History

Does God Repent? – The Bible Answer Man Clarifies

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The classic King James Version of the Bible says, “It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:6). Elsewhere, God says, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments” (1 Samuel 15:11). If God is perfect, how could he repent?

First, the Bible unequivocally teaches that God is perfectly good and thus incapable of doing evil (Psalm 5:4–5; James 1:13; 3 John 1:11). As such, God’s repentance must not be understood as entailing moral guilt. Indeed, the moral perfection of the Creator sets him apart from his sin–tainted creation (Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15–16).

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Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 7”

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Follow the link to view part 7 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/16/calvinism-my-history-7/ .

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Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 6”

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Follow the link to view part 6 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/16/calvinism-my-history-6/ .

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Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 5”

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Follow the link to view part 5 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/14/calvinism-my-history-5/ .

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Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 4”

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Follow the link to view part 4 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view, and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/12/calvinism-my-history-4/ .

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Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 3”

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Follow the link to view part 3 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view, and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/09/calvinism-my-history-3/ .

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Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 2”

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Follow the link to view part 2 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/07/calvinism-my-history-2/ .

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On the Ordo Salutis and Colossians 2:13, As Presented by Brian N. Daniels

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The following is taken from a larger essay, exegeting Colossians 2:13, by Brian N. Daniels1, a Ph.D. student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a four-point Calvinist.

“Of the many issues that divide Arminians and Calvinists, one of the more interesting has to be the relationship between regeneration and faith. The question may be put like this: which comes first and grounds the other, new life given by the Spirit or belief in Christ? This question is important because of its connection to many other points of soteriology. One’s answer generally reveals much about what he believes regarding the nature of grace and depravity, as well as the more difficult issue of election and predestination.

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The Synod of Dort vs. Arminius and the Remonstrants

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Nearly a decade after the death of Arminius, the States General hold a synod (council or assembly), wherein religious and state officials from various regions accuse the Arminians of heresy and expel them from both pulpit ministry and teaching theology in Holland (read “Dutch Calvinists against Religious Freedom: Synod of Dort“). The result of the Synod of Dort comes to us in the Canons of Dort. (“Canons” refer to a Rule of Decrees or Judgments.) Therein are statements of affirmation and denial of various subjects, both theological and soteriological (i.e., doctrine of salvation).

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The Liberalism Straw Man of Young, Restless Reformers

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As Arminians, we often have to deal with a number of scurrilous charges and various innuendos inflicted upon our faith by an assortment of polemicists, predominantly at the hand of the young, restless, Reformed variety and their elder teachers. Whether it is a straw man of “free willism,” salvation by works, or open theism and a host of other unsupportable accusations, each is brought to nothing by the revelation of plain, simple truth. Truth will always bring to naught any straw man fabricated for divisive purposes. I came across another bale of straw dressed up as knowledge today. The following quote was offered to buttress another’s doctrine of mush and as always, truth will grind it to chaff.

“We are living in a day in which practically all of the historic
churches are being attacked from within by unbelief. Many
of them have already succumbed. And most invariably the
line of descent has been from Calvinism to Arminianism,

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Do We Need an Arminian Defense League?

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by Roger Olson Okay, so I used that title to get your attention. No, I don’t really think we need an Arminian Defense League (although sometimes I feel like the only person doing anything to…

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James Arminius on the Stage of Time

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“There lived in Holland a man, whom they that did not know him could not sufficiently esteem; whom they who did not esteem him had never sufficiently known,”1 said Peter Bertius (1565-1629), friend to Arminius in his youth, at the funeral of James Arminius, October 1609. When most people think of James Arminius, they tend to think of free will or the notion that one can lose his or her salvation. That is unfortunate, since Arminius did not champion the cause of free will, nor was he the poster-child for the doctrine of Apostasy.

John Calvin’s successor and son-in-law, Theodore Beza (1519-1605), in a letter written to the Rev. Martin Lydius in 1583, a professor who belonged to the Church of Amsterdam (where Arminius would later become pastor for fifteen years), writes:

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Boasting

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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)Many…

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