In a previous post we examined Augustine’s changing views on free will. His original view regarding free will and faith mirrored that of the other early church writers and theologians. But later, Augustine articulated views…
Determinism
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…
Can One Be Both a Calvinist and a Molinist?
Can one be both a Calvinist and a Molinist? Many Reformed Christians have deemed this an impossibility, while some prominent Reformed philosophers like Alvin Plantinga and Del Ratzsch profess to be simultaneously Calvinists and Molinists.…
Life is like a …
On one of the Society of Evangelical Arminian (SEA) forums, we were exploring illustrations on how we might describe the world, specifically how can we describe the interactions between God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom and…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 4”
BEN: On p. 55, you talk about Wesley’s treatise on divine sovereignty compared to Calvin’s view. Would you say that while Wesley agrees with Calvin that God is sovereign, absolutely so, and could do what…
Hank Hanegraaff, “How Could Pharaoh Be Morally Responsible if God Hardened His Heart?”
Please click on the link to view Hank Hanegraaff, “How Could Pharaoh Be Morally Responsible if God Hardened His Heart?”.
Jonathan Sheehan, “Teaching Calvin in California”
Please click on the link to view this opinion piece that appeared in The New York Times on 9/12/16 by a professor of history and a co-director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of…
Rich Davis, “Clary’s 10 Concerns”
In my “The ‘C’ in Calvinism?” (reproduced here), I set out three difficulties for Calvinistic choice. In his “Calvinism and Choice,” historical theologian Ian Clary lists ten points at which my thinking is in need…
Steve Sewell: Response to John Piper: “How Do Arminians Pray?”
John Piper video clip: How Do Arminians Pray? In Piper’s words, Arminians praying to God for someone’s salvation: “Arminians don’t believe that He has the right and authority and power to save anybody. Do they?…
Steve Sewell, “Does Compatibilism Make Sense?”
My definition of “Compatibilism” : A desperate attempt by Calvinists to exonerate God of evil doing. Calvinists believe that God has predetermined all things, that all things happen in the world — including all sin…
The Practical Implications of Free Will
In the follow-up post to “A Beginner’s Guide to ‘Free Will’,” entitled “Six Practical Reasons ‘Free Will’ Matters,” John Piper expounds upon the practicality of Free Will. After all, he states, “It is a great…
A Beginner’s Guide to Free Will
Free Will regards the ability to make choices — choices that were not necessitated and brought into reality by a proactive and eternal decree of God — choices that lead to belief systems resulting in…
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…
God and Foresight
Bombastic Calvinist James White thinks that the deterministic-Calvinistic view of the sovereignty of God is “the single issue that separates the supernatural religion of Christianity from the man-centered religions that surround us.”1 James White, who…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Fourteen
BEN: As we conclude this discussion, let’s talk about the practical implications of Arminius’ thought for today. It seems clear to me that Arminius, and Wesley as well, would have rejected recent ideas that have…
Determinism in the Hebrew Scriptures: Hosea
What scholars refer to as the Minor Prophets, which include the books following the prophet Daniel (from Hosea to Malachi), we discover that the consistent theme of God’s sovereignty and humanity’s relative free will remain…
Determinism in the Hebrew Scriptures: Daniel
The prophet Daniel offers believers a startling portrait of our sovereign God while faithfully maintaining the biblical truth of genuine human freedom and responsibility. His doctrine of God’s sovereignty appears methodically organized in the exact…
Determinism in the Hebrew Scriptures: Ezekiel
As should be expected, the prophet Ezekiel promotes the same theoretical unCalvinistic and libertarian worldview as do both prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. This is not surprising, given the notion of Scripture as being wholly agreeable,…
Brian Abasciano, “True Love, Free Will, and Heaven”
Several years ago, a friend of mine asked the following question on his blog: The argument that there must be freedom of choice in order for their to be love towards God makes total sense…
New Study: Belief in Free Will Linked to Ability to Behave Morally and to Help Others
Please click on the link to view “New Study: Belief in Free Will Linked to Ability to Behave Morally and to Help Others.”
