July 2009
Friday Files: Edgar's The Meaning of Proginwskw (Foreknowledge)
Submitted by Godismyjudge on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 7:13amThomas R. Edgar's THE MEANING OF PROGINWSKW (“FOREKNOWLEDGE”) is a word study on 'foreknow' and 'foreknowledge'. Edgar first notes that "In secular Greek, proginwskw meant “to foreknow, to know beforehand.” Scholars do not seriously dispute this definition." He then contends that "due to strong evidence for the meaning “know beforehand,” those who argue otherwise face the burden of proof for establishing the exegetical necessity for their proposed meaning. The theoretical possibility or the interpreter’s theological propensity is not sufficient. If “to know beforehand” fits the meaning in a New Testament passage, then this must be the preferred interpretation."
Setting the Record Straight: The Current State of Reformed Arminianism (Part Three of Three Parts)
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 7:13amR. C. Sproul, in his Willing to Believe, notes:
- Repeatedly the Synod of Dort charges the Remonstrants with teaching the doctrines of Pelagianism. Is not this charge overly severe and unfair? Both Arminius and the Remonstrants sought to distance themselves from pure Pelagianism.
Arminianism is often said to be semi-Pelagian, but not, strictly speaking, Pelagian. What the fathers of Dort probably had in mind is the link between semi-Pelagianism and Pelagianism that renders the semi-Pelagian unable to escape the fundamental thesis of Pelagianism.1
But are the "fathers of Dort" right in their estimation? Is there a link between semi-Pelagianism and Arminianism? Though we agree with the Dortians that the "link between semi-Pelagianism and Pelagianism . . . renders the semi-Pelagian unable to escape the fundamental thesis of Pelagianism," we will witness a rather glaring, broken link between semi-Pelagianism and Arminianism below.
Setting the Record Straight: The Current State of Modern Reformed Arminianism (Part Two of Three Parts)
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 10:10amIn the (1973) preface of his book Knowing God, J. I. Packer writes, "For more than three centuries the naturalistic leaven in the Renaissance outlook has been working like a cancer in Western thought. Seventeenth-century Arminians and deists, like sixteenth-century Socinians, came to deny, as against Reformation theology, that God's control of his world was either direct or complete, and theology, philosophy and science have for the most part combined to maintain that denial ever since."1
In one fell swoop Packer has lumped Arminians with the heresies of the Deists and Socinians. Is Packer right in doing this? That "seventeenth-century Arminians" denied Reformation theology of God's sovereignty is only part of the story. They did not deny God's sovereignty, they denied the Calvinistic view of God's sovereignty.
Setting the Record Straight: The Current State of Modern Reformed Arminianism (Part One of Three Parts)
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 7:20amCornelius Van Til (1895-1987), in his The Defense of the Faith writes, "since the whole debate between the Christian and the non-Christian positions revolves about the question of the relation of the eternal to the temporal or of God to man, it will be apparent that we must hold that Arminianism can offer no effective apologetic for Christianity."1
Apologetics is the defense of one's faith. What might one suppose was the cause of Van Til's conclusion? He continued, "It is up to the Arminian to show, if he can, that his view offers a better apologetic for Christianity than that offered by the Calvinist."2 His reason will be discussed below.
Interesting Links 7-26-09
Submitted by Kevin Jackson on Sun, 07/26/2009 - 7:03amBritish Calvinist Peter Masters criticizes the new American Calvinism. "The new Calvinism is not a resurgence but an entirely novel formula which strips the doctrine of its historic practice, and unites it with the world." Masters is the current pastor of Charles Spurgeon's church.
God in the Hands of Angry Calvinists. Describing the angry behavior of some Calvinists, William Birch writes that "How we view God affects how we think and act."
Ephesians 1:7-10; A Devotional
Submitted by Martin Glynn on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 7:45amBecause this is all one sentence in the Greek, I wanted to go back and treat it the way it deserves: as one thought.
[It is in the Beloved that] we have redemption through His blood: the excusing of sins according to the abundance of His grace which He teemed into us in all wisdom and understanding having revealed to us the secret of His will, according to His good judgment, which, through Christ, was preplanned for managing the fulfillment of times in order to coalesce all things in Christ throughout the heavens and the earth.
Friday Files: Morison’s commentary on Romans 9
Submitted by Godismyjudge on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:12amIn James Morison’s commentary on Romans 9, he makes the three helpful points about God’s promise that the greater shall serve the lesser. First, it was not said of Rebecca but to her, second it should be translated greater/lesser, not elder/younger, and third it’s a prediction. He also makes the point that Jacob and Esau should be considered as Nations, not individuals and that God’s hating Esau means He loved and blessed Esau less than Jacob. Morison understands the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart to mean giving Pharaoh boldness to do what he already wanted to do by removing Pharaoh’s fear of the consequences.
Here’s Morison’s high level summary of the Romans 9-11:
Exegeting 1 Timothy 2:4: God Our Savior, Who Desires All People To Be Saved
Submitted by WilliamBirch on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 9:17amTo some Calvinists, the very mention of an Arminian exegesis of 1 Timothy 2:4, in an effort to defend the biblical notion that God desires the salvation of every individual on earth, is insulting, both logically and theologically.
As Alan Kurschner, from the Triablogue blog, stated, "Arminians start with the human-centered assumption that if God does not love all people undifferentiated, then he would be unjust to love some more than others. The Calvinist begins with the Biblical principle that because man is unworthy of grace and deserving only of death, God in his holiness, wisdom, and freedom chooses to love and elect any creature he desires."
John Wesley Charges that Calvinism Makes God Out to Be Worse than the Devil
Submitted by SEA on Tue, 07/21/2009 - 10:44amTo follow up on Roger Olson's essay recently posted here, perhaps it would be appropriate to post an excerpt from John Wesley's famous sermon, "Free Grace", in which he made a very similar charge about Calvinism as Olson, but more passionately and more forcefully. Whereas Olson states that Calvinism's consistent divine determinism makes it difficult for him to tell the difference between God and the devil in the system, Wesley says that the system makes God worse than the devil and so is blasphemous (and he explains why). Now Wesley accepted Calvinists as brothers in Christ, so he surely did not mean that Calvinists are blasphemers or that they worship a false god or anything of the sort. I take him to mean that the logical implications of Calvinism are blasphemous, which Calvinists themselves might not really see, and which Wesley labored to help them see to bring them to the more bibilical position of Arminianism.
Calvin Taught Unconditional Predestination of Man to Sin and Condemnation
Submitted by SEA on Mon, 07/20/2009 - 9:06amAs follow up to Roger Olson's essay recently posted here (http://evangelicalarminians.org/Roger-Olson-My-Biggest-Problem-with-Calv...), it could be helpful to post some examples from Calvin (as a representative of Calvinism) that invite the sort of remonstration (= objection) made by Olson and other Arminians against Calvinism. Today we post a few examples of highly unbiblical and therefore objectionable doctrine from Calvin. Tomorrow, we plan to post comments from John Wesley in the same vein as Olson's (but more forceful and fiery).
John Calvin not only taught that God willed the fall of Adam, but that He ordained it as well. Here are some quotes:
Again they object: were they not previously predestined by God’s
ordinance to that corruption which is now claimed as the cause of
condemnation? When, therefore, they perish in their corruption, they
but pay the penalties of that misery in which Adam fell by the