A common argument of Calvinists is that both they and Arminians think that there is something which God values more highly than universal salvation. They say that God values his own glory in damning the…
Author/Scholar Index: Calvinist
Joshua Thibodaux, The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #9: Faith is Some Reason to Boast?
Related fallacies: Pettifoggery Category Mistake A charge typically leveled by Calvinists is that Christians who don’t believe in irresistible grace would have some reason to boast in their faith. John Hendryx concisely expresses this fallacious…
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…
Does Prevenient Grace Make Total Depravity Only Hypothetical and Not Actual?
Ben Henshaw has a page at his blog for questions, and he was recently asked this: I have a question about the prevenient grace. According to this doctrine, God enables the dead in sins so…
Joshua Thibodaux, The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #7: Arminianism Leads to Universalism
Related Fallacies: Oversimplification Non-Sequitur Slippery Slope “The choices are not between Calvinism and Arminianism; it’s between Calvinism and universalism. Arminianism is a self-contradictory mess that can never defend itself.” – James White This is a…
Joshua Thibodaux, The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #6: Is God Cruel If He Lets a Believer Fall Away?
Related Fallacies: Special Pleading (Double Standard) Equivocation Straw man “Of course, this raises the question, why does their God save a person to damn him? Why not simply leave him in his unsaved state?” –…
Joshua Thibodaux, “The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #5: Choices Apart From Intent?”
Related Fallacies: Strawman Begging the Question “While libertarians uphold the philosophy that “choice without sufficient cause” is what makes one responsible, the compatibilist, on the other hand, looks to Scripture which testifies that it is…
Loraine Boettner’s Botched Church History
The Church history of Loraine Boettner (1901-1990), as such intersects with Calvinism, is a world of fantastical claims not at all grounded in reality. From the Grace Online Library, Boettner is quoted as insisting, “It…
Brian Shelton Answers Challenging Questions from Calvinist Fred Zaspel about Prevenient Grace
Please click on the link to view Brian Shelton answering challenging questions from Calvinist Fred Zaspel about prevenient grace. Shelton is the author of Prevenient Grace: God’s Provision for Fallen Humanity (Francis Asbury Press, 2014). The linked post…
Joshua Thibodaux, “The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #4: “Free Will is the Power to Do Anything!!”
Related Fallacies: Oversimplification Strawman False Dilemma One of the most telling signs of the fallacious nature of Calvinist apologetics in general is its heavy reliance upon caricatures and misrepresentation of the beliefs of other Christians.…
Calvin on Faith Preceding Regeneration
Arminius, in his Dissertation on Romans 7, insists that faith in Christ precedes regeneration: “Besides, even true and living faith in Christ precedes regeneration strictly taken, and consisting of the mortification or death of the…
Joshua Thibodaux, “The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #2: Arminianism Entails Salvation by ‘Inherent Ability’”
Related Fallacies: Strawman “Bait and Switch” “Why are you a Christian and your friends aren’t? … Is it because you are smarter than your friend?” (The Pelagian Captivity of the Church, R.C. Sproul) …I believe…
Joshua Thibodaux, “The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #1: ‘If We Have Libertarian Free Will, What Makes Us Choose One Way or the Other?'”
Related Fallacies: Begging the question Calvinists often pose questions along the lines of, “If 2 people are given the same grace, why does one receives it and another reject it?” This question was popularized on…
Rich Davis, “On Carter’s Calvinism”
[Editor’s note: Dr. Rich Davis, professor of philosophy at Tyndale University College & Seminary and chair of its philosophy department, wrote “A Demonstration Against Calvinism,” to which his colleague, Professor Craig Carter, replied with a piece “In…
6 Quotes from G. K. Chesterton on Gratitude and Thanksgiving
These quotes were posted by Justin Taylor on his blog: “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.” “I would maintain that thanks are the…
A Concise Description of Prevenient Grace from a Surprising Source (spoiler: it’s John MacArthur)
In a Q&A, when asked whether regeneration precedes faith, he answered (in part): Why not say that the Spirit of God can move him along even in his unregenerate state to an understanding and can…
Denying Double Predestination
“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…
Stephen Altrogge, “Early Warning Signs of Adult Onset Calvinism”
Please click on the link to view this humorous piece by a Calvinist: “Stephen Altrogge, “Early Warning Signs of Adult Onset Calvinism.”
Wayne Grudem’s Flawed View of Faith (and what prevents us from boasting)
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave…
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).…
