Recent responses to Against Calvinism
By Roger E. Olson, PhD
Here I post two e-mails that typify responses I’ve received from individuals about Against Calvinism.
I’m not going to comment on them, just reproduced them here. I’ll let you, my faithful readers, decide what you think and comment on them. I’ve removed anything that would identify their authors.
Arminians and Calvinists define some theological terms differently. This has a tendency to cause us to talk past each other when discussing theological issues. Here are some of the words that Arminians and Calvinists have different meanings for:
Decree
Arminians – A plan of God to establish parameters for the way something will work. For example, God can decree for humans to have and make decisions.
Calvinists – A plan of God to cause things to happen in a predetermined way.
Election
Arminians – God chooses Christ. Those who follow Christ benefit from his election.1
Calvinists – God unconditionally chooses certain individuals to be saved. The chosen are elected.
Faith
Arminians – Faith means to trust God. Because of God’s drawing grace, it is possible for each person to trust God.
One of John Wesley’s finest contributions to theology was his understanding of prevenient grace. Broadly speaking, this is the grace that “goes before”—that grace which precedes human action and reflects God’s heart to pursue his…
Roger E. Olson, PhD writes: “Theodicy”–The attempt to justify the ways of God in the face of the problem of evil. A friendly correspondent sent me this URL to an article in today’s Chronicle of…
This question was once posed to Dr. Roger Olson, and I’ve been thinking it over: if I became convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God really did govern the way that Calvinists claim…
This is a brief snippet from Dr. Roger Olson’s post: “About judging God’s morality” Recently, an acquaintance asked me if I am guilty of “judging God’s morality.” He explained that his reason for asking is…
I have noticed a new tactic from Calvinists—accusing Arminians of “judging God” (cf. Roger Olson’s post about this from January of 2012). But is that a fair accusation? Can we judge God?
First of all, we have to ask what in the world it means to judge God. Let’s first take it in the broadest sense: Do we have the right to make a judgment about whether God is good or bad? Well, clearly we do, since the Bible declares God to be good, and calls us to recognize His goodness. Declaring God to be good is judging Him; judging Him to be good that is. So clearly we are allowed to do this.
Alright, well perhaps our Calvinist friends mean something different when they say judge. So let us consider the most restrictive/literal sense: a judge presiding over a court of law. However, this doesn’t really make sense either since we can’t really pass a verdict on God. At least we can’t enforce one.
In celebration of Good Friday and Easter, we felt it best to review a well known text from some young, insightful exegetes.
UK preacher David Pawson now has a website up where all of his teachings can be downloaded for free. If you’re looking for a good source of Arminian audio and video, this is the jackpot.…
John Piper and Pietism Posted on April 1, 2012 by Roger E. Olson, PhD Recently John Piper declared himself a pietistic Reformed person. See: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/marchweb-only/john-piper-racism-reconciliation.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=eNews&utm_term=3050084&utm_content=122851977&utm_campaign=2012 As someone who likes to think of myself as a…
Sermons from an Arminian perspective by Wendel Brane, Dennis Laub, and Ted Rapone of Trinity Evangelical Church may be found online at http://www.trinity-evangelical-church.org/index.html, and Ted Rapone’s may also be found online at http://cgsleo.org/audio/sermons.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.
I bless the Arms of God that reached out to me during times of loneliness and despair.
I bless the Artistry of God for the beauty in nature and in every sunrise and sunset.
I bless the Authority of God that makes Him the great and undeniable, “I AM”.
I bless the Breath of God that gave life to all living creatures great and small.
I bless the Brightness of God that outshines the blinding brilliance of the sun.
I bless the Closeness of God that He regards me as His friend.
I bless the Compassion of God that looks beyond my faults as He continually cares for me.
I bless the Creativity of God for all creatures that walk, run, crawl, hop, swim, leap, jump, and fly.
I bless the Cross of Christ that assures the promise of eternal life to every believer.
I bless the Desire of God in that He wants me to be at one with Him forever.
Pastor and SEA member Jeff Weddle’s expositional sermons may be found online at http://www.christianity.com/blogs/JWhite/11674264/?utm_source=Christian%20Living%20Connection%20-%20Christianity.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07/24/2012/
Pastor and SEA member Joshua Johnson’s expositional sermons (“pericope by pericope” rather than “verse by verse” style) may be found online here. The church he currently serves also has a podcast for which he is…
We are disturbed and saddened by reports that former SEA member William Birch was arrested Saturday 3/17/12 and charged with sexual assault against another Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary student (on the whole matter, see http://sbcvoices.com/stunned-sad-and-confused-a-blogging-brother-falls-into-sin/,…
A description of this 3 part series from Pawson’s website followed by a link to each part:
by Roger Olson This is a response to comments made in response to my previous post about John Piper’s blog entry about the recent tornado outbreak in the eastern U.S. True, in this particular blog…
My Response to John Piper’s Recent Statements about God and Tornadoes
by Roger Olson, PhD
During the last week or two I have received numerous e-mails, some from journalists, asking my opinion about John Piper’s explanation of the recent rash of deadly tornadoes across the South. Apparently, he has at least implied that God sent them as judgments on particular communities and reminders of their need to repent.
It’s refreshing to see an accurate portrayal of the positions of both Calvinism written so fairly and simply. Obviously, Xenos tends toward Arminianism which is another refreshing aspect of this lesson on Soteriology.
The lesson starts thusly: “The central issue we want to study tonight is the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human choice with regard to salvation. Do humans have free will to believe or reject the gospel? How should we understand the New Testament’s statements about election and predestination?”
For the complete lesson, go to:
http://www.xenos.org/classes/principles/cpu1w6.htm
Taken from The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, p. 455 “It is… proved by the sufferings of his Son, that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Would he have ransomed them…
