It is a great misunderstanding of many believers that salvation in Christ is “unconditional.” This misunderstanding has become a virtual mantra in evangelicalism, a litmus test for orthodoxy. But orthodoxy can only be defined by…
Warning Passages
Ben Henshaw, “Perseverance of the Saints: Thirteen Part Series”
I thought it would be good to catalogue my series on perseverance into a single post for easy reference. After nearly sixteen years I think it still holds up pretty well. The only part I…
Robert E. Picirilli, Hold Fast: Hebrews 6:4-6 and the Possibility of Apostasy
Please click on the link to view the booklet Hold Fast: Hebrews 6:4-6 and the Possibility of Apostasy by Robert E. Picirilli from from Hopeway Publishing. From Hopeway’s description of the booklet: Hebrews is a…
Ronald Sloan, “Urgently Needed: Book of Hebrews Project!”
Urgently Needed: Book of Hebrews Project! Bart Ehrman had a born-again experience in high school through Youth for Christ. Driven to learn more about the Bible, he earned a diploma at the Moody Bible…
Roy Ingle, “The IF of Hebrews”
Arminianism embraces a conditional view of salvation. We believe that salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, but we believe that the Scriptures also teach that we are to continue…
Matthew McAffee, “Covenant and the Warnings of Hebrews: The Blessing and the Curse”
Please click on the link to view Matthew McAffee, “Covenant and the Warnings of Hebrews: The Blessing and the Curse,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 57.3 (2014) 537–53. The author’s summary: The above discussion…
If I Fell Away from the Lord but Came Back, Does Hebrews Teach that I Am Still Damned?
On his website, Arminian Perspectives, Ben Henshaw has a questions page at which he answers questions about Arminianism and Calvinism that visitors to his site pose in the comment section of the page. The following is a question…
Ben Witherington, “The Exegetical Arm-Wrestling of Protestants Over Heb. 6.1-6—A ‘Taste’ of the Debate”
Please click on the link to read an excursus found in Dr Ben Witherington’s Hebrew commentary in Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians (IVP): “The Exegetical Arm-Wrestling of Protestants Over Heb. 6.1-6—A ‘Taste’ of the…
Ben Witherington, “Apostasy— a Christian Problem”
Please click on the link to read Ben Witherington, “Apostasy— a Christian Problem“, from the author’s blog, The Bible & Culture. Apostasy— a Christian Problem
Roy Ingle, “Preaching Perseverance”
Is it wrong to preach on perseverance? This seems like a logical question to ask if you come from a Calvinist perspective. For many Calvinists, it would not be wrong to preach on perseverance and…
Craig Keener, “Once-Saved-Always-Saved? Maybe not”
Please click on the link to view Craig Keener, “Once-Saved-Always-Saved? Maybe not.”
Arminius vs. Perkins: Arminius’ Finger on the Pulse of Perseverance
I think Arminian scholars Keith Stanglin and Thomas McCall are correct in suggesting that “most scholars agree that Arminius taught that true believers can fall away.”1 The authors acknowledge that, for some readers, Arminius himself…
J. Matthew Pinson, “Daniel Whitby on the Warning Passages in Hebrews”
Recently I was reading an old book from Daniel Whitby entitled A Discourse Concerning the True Import of the Words Election and Reprobation (1710). Whitby was a well-known Anglican Arminian in the late seventeenth and…
The FACTS of Salvation: A Summary of Arminian Theology/the Biblical Doctrines of Grace
The FACTS of Salvation: A Summary of Arminian Theology/the Biblical Doctrines of Grace By Brian Abasciano (For a pdf file of the present article, see here.) The distinctive tenets of Arminian theology may…
Brian Abasciano, “Outline of Approaches to the Warning Passages in Hebrews”
Approaches to the Warning Passages in Hebrews by Brian Abasciano [The pdf attachment has better formatting and can be accessed here.] The heavy emphasis in Hebrews on exhortation to persevere in faith in Christ and warning…
Debunking the False Faith View of the Hebrews Warning Passages
Below are some comments I made long ago in my perseverance series against the idea that the writer of Hebrews is addressing his warnings of falling away to those whose faith is not genuine, or…
Scot McKnight, “Calvinism: My History 7”
Follow the link to view part 7 of distinguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight’s personal testimony of coming out of Calvinism for a more biblical evangelical view and his discussion of the warning passages in Hebrews: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/12/16/calvinism-my-history-7/ .
The Contradiction Between “Perseverance of the Saints” and the Scriptural Warnings Against Apostasy
I’ve written plenty on this topic before, this is what I consider the strongest argument against inevitable perseverance/eternal security in a nutshell: The primary purpose of a warning is to provide incentive to avoid its…
Friday Files: Marshall “The Problem of Apostasy in New Testament Theology”
I. Howard Marshall’s article “The Problem of Apostasy in New Testament Theology” was part of a symposium in honor of Dale Moody and serves as an epilogue to Marshall’s book Kept by the Power of…
J.C. Thibodaux, “The Calvinist Mitigation of the Divine Warnings Given to the Saints”
Central to the debate over inevitable perseverance are the the numerous warnings in scripture cautioning the saints against falling away. A prominent explanation offered as to why the scriptures would say such things, if falling away is not truly possible for a believer, is that God uses such warnings as a means to spur Christians on to perseverance. Despite these efforts, the scriptural warnings addressed to genuine believers, some of which pronounce eternal destruction for violating certain commandments of God, constitute an airtight argument against the Calvinist teaching of inevitable perseverance of the saints, in that teaching that what the scriptures warn against could not truly occur strips the divine warnings of all relevance, making them of no effect.
Recent Posts
Why Does God Deny the Opportunity of Choice for or Against Him to Young Children Who Die and the Mentally Impaired?
Mark K. Olson, “Wesley’s ‘Warmed Heart’ at Aldersgate – What Really Happened?”
Adam Roe, “The Crucial Thread of Prevenient Grace: A Wesleyan Perspective on Divine Drawing”
Video: Joel Korytko, “How Romans 9 Doesn’t Support Calvinism”
