Piper, God’s Sovereignty, and Sin

written by Roger E. Olson, PhD

A friend forwarded this to me: http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-piper-on-mans-sin-and-gods-sovereignty-80617/

John Piper has been at it again. But there’s nothing new in the sermon reported on there. He has been saying this and writing it for decades. According to him, God foreordains sin. He “ordains and governs” it. He stops short of saying God causes sin. But the effect is the same: sin is God’s will, even if it grieves him. And he’s talking about about every specific sin, not just “sin in general.”

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Evangelical Calvinism?

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This post is written by Roger E. Olson, PhD I have been reading a new book about Calvinism entitled Evangelical Calvinism: Essays Resourcing the Continuing Reformation of the Church edited by Myk Habets and Bobby…

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Ronnie Rogers Responds to Selected Comments from His Recent Posts

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Taken from SBC Today, where it was posted on July 28, 2012 by the editors of SBC Today:
http://sbctoday.com/2012/07/28/ronnie-rogers-responds-to-selected-comments-from-his-recent-posts/

As I have read the comments regarding my interview and a portion of my book, a few things deserve a response from me. First, I am greatly heartened by those comments, agreeing or not, that sought to interact with my actual words in a gracious manner. Being human, I know how hard that is, and hence my magnified gratitude and admiration for your valiant reliance on the Holy Spirit. Thank you!

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Double-Talk From a Double Predestinarian

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Dr. John Piper recently responded to the question, “What did the death of Jesus on the cross accomplish for the non-elect? Anything?” His reply, oddly, raises more questions than it answers. Despite his views on unconditional election and reprobation, Piper frames his answer in terms of God giving those who aren’t chosen a “chance” at salvation. Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, was identified partially by his unusual, but correct use of an oft-misquoted proverb that’s very applicable here: “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.”

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Interview with Ronnie Rogers, a Former Calvinist

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Interview with Ronnie Rogers, a Former Calvinist

Taken from SBC Today, http://sbctoday.com/2012/07/16/interview-with-a-former-calvinist-ronnie-rogers/ and http://sbctoday.com/2012/07/17/ronnie-rogers-interview-part-2/. Comments on the 2 parts can be found at the respective posts linked above.

Interview with Ronnie Rogers, a former Calvinist [Part 1]
Posted on July 16, 2012 by the editors of SBC Today

The editors of SBCToday present a two-part interview with Ronnie W. Rogers – pastor, Southern Baptist statesman, and former Calvinist — whose 2012 book, “Reflections of a Disenchanted Calvinist,” recently caught our attention. SBCToday will also post selected excerpts from his books in the ensuing days.

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Justin Taylor, “A Conversation with My Favorite Wesleyan Theologian”

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Calvinist Justin Taylor’s post on, “A Conversation with My Favorite Wesleyan Theologian”: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/06/26/a-conversation-with-my-favorite-wesleyan-theologian/ Taylor talks about Calvinist John Stark’s interview with Wesleyan theologian Fred sanders. And in so doing, Taylor makes some of his own…

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Allowing is not commanding

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This reprint of a blog post by Randal Rauser, PhD is placed here due to his accurate reflection of the Arminian position on the allowing vs commanding controversy. Note that Dr. Rauser is not a member of SEA and does not necessarily claim an Arminian stance.

ALLOWING IS NOT COMMANDING

Over the last week I have heard on at least three different occasions claims made to the moral equivalency of God allowing x and God commanding x. The argument has been made by Christians to demonstrate that if I accept that God providentially allows evils like genocide and infant sacrifice, I should have no problem if God also commands genocide and infant sacrifice. The argument has also been made by non-Christians to argue that if I have a problem with God commanding genocide and infant sacrifice, I should also have a problem with God allowing genocide and infant sacrifice.

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Calvin Taught Unconditional Predestination of Man to Sin and Condemnation

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As follow up to Roger Olson’s essay recently posted here (http://evangelicalarminians.org/Roger-Olson-My-Biggest-Problem-with-Calvin-Calvinism), it could be helpful to post some examples from Calvin (as a representative of Calvinism) that invite the sort of remonstration (= objection) made by Olson and other Arminians against Calvinism. Today we post a few examples of highly unbiblical and therefore objectionable doctrine from Calvin. Tomorrow, we plan to post comments from John Wesley in the same vein as Olson’s (but more forceful and fiery).

John Calvin not only taught that God willed the fall of Adam, but that He ordained it as well. Here are some quotes:

Again they object: were they not previously predestined by God’s
ordinance to that corruption which is now claimed as the cause of
condemnation? When, therefore, they perish in their corruption, they
but pay the penalties of that misery in which Adam fell by the

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Playing With Dolls

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A question that I was recently considering was whether or not God could truly love us if we did not have free will. Clearly He could care about us like I care about my grandfather’s jacket or my car, but could one really say that He loved us? I think the answer is both yes and no.

For context let us consider the kind of love that we are dealing with. In the Bible, it uses the analogy of marriage to define God’s love for His elect people. However, it uses the analogy of a parent and child to define His relationship with creation. When we are talking about free will, we are naturally talking about how God designed us. Therefore the parent/child relationship is at the forefront and so it is this kind of love that I am going to be addressing.

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