This Week in Calvinism - June 25, 2010

• Jeff Peterson points out that even Arminians believe God forces His grace upon men against their will.
  
  
• Spurgeon on evangelism.
  
  
• You can check out TurretinFan's debate with Louis Ruggiero on the hardening of Pharaoh's heart.
  
  
• Ergun Caner and presuppositionalism.
  
  
• Sure, Mark Driscoll can be a bit brusque at times, but misogynistic?

This Week in Calvinism - June 18, 2010

• Jon J. Cardwell is on part 3 in a series of posts entitled "God's Purpose in Election."
  
  
• Yet another rant against Calvinism.
  
  
• Introducing C. G. Spurgeon.
  
  
• Tim Challies reviews the book Burning Down the Shack by James De Young.
  
  
• It's nice to know that Calvinists aren't as annoying or confusing as Barthians.
  
  
• William Birch doesn't like the Calvinist claim that Arminians believe man has an inherent free will. He writes, "Arminius notes that the will is not free to choose Christ, but must be freed from its bondage to sin by God's power and grace in order for one to trust in Him for salvation." However, according to Arminian theology, the final decision whether to follow Christ or not is up to the individual. So are all men free to make that decision? If so, when exactly is the will freed to make it? If, on the other hand, all men aren't free to make that decision, then how is that any different from Calvinism?
  
  
• You can watch the live webcast of Ligonier Ministries' 2010 National Conference here.

Watch the Live Webcast of Ligonier Ministries' 2010 National Conference

Here is the conference schedule (Times Eastern):

Thursday, June 17
9:00 - 9:20 a.m.
The Brave New World of New Media - Ed Stetzer

9:25 - 9:45 a.m.
Principles for Conduct in Communication - Tim Challies

10:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Taking Captive New Media for the Church - Burk Parsons

10:25 - 10:45 a.m.
The Hypersocialized Generation - Albert Mohler

10:55 - 11:55 a.m.
Questions & Answers

3:10 - 4:10 p.m.
Why Did Jesus Have to Die? - John MacArthur

5:10 - 6:00 p.m.
Is the Doctrine of Inerrancy Defensible? - Michael Horton

8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Does the Doctrine of Divine Decrees Eliminate Human Will? - John MacArthur

Friday, June 18
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
What Is Evil and Where Did It Come From?, R.C. Sproul

9:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Why Do Christians Still Sin? - R.C. Sproul Jr.

11:40 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
How Do We Know Which Interpretation Is Right? - Derek Thomas

2:30 - 3:25 p.m.
Is the Bible Just Another Book? - Steven Lawson

4:15 - 5:15 p.m.
Is the Exclusivity of Christ Unjust? - Alistair Begg

7:15 - 8:30 p.m.
Questions & Answers

Saturday, June 19
8:30 - 9:40 a.m.
Why Does the Universe Look So Old? - Albert Mohler

9:40 - 10:30 a.m.
Is Calvinism Good for the Church? - Burk Parsons

11:15 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
If God Is Good, How Could He Command Holy War? - Derek Thomas

12:05 - 1:00 p.m.
Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing of Loved Ones in Hell? - R.C. Sproul

Watch it live here.

This Week in Calvinism - June 11, 2010

• Paul Manata on how Arminianism allows Calvinism to escape the charge that it makes God the "author of evil."
  
  
• Yes, doctrine divides, but that's what it's supposed to do.
  
  
• Nathanael Taylor has posted a paper entitled "Biblical Evidence for Substitutionary Atonement and Double Imputation in 2 Corinthians 5." It's a good read, and certainly more scholarly than anything you'll find on my blog.
  
  
• Calvinists have the TULIP, but Arminians have the FACTS.

This Week in Calvinism - June 4, 2010

• Many Arminians claim that Calvinism makes God the author of evil. Paul Manata responds: "We can do the same with peace and salvation. If 'author' means what Arminians say it means, then they should become Calvinists. They should deny that God foresaw their faith apart from his decree, plan, origination. God masterminded their salvation, planned their salvation, caused their salvation, and set the initial conditions in place for their salvation to follow as a consequent."
  
  
• Is Mark Driscoll the face of contemplative Calvinism?
  
  
• Calvinists should stay away from Arminian dentists.
  
  
• Some Arminians consider it unbiblical, heinous, and shocking to hear Calvinists say, as John Piper has, that God "decides who will believe and undeservingly be saved and who will rebel and deservingly perish." (By the way, that quote can be found in context here.) Funny how they can read Romans 9:22-24 and never level that same accusation at Paul.
  
  
• Michael Horton reviews N. T. Wright's book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.
  
  
• The Irish Calvinist on learning contrition, mercy and forgiveness on the baseball field.

Quote of the Week - June 1, 2010

From R. C. Sproul Jr.:

"Unbelievers deny God precisely because they would rather live not-guilty in a world of nonsense than be guilty in a universe that makes sense."

This Week in Calvinism - May 28, 2010

• John Calvin on the value of the Psalms.
  
  
• An Arminian Molinist samples four flavors of causal determinism.
  
  
• Paul's doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
  
  
• As a partial preterist/amillennialist, I never understood full or hyper preterism. One of the problems that jumps out at me is the concept of this world, along with sin and death, continuing forever. Sam Frost examines full preterism and the problem of infinity. Yeah, it's a pretty big problem.
  
  
• Seumas Macdonald on the link between hyper-Calvinism and Pelagianism.

This Week in Calvinism - May 21, 2010

• Stephen Macasil on the dark side of Chuck Smith.
  
  
• A.M. Mallett finds the Calvinist use of the phrase "doctrines of grace" offensive and eschews the "near blasphemous regard for God's character represented by elements of TULIP."
  
  
• Arminian William Birch presents what he thinks might be a Calvinist interpretation of Genesis 4.
  
  
• Colin Maxwell responds to Mr. Birch.
  
  
• Calvin and Aimee asked, "Should we marry if we're theologically divided?" Russell Moore offers his response.

This Week in Calvinism - May 14, 2010

• Justin Taylor interviews Mark Driscoll about his new book, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe.
  
  
• Derek Ashton is a bad Calvinist (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, conclusion.
  
  
• Matt Svoboda explains what the Ergun Caner controversy is really about.
  
  
• Carl Gobelman on the extent of the atonement.
  
  
• Steve Hays addresses the Arminian claim that it's possible for Christians to lose their salvation.
  
  
• J.C. Thibodaux, one who believes Christians can lose their salvation, responds: "Just as Israel fell in the wilderness after being saved from the wrath of Pharaoh, so the scriptures warn us against likewise incurring God's judgment after He has shown us His goodness." Of course, this completely ignores the fact that while the people of Israel did "fall away" and were disciplined, they were still God's chosen people and the covenant made with Abraham remained intact. Paul makes this pretty clear in Romans 11:1.
  
  
• Steve Hays fires back.

Coming Soon to a Church Near You

This Week in Calvinism - May 7, 2010

• A Catholic poster on Theology Web thought he could "demonstrate rationally and scripturally the invalidation of Calvinism, penal substitution and imputed righteousness taught by the reformer, John Calvin." You kind of have to read the nonsense to believe it.
  
  
• How many Christians are Calvinists? Two percent? Don Bryant thinks "a case could be made for even less."
  
  
• J. K. Jones is on part 2 in his layman’s critique of Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism.
  
  
• Randy Olds wonders, "Can a true Calvinist truly repent?" After all, if God determines everything, why should anyone be sorry for their sins?
  
  
• James White weighs in on the Ergun Caner fiasco.

How to Pray Badly

Tim Challies has an excellent post on prayer:

It is the Lord's delight to grant us what we ask of him in prayer. Like David, we all ought to pray, "O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth" (Psalm 54:2). If Christians did not believe in the effectiveness of prayer, there would be no reason for us to ask anything of God. He is the one who tells us that we can have confidence that our prayers ascend to him. "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:14,15). While as Christians we pay lip-service to the superlatives in that sentence ("whatever" and "anything"), how often do we really believe it?

The fact is that our prayers are often hindered. There are times when it feels like our prayers are reaching the ceiling and going no further; times when we are lying face-down on the floor and feel that our prayers are rising no higher than the fibers of the carpet. While we can be sure that God does hear our prayers, there are times when he chooses not to heed or answer them.

Read the full post here.

This Week in Calvinism - April 23, 2010

• Chuck Wiese hopes to host a Calvinism vs. Lutheranism debate and cook-off.
  
  
• Steve Hays with another example of the "Calvinists are mean" meme .
  
  
• Notes from a reluctant Calvinist.
  
  
• The Reformation Study Bible is the "worst Bible ever"?
  
  
• Tim Brister is between hyper-Calvinism and pragmatism.

Jason Robertson on Covenant Theology

What is Covenant Theology, and who subscribes to it? Jason Robertson starts off by explaining what Covenant Theology is not:

• It is not a response to dispensationalism — for dispensationalism, in fact, did not even exist until the nineteenth century.
  
• It does not teach paedobaptism, covenant successionism, paedocommunionism, or baptismal regenerationism.
  
• It does not teach any kind of philosophy of education such as homeschooling or Christian schools.
  
• It is not sectarian, but has roots from the early church to all the branches of the Reformed church.
  
• It is not anti-Semitic nor "replacement theology", but CT teaches the fulfillment of the promises to Israel in the person and the work of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who established the church in organic continuity with Israel, not a separate replacement entity.
  
  Covenant Theology is a system of theology that explains the entire Bible in one systematized story organized around three great covenants (Redemption, Works, Grace). CT is a hermeneutic, an approach to understanding Scripture, biblically explaining the unity of biblical revelation.

Read the full post here.

This Week in Calvinism - April 16, 2010

• Bobby Grow promises that his blog, The Evangelical Calvinist, will focus more on Calvinistic stuff. His other theological thoughts can be found at his new blog, Christianly. By the way, he will be having cancer surgery on May 6, so please keep him in your prayers.
  
  
• Allen Yeh on paedobaptism vs. credobaptism.
  
  
• Dr. James Galyon on the heinous error of hyper-Calvinism.
  
  
• The Seeking Disciple asks, "Does Calvinism make it easier to sin?"