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…
Predestination
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…
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…
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…
Christian Philosopher Lydia McGrew on Calvinism
This conversation took place in the comment section of one of Dr. Lydia McGrew’s posts at her blog Extra Thoughts: C. M. Granger said… Hi Lydia, why aren’t you a Calvinist? 11/26/2015 6:25 PM Lydia McGrew said……
New Calvinist Bible – John (satire)
The following post is a satire, written from the perspective of an overzealous Calvinist. This post is part of a series on the New Calvinist Bible (NCB) – a new Bible translation designed to show…
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’…
A. Chadwick Thornhill, “Election, Paul, and Second Temple Judaism”
Few issues exist in the interpretation of the New Testament which can become as contentious as questions of “sovereignty” and “free will.” Various terms like “election,” “predestination,” “foreknowledge,” etc., get thrown around in these discussions.…
Denying Double Predestination
“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…
Video: William Lane Craig, “Evaluating Views of Appropriating God’s Grace and Salvation”
Defenders is Dr. William Lane Craig’s weekly Sunday school class on Christian doctrine and apologetics. This video is part 17 of his material on the doctrine of man. His is a link to the video…
Audio of Hank Hanegraaff Briefly Explaining that Romans 9 Does Not Teach Calvinism
Please click on the link to access the audio file of Hank Hanegraaff Briefly Explaining How Romans 9 Does Not Teach Calvinism.
Anthony Chadwick Thornhill, “To the Jew First: A Socio-Historical and Biblical-Theological Analysis of the Pauline Teaching of ‘Election’ in Light of Second Temple Jewish Patterns of Thought”
Please click on the attachment to view Anthony Chadwick Thornhill, “To the Jew First: A Socio-Historical and Biblical-Theological Analysis of the Pauline Teaching of ‘Election’ in Light of Second Temple Jewish Patterns of Thought.” This…
Cheryl Schatz, “Purposeless Evil”
Is there purposeless evil if God did not foreordain all things? Calvinists often talk about “purposeless evil”. In fact, Dr. James White, a Calvinist apologist from Alpha and Omega Ministries, has stated that if God did…
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on Romans 9
The Book of Romans Chapter 9Chapter Overview: In this chapter St. Paul, after strongly declaring his love and esteem for them, sets himself to answer the grand objection of his countrymen; namely, that the rejection…
Cheryl Schatz, “Was Judas Predestined to Be Lost?”
Is Judas a problem for your theology? He can be a problem if some of your beliefs come from tradition and not from the Scriptures. In this article I would like to discuss the full…
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…
Roy Ingle, “Did God Predestine the Fall of Man?”
One of the difficult elements of Calvinism is that when you logically work through the doctrine of predestination you ultimately come to the conclusion that God caused Adam to sin or that He predestined the…
Gomarus Learns from Arminius in Debate
By far Arminius’ fiercest opponent was Francis Gomarus (1563-1641), a supralapsarian Calvinist whose intent at Leiden was to undermine and challenge Arminius’ broadly Reformed scholastic orthodoxy. Arminius was drawn into debate with Gomarus by obligation,…
Roger Olson, “Review of *Recanting Calvinism for A Dynamic Gospel* by Steven L. Hitchcock”
Over the years, since I “came out” publicly among evangelicals as an Arminian (beginning with my 1999 Christianity Today article “Don’t hate me because I’m an Arminian”) Ihave received many books and manuscripts about Calvinism…
Many are Called But Few are Chosen
The phrase, “for many are called but few are chosen,” is found at Matthew 22:14. A few translations, some quite surprisingly (Amplified, ISV, OJB), place the verse also at Matthew 20:16 (Amplified, Darby, Douay-Rheims, Geneva,…
Recent Posts
Video: Methodist Arminians & Wesley’s Arminianism: “Who Are the Arminians?” Part 4
How Do You Deal with Calvinist Arguments for Limited Atonement Based on Texts Like Colossians 2:14, Double Jeopardy, and a Commercial View of the Atonement?
Roy Ingle, “God and History”
Mark K. Olson: Famous Sermons of John Wesley 8: The Great Privilege of Those Born of God
