I previously summarized the position of Walls and Dongell. Response to Walls and Dongell Walls and Dongell make three unwarranted assumptions: (1) that God cannot love people whom He allows to remain in sin; (2) that God cannot have two levels of “wishing,” whereby He simultaneously desires that all be saved (I Tim. 2:4), but decrees that not all receive electing love (Rom. 9:20-24); and (3) that God is obligated by His character to show saving mercy to everyone. They distort the Scriptures by reading these philosophical commitments into the biblical texts. In short, they reject Calvinism … [Read more...] about Calvinism vs. Arminianism – IV
Archives for July 2007
Online ESV Bible Launches iPhone Site
From a Crossway press release: Crossway Celebrates 5 Years of Online ESV Bible by Launching iPhone Site Crossway Bibles celebrated the fifth anniversary of its dedicated ESV Bible web site on July 22 with the launch of a free web site optimized for the new Apple iPhone. The web site offers the complete, searchable text of the ESV Bible plus a variety of daily Bible readings. A Crossway partner has also developed an ESV iPhone application. AcroDesign Technologies last week launched iBibleSpace, which offers the complete ESV Bible text plus a daily Bible verse, several podcasts, and other … [Read more...] about Online ESV Bible Launches iPhone Site
Calvinism vs. Arminianism – III
The Central Message of Why I Am Not a Calvinist by Jerry Walls and Joe Dongell Note: Jerry Walls was kind enough to read and approve this summary of their book's message. Jerry Walls (a philosopher) and Joe Dongell (a biblical scholar) of Asbury Seminary have teamed up to write a provocative book entitled Why I Am Not a Calvinist. Their central message is: The character of the Calvinistic God is severely maligned by the fact that His need to glorify Himself comes at the expense of the damnation of a significant percentage of His sinful human population throughout history, whom He could save … [Read more...] about Calvinism vs. Arminianism – III
Mark Dever on Calvinism and Arminianism
Speaking of the Calvinism - Arminianism debate, Mark Dever offers this important reminder: The real front line is not between Calvinist evangelicals and Arminian evangelicals. It is between those who are lost in their sins and those who have been saved by God's sheer grace in Christ. Read the whole post, in which Dever discusses his church background and involvement in Together For the Gospel. BTW, why is Dever the only one blogging over at the T4G blog? … [Read more...] about Mark Dever on Calvinism and Arminianism
Interracial Marriage and Emergent Truth
While guest-hosting the Albert Mohler radio program a few weeks ago, Russ Moore interacted with Tony Jones over Jones' view that "all hermeneutics is local." In support of his view (which originates in postmodern epistemologies being exposed by various religious and non-religious writers), Jones (rightly) observed that Moore's great-grandfather would not have performed an interracial marriage while Moore would. Was "local hermeneutics" what led to a more redemptive view of racial matters? Moore recounts: What changed all of this was not the evolution of the community toward something else. … [Read more...] about Interracial Marriage and Emergent Truth
Calvinism vs. Arminianism – II
Following up on my previous post, here is the executive summary of my response to Jerry Walls and Joe Dongell: Walls and Dongell believe that Calvinism portrays a tyrannical God who arbitrarily selects some for salvation and others for damnation, even though the latter are powerless to repent and believe in Christ. They maintain that the biblical passages expressing God’s general love for all mankind (John 3:16) and His desire that all be saved (I Tim. 2:4) suggest the Calvinist exegesis regarding effectual grace (for some) and definite atonement (for some) is severely misguided. In response, … [Read more...] about Calvinism vs. Arminianism – II