Friday Files, 2 Mar 2018

It’s the St. Chad’s Day edition of the Friday Files, SEA’s weekly roundup of older posts, plus recent articles round the blogosphere of interest to those interested in Arminian/Calvinist issues. Names in green indicate our SEA members.

Inclusion on this page does not mean endorsement. Even if they’re Arminian. I mean, yes we’re slanted that way, but people have many and various opinions, and some of them go in directions the rest of us won’t, and so we have this disclaimer: Not all the views expressed are that of SEA and its members. K.W. Leslie slaps together the brief summaries, and not all those views are his, either.

From the SEA archives:

SEA Admin.

• “John 6 and Calvinism in fresh perspective.”
[29 Mar 2013] Taken out of context, it appears God determines who comes to Christ, but in context, these folks are free moral agents.

• “Divine election and predestination in Ephesians 1.”
[29 Mar 2013] Just because the chapter brings up predestination, it doesn’t follow that it means the Calvinist definition of predestination.

Nelson Banuchi. “Response to White’s critique of Olson on 1 Tim 2:4.”
[21 Jan 2012, document] James White is a little too flexible in his definition of “all.”

Robert L. Hamilton.

• “When an immunization becomes fatal: Thoughts on perseverance in faith.”
[2000, PDF] If our salvation is to persevere, so must our faith.

• “What is Arminianism?”
[Nov. 2010, PDF] Humans have a real choice as to whether we’re saved or not. This, Arminians believe; others not so much.

William W. Klein.

• “Is corporate election merely virtual election? A case study in contextualization.”
[Feb 2013, PDF] When God elects a nation, he’s not dealing with abstracts. He’s dealing with people whom he fully knows, whom he wants to see saved… but who may in the end not be.

• “Paul’s use of kalein: A proposal.”
[Mar 1984, PDF] What did Paul mean when he wrote of God calling people? Time for some word study.

I. Howard Marshall. “For all, for all my Saviour died.”
[28 Mar 2011, PDF] On Clark Pinnock’s belief in universal atonement, and support for the idea.

Josh Ratliff. “Apostasy in the wilderness: Examining the theology in the use of the wilderness narratives in 1 Cor 10:1-13 and Heb 3:7-4:13.”
[28 Mar 2011, document] The warnings against falling away, like many of the Hebrews did after the Exodus, are examined.

Richard Watson, The Wesley Center Online. “Attributes of God: Omniscience.”
[1823] From his Theological Institutes: How God’s foreknowledge neither contradicts the free choices of human beings, nor necessitates our free acts.

John Wesley. “Serious thoughts upon the perseverance of the saints.”
[1751, PDF] Why Wesley was pretty sure Christians can fall away from grace.

Recently on the interwebs:

Nelson Banuchi, By the Tree. “Review: Pocket History of Evangelical Theology.”
[27 Feb 2018] On Roger E. Olson’s recap of Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, and post-Fundamentalism.

Leighton Flowers (Traditionalist), Soteriology 101. “Did John MacArthur teach inclusivism?”
[27 Feb 2018] Well, some cranks say that Flowers said that MacArthur taught God can save people without first hearing the gospel… which isn’t what MacArthur believes, no matter how you spin this one story he tells.

Andrew Ford (Calvinist), The Babylon Bee. “Calvinist dog corrects owner: ‘No one is a good boy.’ ”
[1 Mar 2018] Because defending the doctrine of total depravity is more important than encouragement.

Kevin Jackson, Seekadoo. “Sola Paul (satire).”
[6 Aug 2008] In which the case is made that Christ died for Paul of Tarsus alone.

K.W. Leslie, Christ Almighty! “Is faith a gift?”
[2 Mar 2018] Determinists would like to think so, and either misinterpret verses, or co-opt the verses on supernatural faith, to defend the idea. (John Calvin isn’t on their side in this one.) But faith is a fruit. One it’s incumbent on us to develop.

Kevin Thompson, Beyond the Fundamentals. “Why John 15:16 does not support Calvinism.”
[23 Feb 2018, video] “Ye have not chosen me,” and how it’s pulled out of context to claim it means the elect.

Jackson Watts, Helwys Society Forum. “Evil, hope, and the end of the world: An interview with Michael Zeigler.”
[26 Feb 2018] Zeigler’s new book on eschatology and the second coming also has a bit in there about theodicy.