It’s the Sts. Faustinus and Jovita Day edition of the Friday Files. I know; you might be thinking, “Aww, if it had only been the Thursday Files, it could’ve been the St. Valentine’s Day edition. How romantic that would’ve been.” Not really; same articles.
The views expressed in them are often, but not guaranteed to be, the views of SEA. Our members’ names are in blue. Posts from the second week of Feburary…
Last year! (2018)
• Holiness Today’s Charles W. Christian wrote “Worship and Holiness”: Our worship stems from the fact we follow a holy God, and oughta be holy ourselves.
• William Lane Craig answers a question about compatibilism and another about determinism in his articles, “I, a Compatibilist?” and “Calvinism and the Unlivability of Determinism.”
• William M. Greathouse’s “Cur Deus Homo”—in English, “Why’d God become human?” Lots of reasons, primarily relational.
Five years ago! (2014)
• “The Security of the Believer” [PDF] is a 1978 Assemblies of God position paper on what they believe regarding apostasy and conditional security: Apostasy is possible, but the scriptures never cease to offer hope to the repentant. SEA also adds a brief note on the paper: Apparently the authors weren’t so sure on the Arminian view of apostasy, and claimed their rather Arminian view is between the “extremes” of Calvinism and Arminianism.
• Jakob Hermanszoon (i.e. Jacobus Arminius), “On the Use of the Moral Law.” The Law convicts us of sin, makes us recognize our need for God’s grace, and shows a saved people how God would have us live.
• Roger E. Olson posted “Excerpt from Austin Fischer’s excellent book Young, Restless, No Longer Reformed (Wipf & Stock).” Fischer notes how our opinions about God have an profound effect on how Christlike we are—or aren’t. Here’s a link to his book.
• Paul Owen left a comment on Roger Olson’s “Is the Problem Calvinism or Fundamentalism (or the Combination)?” pointing to a John Piper video, “The Doctrines of Grace,” in which he declares TULIP, not Christ, is the center of his life.
• Martin Glynn, “Playing With Dolls.” If we didn’t truly have free will, God’s relationship with us, his love for us, is effectively the same as a child playing with her dolls.
Ten years ago! (2009)
• Richard Coords, “Middle Knowledge.” God knows every hypothetical possibility, and on this Calvinists and Arminians agree. The difference is Calvinists believe God decreed these possibilities into existence—same as they claim he decreed reality into existence. Sins included.
• Eric Landstrom, “The General Theory of Relativity and the Nature of God Pokes Openness in the Eye.’” The description of God in the scriptures is consistent with how Albert Einstein described time in his general theory of relativity. But neither is consistent with Open Theology.
• Bob Moore, Calvinism: Ten Little Caveats. Moore’s step-by-step analysis of Romans 9 as conditional salvation, contrasted with John Piper’s view.
• Robert L. Hamilton, “Allegiance: What Must I Do to Be Saved?” Part 1 and Part 2 [PDF] detail the necessity of allegiance to the truth about who Jesus is and what he did, and allegiance to Jesus as one’s own Lord. Faith and repentance, y’know.
More reading material?
Or is that plenty? Well if not, check out our members’ blogs. They’ve got current stuff, and of course there’s plenty of stuff that even predates SEA. There’s no shortage of Arminianism on the internet. We just gotta get better at spreading the news!
