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…
History
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…
The Full Original Act of Remonstrance in English and Dutch
Luis Henrique asked the director of the Arminius Instituut of the VU University of Amsterdam, Bert Dicou, to translate portions of the original Act of Remonstrance (1610) that are not normally translated. They have been combined…
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…
Remonstrance of 1610 (Audio)
To listen to an audio of the Remonstrance of 1610 in English, visit this post at the site of Simon Kittle.
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 Making of a Classical Arminian
The lovely picture to your right is a Dutch-Calvinist work naming Arminianism a five-headed, four-footed, part man, part beast, monster. The five-fold head of this monster represents the head of Avarice, Deceit, Riot (or Sedition),…
Understanding the Controversy of Former Supralapsarian Calvinist Arminius
The title of this post is a bit controversial in itself: Was Arminius a supralapsarian Calvinist at one time? That is a possibility. I believe that he was a supralapsarian. At least twice in Arminius’…
The Motive for Arminius’ Theology
What we must first understand about Arminius’ theological thought process is his positional biblicistic framework. Calvinist theologian Richard A. Muller confesses as much: “Had Arminius been a biblicistic pietist,” i.e., a devotional writer, “promulgating a…
The Unjust Persecution of the Arminians
After the death of Arminius in 1609 the Remonstrants petition the States for protection and safe conduct. Why? Why would the early Arminians fear for their physical safety? By the era of Arminius’ death in…
The Five Points of Arminianism
If not for the early Dutch Reformed Arminians rejecting five tenets of Calvinistic ideology, there would be no TULIP today, as TULIP is merely a reaction to Arminian theology. After the death of Arminius, in…
Arminian and Baptist: An Interview with Matt Pinson
Please click on the link to access Arminian and Baptist: An Interview with Matt Pinson.
Arminius for Everyone
Often historical information regarding sixteenth-century Reformed theologian Jacob Arminius (1559-1609) is weighed down by theological jargon too complicated and uninteresting for the average lay-reader. Too much is assumed by the respective authors and too much…
James Leonard, “Why I’m an Arminian and Why Calvinism Is Dominating the Evangelical Book Market”
On our outreach Facebook discussion page, James Leonard, one of our vice presidents, briefly addressed the questions, “Why I’m an Arminian?” and “Why Calvinism is dominating the evangelical book market?” We thought his answers worth…
James Pedlar, “John Wesley on Predestination”
All his life, John Wesley stood within the tradition of English Arminianism, but from the early days of the Methodist revival, his position on predestination became a particularly important and divisive issue. Of course, his…
David L. Allen, “Calvinism: A Review”
Please click on the link to view David L. Allen, “Calvinism: A Review,” which is a 2008 white paper published by the Center for Theological Research providing an extensive review of Ray Clendenen and Brad Waggoner (eds.), Calvinism:…
Jacob Arminius Refutes William Perkins on Perseverance
Whether or not one adheres to the theology of Jacob Arminius in toto, Arminius’ careful attention to context regarding scriptural interpretation cannot be overemphasized. For example, debating Roman Catholic apologist Adrian Smetius on the subject of…
Arminius Reconsidered: Contemporary Theological Discourse
From the concluding chapter of the recent book, Reconsidering Arminius: Beyond the Reformed and Wesleyan Divide, Dr. Keith D. Stanglin offers his own thoughts on Arminius’ theology in conversation with contemporary theological discourse. This task…
Roger Olson, ‘“Reformed Arminianism?” Another Book about Arminian Theology’
“Reformed Arminianism?” Another Book about Arminian Theology Reviewed: J. Matthew Pinson’s Arminian and Baptist: Explorations in a Theological Tradition(Randall House, 2015) At the very end of his excellent book Arminian and Baptist Free Will Baptist…
Roy Ingle, “The Life of James Arminius”
Who was James (or Jacobus) Arminius? His actual name was Jacob Harmenszoon when he was born in Oudewater, Holland in 1559. His father died before his birth and thus Jacob was raised by a widowed…
