A common argument of Calvinists is that both they and Arminians think that there is something which God values more highly than universal salvation. They say that God values his own glory in damning the…
Justice
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…
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…
Rich Davis, “On Carter’s Calvinism”
[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…
Jacob Arminius’ Reformed Views on Justification
Given Arminius’ Reformed context, he argues for the Reformed teaching of Justification by Faith alone, or sola fide. Mark Jones, writing for Reformation21, quotes Herman Witsius to the effect, “Arminius, by his subtlety, frames vain…
Adam Omelianchuk, “Two Wills, Yes; A Will to Damn, No: A Response to Piper”
I’ve been reading Piper’s Are There Two Wills in God?; here’s a way of thinking about the issues. Consider the following argument: If the doctrine of Unconditional Election is true, then God prefers that not all…
Susanna Wesley on Predestination
The following is from a letter written by Susanna Wesley to her son John. This quotation has been taken from John Kirk, The Mother of the Wesleys: A Biography (London: Henry James Tresidder, 1864), 284-86. Explanatory…
Playing With Action Figures
Probably one of the poorer arguments that I think we Arminians use is what is often referred to as “the robot analogy”. Now I don’t think it is bad for the reasons that Calvinist do. Calvinists…
Essential Attributes Vs Relational Attributes
What I want to say here is going to be a bit technical, so please hold your horses, but I think that this is important in terms of a particular argument that I hear from…
Predestined to Eternally Suffer? An Interview with Philosopher Jerry Walls
Please click on the link to view Predestined to Eternally Suffer? An Interview with Philosopher Jerry Walls. [Please note that while Jerry Walls believes in the possibility of post mortem salvation, that is not a…
Zack Hunt, “Dear John (An Open Letter To John Calvin)”
Please click on the link to view Zack Hunt, “Dear John (An Open Letter To John Calvin)”. Some of the author’s comments in criticism of Calvin may be worded more strongly than we would tend to…
Helpful Conversation between Austin Fischer and an Interlocutor
In the comments on Austin Fischer’s reply to John Piper’s criticism of his book,Young, Restless, and No Longer Reformed, a Calvinist named Clayton Hutchins got into a discussion with Fischer that is helpful for laying out…
Roger Olson, “The ‘Chief End of Man’…God’s Glory…Yes and Amen (But…)”
Recently I re-read Jonathan Edwards “Dissertation on the End for Which God Created the World.” And I watched and listened to John Piper’s address about why the evangelical church needs Edwards’ “God-entranced vision” today. (It’s…
Why I Am An Arminian
Part IV: Theology
I do not know whether or not you have noticed, but as I’ve been going, I am moving from my least relevant reasons to my most relevant reasons as to why I am an Arminian…
A Demonstration Against Calvinism
[Taken from: http://tyndalephilosophy.com/2013/04/25/a-demonstration-against-calvinism-2/] With the recent publication of Michael Horton’s For Calvinism, along with Roger Olson’s reply Against Calvinism—both with Zondervan (2011)—the Calvinism/Arminianism debate has once again been vaulted front and center in evangelical circles. Horton and Olson are…
A Day With Arminius
Session 3: Providence and Predestination
This is the third video in a fantastic series of lectures by Dr. Keith Stanglin and Dr. Thomas McCall on who Jacob Arminius was, and what he believed. McCall and Stranglin wrote the book Jacob…
A Day With Arminius
Session 2: God and Creation
This is the second video in a fantastic series of lectures by Dr. Keith Stanglin and Dr. Thomas McCall on who Jacob Arminius was, and what he believed. McCall and Stranglin wrote the book Jacob…
Monergism: A Doctrine of Demons?
Probably not, but this is SO MUCH FUN to say with a straight face. Let’s run with it a while and see how much mileage we get from it.
First, Calvinists claim that monergism is the only view of salvation that really glorifies God. Any non-Calvinist Christian knows this a lie, and since Satan is the Father of Lies …
Second, Calvinists claim that anyone who rejects monergism is a Pelagian at worst or a semi-Pelagian at best. Arminians know this is a false accusation, and since Satan is the Accuser of the Brethren …
Third, “Calvinism makes it difficult to recognize the difference between God and the devil except that the devil wants everyone to go to hell and God wants many to go to Hell.” (Roger Olson) Calvinists might whine they’re being misrepresented here, but Calvin himself said that election necessarily entails reprobation.
“But God isn’t sending people to Hell by withholding grace; he’s merely allowing them to go,” Calvinists might reply.
Minor Mistranslation in the Works of James Arminius
I was confused about something Arminius said in his response to Perkins so I looked it up in the original Latin. Turns out it was a mistranslation. In the former case [the creation of animals,…
A Good Analogy to the ULI of TULIP
by Roger Olson Arminian scholar William Klein provides this analogy to help understand the difference between classical, high Calvinist soteriology and Arminian soteriology (posted here with his permission): Possible Analogy for ‘the biblical doctrine of…
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