This article critiques a popular Calvinistic view of God’s sovereignty as represented by John Piper and can be applied to the standard view of Calvinism, i.e., exhaustive determinism, which includes God’s unconditional decree of all sin and evil.
Please click on the attachment to view Thomas McCall, “I Believe in Divine Sovereignty”, Trinity Journal 29/2 (Fall 2008) 205-226.
With the exception of the ninth chapter of Romans, few passages in the Bible are thought to teach the doctrine of predestination as convincingly as the first chapter of Ephesians. Perhaps equally persuasive are the…
This article is posted with the permission of Trinity Theological Journal and the author. Please click on the attachment to view Gordon C. I. Wong, “Make Their Ears Dull: Irony in Isaiah 6:9-10” Trinity Theological Journal 16 (2008) 24-34.
Here is the author’s abstract:
In Isaiah 6:9-10, the prophet appears to be commissioned by God to make the ears of the people dull in order to prevent them from repenting. This article begins by proposing that these verses are better understood as rhetorical irony designed to persuade the people to (and not prevent them from) repentance. An alternative rhetorical interpretation and three literal interpretations are also discussed and rejected in favour of the view that assumes the use of irony.
Please click on the attachment to view John Wesley, “PREDESTINATION CALMLY CONSIDERED”
This blog post is written by pastor Christopher Chapman, a member of SEA. Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him…
This blog post is written by pastor Christopher Chapman, a member of SEA. As we search the scriptures honestly and diligently to find answers to our questions about various issues about living in God’s kingdom…
This blog post is written by pastor Christopher Chapman, a member of SEA. Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion…
After the passing of Kim Jong-Il, Calvinist leader Justin Taylor did a brief post highlighting how diabolical he was: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/12/19/inside-kim-jong-ils-diabolical-world/ It is simply baffling that Calvinists can decry the diabolical, heinous actions of Kim Jong-Il…
Here is an absolutely chilling quote of John Calvin. It is hard to believe any Christian can believe such a thing: John Calvin writes: “Solomon also teaches us that not only was the destruction of…
I. Introduction This post responds to Calvinist scholar and assistant professor at Reformed Theological Seminary James Anderson’s latest rejoinder (“The Arminian Cause”) to me (specifically, to my last post: “Exposing Calvinist ‘Forgery’ in the Alleged…
Introduction: I commented (under the screen name “Arminian”) at Justin Taylor’s blog, taking issue with a cited article by John Piper that presents prayer as a cause of God’s answers to prayer in Calvinism/determinism. I…
Note: Although the author of this article is an open theist, a position that SEA rejects as unbiblical, his comments on Exodus 4:11 are helpful. Please click on the link to view Gregory Boyd, “How…
Written by Brian Abasciano A complaint I sometimes hear about my books on Romans 9 is that they are too expensive. That is quite unfortunate. (The price of those books is determined by my publisher…
Click on the attachment: Golden Chain or Iron Padlock (Reasoner)
Here are some great comments from B.J. Oropeza, who holds to corporate election, tying in corporate election with the doctrine of perseverance and Rom 8:28-39: Our perspective of 1 Corinthians 10 and Romans 9-11 calls…
Here is an excellent concise summary of the doctrines of conditional election and predestination from the corporate election perpective, which differs from the traditional Arminian view of individual election based on foreseen faith. Both the…
One of our members commented concisely and incisively in our private discussion group (slightly revised here): In Calvinism God cannot see into the future. He only knows what will happen because He will make it…
The following quotes are from Daniel L. Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004). The Westminster Confession of Faith, for example, states that by God’s secret decrees…
Here are some excellent comments on Romans 9 from Dr. William Lane Craig. (This is an excerpt from Dr. Craig’s answer to a question from an atheist, taken from http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6675.)
[L]et’s talk about Paul’s doctrine of election in Romans. I want to share with you a perspective on Paul’s teaching that I think you’ll find very illuminating and encouraging. Typically, as a result of Reformed theology, we have a tendency to read Paul as narrowing down the scope of God’s election to the very select few, and those not so chosen can’t complain if God in His sovereignty overlooks them. I think this is a fundamental misreading of the chapter which makes very little sense in the context of Paul’s letter.
