In his otherwise excellent Systematic Theology, Dr. Wayne Grudem falls into some unsightly errors regarding Determinism and soteriology. He covers the doctrine of God’s Providence in chapter 16 (or chapter 8 in the abridged version).…
Sovereignty of God
Steve Sewell, “Calvinism’s Shocking View of God’s Sovereignty”
Many attempt to explain how God carries out His will among mankind as Sovereign God, but they all fall short of the same understanding that God Himself has. However, as limited and imperfect as our…
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…
J. Warner Wallace, “Are Atheists Right? Is ‘Free Will’ An Unnecessary, Unimportant Illusion?”
Please click on the link to view J. Warner Wallace, “Are Atheists Right? Is ‘Free Will’ An Unnecessary, Unimportant Illusion?” [Editor’s note: The point Wallace makes that if determinism is true, then there is no use…
Martin Glynn, “A Critique of ‘Do We Have Free Will?’ by Geoff Ashley, Part II: Considering the Considerations of the Objections”
In part 1, I looked at a short essay written by a Geoff Ashley that has apparently been making the rounds through Calvinist circles as an explanation of the Calvinist perspective of the will. I agree that…
Martin Glynn, “A Critique of ‘Do We Have Free Will?’ by Geoff Ashley, Part I”
Recently, I was pointed to a presentation of the Calvinist view of the will that has been circling the internet (here). When I read it, I found it to be well written, and an excellent…
Robert B. Chisholm Jr., “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?”
Please click on the link to view, Robert B. Chisholm Jr., “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?”, Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (October-December 1995) 387-99.
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…
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…
Roy Ingle, “Why Do Arminians Pray For The Lost?”
I recently was listening to a series of teachings by a Calvinist speaker that I enjoy when he began to discuss praying evangelicstically for the lost. He asserted that Calvinist can truly pray for the…
Rich Davis, “Calvinism’s Misplaced Culpability”
Calvinism and TULIP go hand in hand. When you think of the one, it’s rather hard not to think of the other. However, certain qualifications are in order. “The truth is,” says Michael Horton, “there…
Mike Barlotta – How Free is Free Will?
Over the last week I have been in a discussion over soteriology, which started with the request to define free will. Free will can be a hard concept to define because there are very different…
Compatibilism vs. Free Will
God’s relationship with not only His universe but also the creatures whom He created in His own image has been debated, fashioned, and refashioned throughout the history of the Church. From what one may gather,…
Rich Davis, “The “C” in Calvinism?”
In 2009 Time magazine ran a story entitled “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now” (Thursday, March 12). Not surprisingly, the top two spots were occupied by new trend setting thinking on career/workplace and life…
Book Review: Rowe — Can God be Free?
William Rowe’s book asks the question: Can God be Free? First, he gives an interesting historical introduction to the subject, covering the views of Gottfried Leibniz, Samuel Clarke, Thomas Aquinas and Jonathan Edwards; meanwhile he…
Dekker and Muller on Middle Knowledge in Arminius’ Theology
The following quotes are taken from Eef Dekker’s Was Arminius a Molinist? The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp. 337-352. Arminius: The knowledge of God is a faculty of his life, which…
Was Arminius an Open Theist?
There exists a false charge that Arminius’ theology, when consistently maintained, renders one an Open Theist. This charge is merely a rhetorical one, synonymous with the insistence that the only consistent Calvinism is hyper-Calvinism, or…
Genesis 50:20 – Commentary in Light of Calvinism
Genesis 50:15-21 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to…
Roger Olson, “C. S. Lewis Said It: God’s ‘Goodness’ Cannot Be Wholly Other”
For years now I have been insisting that the main reason I am not a Calvinist (or any kind of divine determinist) is that, taken to its “good and necessary consequences,” Calvinism makes God morally…
