This Week in Calvinism - April 29, 2011

• Adrian Warnock vs. Rob Bell.
  
  
• Triablogue responds to Jerry Walls's argument against Calvinism.
  
  
• Calvinism is not merely a soteriology.
  
  
• The Seeking Disciple on when Arminians should team up with Calvinists.
  
  
• A "Calvinist universalist"?
  
  
• Phil Johnson reviews From the Finger of God: The Biblical and Theological Basis for the Threefold Division of the Law, by Philip S. Ross.
  
  
• The Desiring God 2011 Regional Conference begins today.

Free Book: The Passion of Jesus Christ

In this book John Piper presents fifty reasons why Jesus came to die on a cross:

The most important question of the twenty-first century is: Why did Jesus Christ suffer so much? But we will never see this importance if we fail to go beyond human cause. The ultimate answer to the question, Who crucified Jesus? is: God did. It is a staggering thought. Jesus was his Son. And the suffering was unsurpassed. But the whole message of the Bible leads to this conclusion.

Download a free copy from DesiringGod.org.

It's Friday, but Sunday's Comin'!

This Week in Calvinism - April 22, 2011

• Peter Lumpkins thinks Southern Baptists should "drop allegiance to being Baptist Calvinists and become self-described Baptist Fullerites."
  
  
• William Birch misrepresents Calvinists on the topic of evangelism. I've long since given up on trying to figure out why Arminians constantly rely on the same straw man arguments. Perhaps he's right when he says that "there is little hope for a befitting dialogue between Calvinists and Arminians."
  
  
• One retired preacher rejects Calvinism and Lordship salvation as unbiblical.
  
  
• Richard sees similarities between Darwin's thinking and Calvin's, believing "it shows that all falsehood, such as Darwinism and Calvinism, really has a common ancestor."
  
  
• Evangelical Calvinist Bobby Grow thinks TULIP Calvinism can lead to "navel-gazing spirituality...wherein a totally depraved, unconditionally elected person seeks to verify that he/she has actually been limitedly atoned for, and thus a recipient of irressitible grace by discerning through their good works that they indeed are a persevering saint."
  
  
• Chuck describes his journey to Calvinism.

This Week in Calvinism - April 15, 2011

• The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian.
  
  
• Listen to a special session from the 2011 Gospel Coalition Conference, convened in light of Rob Bell's book Love Wins. It's entitled "God: Abounding in Love, Punishing the Guilty."
  
  
• What exactly is a Reformed Baptist church?
  
  
• It's another "Free Stuff Friday" at Challies.com.
  
  
• Al Mohler discusses TIME's cover story "What if There's No Hell?"
  
  
• John MacArthur asks an important question: "Is Rob Bell truly a Christian, or is he one of those dangerous deceivers Scripture warns us about repeatedly?"

Unconditional Election Makes the Great Commission Possible

I believe the Great Commission would be impossible apart from the doctrine of unconditional election. If the winning of souls were entirely up to us, we would undoubtedly fail. The only reason any evangelist has won someone to Christ is because Christ has already gone into the world ahead of him. Or, to put it in Star Trek terms, Christ has boldly gone where no evangelist has gone before.

The God who has determined the end has also determined the means, and that includes believers going into all the world to proclaim the gospel. God has said that his word "shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). That is encouraging news for every believer.

This Week in Calvinism - April 8, 2011

• Brian McLaren admits his critical statement about John Piper was wrong. Sort of.
  
  
• Calvin and Zwingli discuss the sacraments.
  
  
• Tim Challies talks with Todd Friel about New Calvinism, Rob Bell, the gospel, and other topics.
  
  
• Sam Storms writes: "No one has made the case for the non-existence of honest atheists, with greater clarity and force, than John Calvin."
  
  
• Follow along with John Piper as he reads through his book, Desiring God.

A Stern Letter to the Apostle Paul

The following is an excerpt from an ancient letter recently discovered in a cave on the island of Satiricus. It is addressed to the Apostle Paul:

Our church recently received a copy of the letter that you sent to the church of Galatia. We hope you will not mind hearing our humble concerns. In the past we have noticed you are more interested in confronting people rather than conversing with them, but we hope you will receive this letter as an invitation to further dialogue.

First of all, we are uncomfortable with your tone throughout the correspondence. We know it is difficult sometimes to discern tone of voice from written communication, but you should keep this in mind as well. One could gather from your careless use of words that you are losing your temper. You certainly sound angry. This is unbecoming a spokesperson for the faith. As you say yourself, one of the manifest fruit of God’s Spirit is gentleness.

Aren't you being a hypocrite to preach grace but not show it to our Judaizer brothers? They may not worship as you do or emphasize the same teachings you do, but our Lord has "sheep not of this fold," and there is certainly room within the broader Way for these brothers. Their methodology may differ from yours, but certainly their hearts are in the right place.

Read the rest here.

Robbed Hell

Robbed Hell - C.A.S.T. Pearls Presents from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

The Gospel in Five Minutes

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

(via)

This Week in Arminianism - April 1, 2011

• The Seeking Disciple on the imputation of righteousness through Christ's resurrection.
  
  
• Kevin Jackson discusses Arminian theology as it pertains to the parable of the prodigal son.
  
  
• The problem with modern Arminians.
  
  
• William Birch explains what Arminius and the Remonstrants believed regarding the exclusivity of the gospel.
  
  
• J. C. Thibodaux continues his series of posts on the fallacy of Calvinist apologetics.
  
  
• Has John MacArthur misrepresented Arminianism?

Kyle Roberts: God is in Charge, but Not in Control

Kyle Roberts, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, is no longer a Calvinist. Why? Because of natural disasters like the one that hit Japan earlier this month. Form his article "Tsunamis: Or, Why I'm No Longer a Calvinist":

Many Calvinists find comfort in the conviction that God has absolute control over every aspect of life. Some argue that if God isn't scrupulously directing the tough times, including national tragedies and global catastrophes, why should we expect him to direct the good times? This is a fair point. If God wasn't "in control" of the tsunami, why should we suppose him to be in control over the precariousness of a child's birth or an arduous, frustrating job search? It's all or nothing. Right?

Is it really? Does providence only count if God is a micro-manager? Can God be a macro-manager and still be sovereign over the present and the future? Can God be in charge of the whole but not in control of every single detail? I think so. And I think this is the general thrust of the scriptural witness.

Ah, yes. The "God is in charge, but not in control" argument. Roberts offers further clarification of his position in the comments section:

God "could" intervene in such things, but from another angle God "can't," because he values freedom to such an extent that he will not constantly interrupt it...that is, he values both human freedom and creational, natural freedom to such an extent.

Um...a little scriptural support here? What about God's freedom? Are we to believe that the freedom of the Creator is less important than that of his creation? I'm not sure where this notion comes from that God isn't constantly interrupting human freedom; the pages of scripture are filled with examples to the contrary. Just ask Saul of Tarsus.

Roberts comments further:

[T]here were tsunamis and earthquakes for millions of years before morally culpable homo sapiens arrived on the scene. So no, it doesn't make much sense to say humans are morally culpable for the natural suffering that arises from them (except when humans elevate and intensify that suffering through social evils, such as vast economic disparity and inadequate housing conditions).

Ah! Here we go. "Millions of years." "Economic disparity." At least now we know where Roberts is coming from. But regarding his statement about humans not being morally culpable when it comes to natural disasters: What about the Flood?

Now, if he is suggesting that we cannot know exactly why God sends tsunamis to a particular location, I would agree. But I do know that death came into this world as a result of sin (Romans 5:12), and that all of creation was "subjected to futility" because of Adam's sin (Romans 8:20). I think natural disasters certainly fall into that category.

There is one question Roberts avoided entirely: When the tsunami hit the Japanese coast, was God in control of who lived and who died? Scripture teaches that "it is appointed for man to die once" (Hebrews 9:27), and that our "days are determined" (Job 14:5). That's a HUGE question that must be addressed if one is going to make the claim that God is merely in charge of his creation and not actively controlling it.

Free Download from ChristianAudio.com

ChristianAudio.com is offering a free download of John Piper's booklet Jesus: The Only Way to God. The offer ends March 31.

This Week in Calvinism - March 25, 2011

• The King James Bible, the anti-Calvinist answer to the Geneva Bible, turns 400 this year.
  
  
• Brian McLaren responds to John Piper's post about the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan earlier this month: "To me, as I reflect on the Scriptures and on the jagged history of our planet, it is better to say that God's sovereignty is not totalitarian. God isn't the kind of king interested in absolute control. God wouldn't create that kind of relationship with the universe because God isn't that kind of God. Instead, God creates space and time for a universe to be, to become, to unfold in its own story, its own evolution."
  
  
• Tsunamis. That pretty much sums up why Kyle Roberts is no longer a Calvinist.
  
  
• Rich finds it "rather unsettling to have to contemplate the fact that John Calvin may have had more of an influence on Western thought than Plato or Aristotle."

Proverbs 23:20-21