All Scripture quotations are from the 1901 American Standard Version unless otherwise noted. Galatians 5:16-25: 16 But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For…
Determinism
Ben Witherington and Chad Thornhill on *The Chosen People: Election, Paul and Second Temple Judaism*, Part 4
BEN: Chad in this chapter you talk about the ‘limited non-nationalistic understanding of election’ (p. 135) as permeating early Jewish literature. By this I take you to mean that Jews did view themselves as God’s…
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…
Dick Lucas on Ezekiel 18
In a sermon from 1981, Dick Lucas, former Rector of St. Helen’s church in London (which normally teaches Calvinism), speaks about God’s passionate appeal for sinners to repent, and explains why Christianity is incompatible with…
Ben Witherington and Chad Thornhill on *The Chosen People: Election, Paul and Second Temple Judaism*, Part 3
BEN: One of the greatest difficulties to overcome in trying to get people to see the Bible with ancient rather than modern assumptions, is the problem of modern radical individualism warping the way we read…
Ben Witherington and Chad Thornhill on *The Chosen People: Election, Paul and Second Temple Judaism*, Part 2
BEN: One of the things that surprised me about your response about the covenants is that it does not reflect the work of various OT scholars, like Meredith Kline, who made quite clear how similar…
Does God Have Two Wills?
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” – Ezekiel 18:23 “The Lord is not slow to…
Ben Witherington and Chad Thornhill on *The Chosen People: Election, Paul and Second Temple Judaism*, Part 1
One of the most important books I have read in a long time in regard to the theology of election in Paul’s letters is the recent book by Dr. Chad Thornhill of Liberty entitled The…
The Good News of Hell
Is there a hell? The concepts of heaven and hell are as intimately connected as those of good and evil. When we are free to do good, we are also free to do evil; when…
Christian Philosopher Lydia McGrew on Calvinism
This conversation took place in the comment section of one of Dr. Lydia McGrew’s posts at her blog Extra Thoughts: C. M. Granger said… Hi Lydia, why aren’t you a Calvinist? 11/26/2015 6:25 PM Lydia McGrew said……
New Calvinist Bible – Ezekiel (satire)
The following post is a satire, written from the perspective of an overzealous Calvinist. This post is part of a series on the New Calvinist Bible (NCB) – a new Bible translation designed to show…
Rich Davis, “Carter’s Calvinism — Once More”
[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…
New Calvinist Bible – John (satire)
The following post is a satire, written from the perspective of an overzealous Calvinist. This post is part of a series on the New Calvinist Bible (NCB) – a new Bible translation designed to show…
Steve Sewell, “Get God’s Character Right, You’ll Get His Sovereignty Right”
Get God’s character right, and you’ll get His sovereignty right. God’s character defines His sovereignty, not the other way around. What separates Calvinists and Arminians, primarily, is our view of God. Calvinists are determinists. There…
Leah E. Hartman, “God’s Sovereignty Doesn’t Mean What You Think it Means”
My husband, Caleb, and I met in college and the rest, as they say, is history. Except that’s not what happened. After college graduation and before the engagement, we decided to take one of those…
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…
David L. Hatton, “Saving God from Philosophical Determinism”
In Bible College, I took a philosophy course where a heated discussion erupted about the conflict between a Calvinistic view of predestination and the philosophical position of free will. I believe my professor, a Calvinist,…
Video: William Lane Craig, “Evaluating Views of Appropriating God’s Grace and Salvation”
Defenders is Dr. William Lane Craig’s weekly Sunday school class on Christian doctrine and apologetics. This video is part 17 of his material on the doctrine of man. His is a link to the video…
Compatibilism and Wireless Technology, Part 2: The Wireless Transmitter Analogy
In this post I hope to show by way of analogy the incompatibility of soft determinism with human freedom. I will first lay out the technological terms and give a brief explanation of how they work. I…
Compatibilism and Wireless Technology, Part 1: Why Calvinism’s Explanation for Human Freedom and Responsibility Doesn’t Satisfy Me
In this post I will discuss why Compatibilistic Calvinism really offers no satisfactory explanation of how genuine human choice (in the common understanding of the word) is possible within the scheme of divine determinism. William Birch…
Recent Posts
Roy Ingle, “Calvinism and the Atonement”
Why Does God Deny the Opportunity of Choice for or Against Him to Young Children Who Die and the Mentally Impaired?
Mark K. Olson, “Wesley’s ‘Warmed Heart’ at Aldersgate – What Really Happened?”
Adam Roe, “The Crucial Thread of Prevenient Grace: A Wesleyan Perspective on Divine Drawing”
