Just saw this post called “Man’s Will: Before And After the Fall” which opens with these words: Augustine and the Calvinistic tradition in general define the will’s freedom, or lack thereof, in relation to sin.…
Foreknowledge
Romans 11:1-6 – Has God rejected ethnic Israelites?
This is part of a series of posts on Romans. The main focus of this series will be chapters 9-11 of the letter. These chapters, particularly chapter 9, have been interpreted in various different ways.…
God, Predestination & Foreknowledge
I recently heard someone say that God is watching and waiting, to see what we are going to do and what choices we will make. This person went on to say that because God is…
Ben Witherington and Roger Olson, “Roger Olson’s Arminian Theology – Part 15”
BEN: Your discussion of open theism is interesting, and I wonder if since your book was published (2006), you’ve settled the matter in your mind. For my part, I have rejected open theism. I think…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
Calvinism and the Knowledge of God
In this brief post I intend to engage a thought experiment I had when I suggested that God, in Calvinism, cannot foreknow the future; hence that is why God, in Calvinism, must decree or foreordain…
Two Views on the Doctrine of Election in under 5 Minutes
This video from the Currado family (SEA members) briefly overviews the two major models of election. The transcript is below. What’s the deal with Election? “Election” is a biblical word, and so every…
That Wonderful (Mind-Controlling) God?
“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are…
The Cause of God and Presuppositions: Irenæus
English Baptist and theological hyper-Calvinist John Gill (1697-1771), in his work, The Cause of God and Truth, is found guilty of not only committing numerous logical fallacies regarding the writings of the early Church fathers…
Joshua Thibodaux, The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacies #12 & #13: The Arminian View of Divine Foreknowledge Attacks God’s Simplicity and Immutability
Related Fallacies: Conflation Hasty Generalization Oversimplification Tim Prussic attempts to salvage his hopeless case after I pointed out his fallacious reasoning concerning God’s aseity. Tim makes a tenuous appeal to divine simplicity; in his words,…
Joshua Thibodaux, The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #11: The Arminian View of Divine Foreknowledge Attacks God’s Aseity
Related fallacies: Non Sequitur Equivocation Special Pleading One apparent ramification of holding to both libertarian free will and God’s omniscience is that God (apparently) derives His knowledge of our choices from us, since our choices…
Kevin Timpe, “Truth-making and Divine Eternity” (A Defense of the Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Libertarian Human Freedom)
Please click on the link to view Kevin Timpe, “Truth-making and Divine Eternity,” Religious Studies 43 (2007) 299–315. Here is the author’s abstract of the article: According to a widespread tradition in philosophical theology, God is necessarily…
Ben Witherington and Chad Thornhill on *The Chosen People: Election, Paul and Second Temple Judaism*, Part 8: Conclusions
I hope to have demonstrated the value and necessity of placing Paul’s election language back in its original context, which was a decidedly Jewish one. As we reviewed the Jewish literature, we discovered a view…
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…
Chad Thornhill, On William Klein’s Revised and Expanded Book on Corporate Election, Part 2
[This post was taken from Scot McKnight’s Blog, where comments can be made.] By Chad Thornhill, PhD Chair of Theological Studies, Director of the MA in Christian Apologetics, Assistant Professor of Apologetics and Biblical Studies [all at Liberty University],…
Does God Want All to Be Saved? A Response to Dr. Kruger
Dr. Kruger is the President and Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS). His interests in the formation of the NT canon and the early history of the church align with…
