Friday Files, 13 July 2018

It’s the St. Silas Day edition of the Friday Files. (You remember Silas, right? God busted him out of jail in Corinth? Cowrote Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians? Yeah, that guy.)

The Friday Files are a look back at some of SEA’s older articles. The views expressed therein tend to be those of SEA. There are exceptions. Certainly some of us will take exception to some things, like K.W. Leslie’s brief summaries. Anyway they’re not always. SEA members are highlighted in blue.

“A dip into the depths of the doctrine of God: Discussion of the non-competitive view of divine and human agencies.”
Roger E. Olson, 19 August 2013
How much autonomy does God grant his creatures when we choose to go outside his will? Because the idea makes certain Christians nervous. [Some Arminians included.]
Read Post at Patheos →

“2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1—A conversation with an inquirer.”
SEA discussion boards 15 October 2013
When God (or Satan) incited David to take a census of Israel, how culpable was David?
Read Post →

James White on…
Dan Chapa, 16-18 October 2013
• Romans 8:28-30.” White redefines proginosko/“foreknow” as “chooses to enter into a relationship with,” then (’cause he would) assumes it’s unconditional. Read Post →
• 2 Peter 3:9.” Apparently God is not willing that any of the elect should perish. The rest of the world? Meh. Read Post →
• Matthew 23:37.” Apparently Jesus’s lament over Jerusalem is only directed towards its leaders, not its people. (Though either way, somebody’s resisting God’s will, y’notice.) Read Post →

James Arminius on…
James Arminius, posted 21, 23 October 2013
• The attributes of God from the viewpoint of his will.” They get called God’s “divine attributes,” but they’re basically his emotions, affections, and attitudes towards his people—if we want to use human language about it. Read Post →
• The word of God.” The purpose of the scriptures, and how they define our duty towards God, which Arminius calls “religion.” Read Post →

“Why I am not a Calvinist.”
Ben Witherington III, 14 October 2013
Witherington’s testimony of how, the more he read of Calvinism, the less it reflects God’s character.
Watch Video at Patheos →

“Hebrews 10:14—‘He has perfected forever.’ ”
Dan Chapa, 24 October 2013
Another way to look at the conflicting verb tenses in “…He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Read Post →

“Calvinism’s problems with total depravity.”
Dan Chapa, 29 October 2013
Calvinists believe we have free will (because we’re liable for our freewill decisions) but only where compatible with God’s decrees. Problem is, this idea ultimately denies total depravity.
Read Post →

“G.H. Clark claims God creates sin.”
Dan Chapa, 30 October 2013
Clark translates ra/“calamity” as “sin,” shrugs, and says God must therefore be its author.
Read Post →

“Come to me all… (Matthew 11:28-29).”
Steve Sewell, 18 April 2013
Jesus’s invitation to all to find rest in him, runs contrary to limited atonement.
Read Post at The Arminian Files →

“The case for corporate election.”
Steve Sewell, 26 December 2014
We aren’t elect before we join God’s kingdom, and the key to understanding this is to know what it means to be a true child of Abraham.
Read Post at The Arminian Files →

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