Foreknowledge
An Explanation of Simple Foreknowledge
Submitted by Kevin Jackson on Mon, 04/16/2012 - 12:08pmIn the book Against Calvinism, Roger Olson asserts that Calvinism damages God's reputation, and that it (unintentionally) turns God into a moral monster who is hardly distinguishable from the devil. Olson doesn't argue that Calvinists affirm that God is like the devil. Rather, in his view it is the logical implication of Calvinism. It's a strong assertion, but I agree. John Wesley did also.
Church Fathers on Foreknowledge and Freewill
Some Calvinists suggest that God's foreknowledge is based on His plan and/or knowledge of causal relations rather then based on the future. I thought I would look up what the church fathers had to say on the subject of God's foreknowledge and freewill. Here are the results.
Diodore of Tarsus (circa 390)
This text [Romans 8:29-30] does not take away our free will. It uses the word foreknew before predestined. Now it is clear that foreknowledge does not by itself impose any particular behavior. What is said here would be clearer if we started from the end and worked backwards. Whom did God glorify? Those whom he justified. Whom did he predestine? Those whom he foreknew, who were called according to his plan, i.e., who demonstrated that they were worthy to be called by his plan and made conformable to Christ. (Romans (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament, volume 6. Edited by Thomas Oden. P 235)
Xenos Christian Fellowship - Soteriology: Calvinism & Arminianism; God's Providence
Submitted by drwayman on Tue, 03/06/2012 - 8:30amIt's refreshing to see an accurate portrayal of the positions of both Calvinism written so fairly and simply. Obviously, Xenos tends toward Arminianism which is another refreshing aspect of this lesson on Soteriology.
The lesson starts thusly: "The central issue we want to study tonight is the interplay between God's sovereignty and human choice with regard to salvation. Do humans have free will to believe or reject the gospel? How should we understand the New Testament's statements about election and predestination?"
For the complete lesson, go to:
Roger Olson, Some thoughts about my conversation with Michael Horton
Posted on February 4, 2012 by rogereolson
Some Thoughts about My Conversation with Michael Horton
I spoke about why I am “Against Calvinism” for about 15 minutes focusing on the goodness of God and how classical, “high Calvinism” is inconsistent with any meaning of “good” and “love” known to us. Then Mike spoke for about 15 minutes focusing on humanity’s depravity and God’s mercy in electing some to salvation. In other words, he also said that God is good even if not in terms of our “fairness” (because he doesn’t save everyone).
Does God repent? - Bible Answer Man clarifies
Submitted by drwayman on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 9:38amThe classic King James Version of the Bible says, “It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:6). Elsewhere, God says, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments” (1 Samuel 15:11). If God is perfect, how could he repent?
First, the Bible unequivocally teaches that God is perfectly good and thus incapable of doing evil (Psalm 5:4–5; James 1:13; 3 John 1:11). As such, God’s repentance must not be understood as entailing moral guilt. Indeed, the moral perfection of the Creator sets him apart from his sin–tainted creation (Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Peter 1:15–16).
Jack Cottrell - Understanding God: God and Time
An article by Arminian Theologian Jack Cottrell.
Cottrell speculates about God’s relation to time, and the nature and extent of God's foreknowledge. Is God timeless (outside of time)? Or does God experience time in some sense (everlasting)? Cottrell argues that God does experience time, but that he is metatemporal – God experiences his own time, and also created our time.
The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacies #12 & #13: The Arminian View of Divine Foreknowledge Attacks God’s Simplicity and Immutability
Submitted by JC_Thibodaux on Fri, 07/22/2011 - 2:12pmRelated Fallacies:
Conflation
Hasty Generalization
Oversimplification
Tim Prussic attempts to salvage his hopeless case after I pointed out his fallacious reasoning concerning God's aseity. Tim makes a tenuous appeal to divine simplicity; in his words,
The Fallacies of Calvinist Apologetics – Fallacy #11: The Arminian View of Divine Foreknowledge Attacks God's Aseity
Submitted by JC_Thibodaux on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 1:28pmRelated fallacies:
Non Sequitur
Equivocation
Special Pleading
One apparent ramification of holding to both libertarian free will and God's omniscience is that God (apparently) derives His knowledge of our choices from us, since our choices ultimately come from us. A while back I had a run-in with a Mr. Tim Prussic, who employed an argument I've seen before: Calvinists who hold to exhaustive determinism will often argue that God having knowledge that is in some way based upon human will undermines His aseity.
Defining "Aseity"
Nelson’s Dictionary of Christianity Gets it Wrong: Examining the So Called "15 Major Tenets of Arminianism"
Submitted by Ben Henshaw on Wed, 06/08/2011 - 12:46pmAbout a year ago I engaged in a conversation with someone who kept misrepresenting Arminian and Wesleyan teaching while insisting that his claims were “historical facts”. This person kept making reference to the “15 Major Tenets of Arminianism” to back up his claims. I had no idea what this could be a reference to since I was not familiar with any document written by Arminius or the Remonstrants that went by such a name. As it turns out, the so called “15 Major Tenets of Arminianism” is a sub-title given under the heading “Arminianism” in Nelson’s Dictionary of Christianity. Below is a critique proving that these 15 tenets are far from representative of Arminian theology.
The 15 Major Tenets of Arminianism are:
1. Human beings are free agents and human events are mediated by the foreknowledge of God.
Arminianism, Calvinism, Open Theism & Universalism
Submitted by neborg on Fri, 05/27/2011 - 10:00amHere are some thoughts of SEA members on the relationship between
Arminianism, Calvinism, Open Theism, and Universalism. Sometimes
Calvinists accuse Arminianism of being the stepping stone to Open
Theism or Universalism, but is this accusation really founded?
It is true that there is a relationship between the different groups,
but in some ways, it is actually Calvinism that is closer to Open
Theism and Universalism.
