This Week in Calvinism - July 19, 2013

• Is Molinism as depressing as Calvinism? "No," says William Lane Craig.
  
  
• Julie Anne thinks that "Patriarchy is complementarianism PLUS more, just as Neo Calvinism is Calvinism PLUS more."
  
  
• Many people say it is unfair for God to save some and not others. While Jason Dulle believes "there are formidable theological, exegetical, and philosophical problems with Calvinism," he has "come to think that the 'fairness' objection is not a good argument against Calvinism."
  
  
• A friend asks you to pass out evangelistic tracts with an anti-Calvinist message, saying, "Let's go save some Calvinists!" What would you do?
  
  
• Bob Hadley says, "Calvinism teaches that the gospel has NO POWER to save the unregenerate. ... So just like Lazarus who was dead, the gospel has no power to save or give new life in the calvinist (sic) system." I always thought the concept that the God who ordains the end also ordains the means was pretty straightforward. I guess not.
  
  
• Tim Keller and John Piper discuss C. S. Lewis.
  
  
• What is the devotional impact of limited atonement? Richard Phillips writes, "We praise God that we are not required to earn what Christ has done for us, for we never could do so. We receive His death by simple faith alone. Jesus never demands that we earn what He did for us."

This Week in Calvinism - July 12, 2013

• A video has been posted of the SBC 2013 Calvinism Advisory Panel.
  
  
• In a recent interview regarding his position on eternal security, Scot McKnight says, "If some want to counter my views, fine, but the only thing that interests me is if they can show that the audience [of Hebrews] is not genuine believers. If they can, I'll listen but if they want to show how they can explain the text as Calvinists...well, been there and done that."
  
  
• While many evangelicals and Catholics have found common ground, Calvinism continues to divide Protestants.
  
  
• There is a new course on Calvinism from John Piper. You can download the entire seminar in six parts.

This Week in Calvinism - July 5, 2013

• Roger Olson responds to the responses to his response to the SBC committee's report on Calvinism...
  
  
• ...and then feels the need to make one more point.
  
  
• Jason Hiles, one of the men at the center of Louisiana College's Calvinism debate, has been hired as the dean of the college of theology at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
  
  
• Speaking of Louisiana College, "Two investigations into charges of misconduct by Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard found a trail of apparently conflicting documents, but neither group investigating Aguillard interviewed all of the key parties."
  
  
• Andrew Fuller's defense of Calvinism.
  
  
• Jason Helopoulos addresses the question: Does Calvinism kill missions? (SPOILER ALERT: No, it doesn't.)
  
  
• If you think 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is the antidote for Calvinism, then you don't know how to read scripture in context. At the very least look at the preceding verse, for crying out loud.
  
  
• Whenever you read a statement like "Calvinism is an abominable theological position," you can safely assume the writer is going to rely on emotion rather than scripture to support his position. Well, what do you know. That's exactly what Bob Hadley did.

How Christians Should Respond to Conspiracy Theories

From the left and from the right, from man-made global warming to the New World Order, we're constantly bombarded by conspiracy theories. Franklin Sanders tells us how Christians should respond:

Nothing comes to us before God determines, or without God determining, but only exactly when God determines. If he sent it, he will turn it. If he sent it, then he has already made us ready to handle it. If he sent it, no matter how painful, how wrong, how tyrannous on the part of evildoers, yet he will cause it to work for good. Therefore Paul can call himself not the prisoner of the Romans, but the prisoner of Christ, because if he was in prison, he was there because God put him there, and would work greater things through him there than in freedom. Besides, we know that evil things will, most certainly, happen to his adopted children because thus he sanctifies us and conforms us to the image of Christ by sharing his sufferings. Now if Christ himself had to learn obedience through suffering, how will we learn it without?

There are no accidents.

The wicked are not in charge.

God works all things together for good to his beloved.

This Week in Calvinism - June 28, 2013

• Jerry Faught writes, "For now at least, fundamentalism is the new center holding the SBC together, despite the repudiations of post-takeover SBC seminarians who continue to assert that they are either conservative evangelicals or Reformed evangelicals."
  
  
• Is Al Mohler "the most important Calvinist on the planet"?
  
  
• Some of the wording in the SBC committee's report on Calvinism has Roger Olson worried about disingenuous Calvinists:

  I tend to think that no self-respecting Calvinist can or should ever say that "God loves everyone and desires to save everyone" without following that immediately with "but sovereignly chooses to allow some he could save to go to hell for eternity without any real opportunity to be saved." That would be totally honest and forthcoming. Less is not.

  
  
• American Vision's Joel McDurmon wants to know: "Is the PCA on a similar path as the PCUSA?"
  
  
• Kevin O'Brien calls Calvinists "narcissistic nihilists" who might as well support abortion because they "see rights resulting from power only. If you [have] enough power to have a solid claim to life, you have a right to keep it; if you don't, or if you prove useless to someone who has more power than you, you have no rights." Yep. It's a good thing we Calvinists all know exactly which individuals are elect and which are not.
  
  
• If you can't stomach reading Paul Dohse's anti-Calvinist rants, you probably won't want to watch these videos from his anti-Calvinist 2013 Conference on Gospel Discernment and Spiritual Tyranny.

Evolution vs. God

Available for download on July 9.

This Week in Calvinism - June 21, 2013

• Tim Brister offers his take on the "Baptist Battle of Calvinism."
  
  
• Joe Aguillard, president of Louisiana College, in a recent interview, claims he doesn't like labels. That may explain why he has a hard time distinguishing between Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism.
  
  
• At long last, Roger Olson responds to the statement from the SBC's Calvinism Advisory Committee. "When I read this statement," he writes, "I want it to be adopted, with proper modifications, by American evangelicals as a whole."
  
  
• Alan Kurschner sets the record straight regarding a disturbing rumor that has been circulating about Calvinists.
  
  
• "Predestination." You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

This Week in Calvinism - June 14, 2013

• Kevin Gutzman of The American Conservative reviews the book Roger Sherman and the Creation of the American Republic. Author Mark David Hall says, "I am not arguing that Calvinism was the only influence on Sherman and his colleagues, simply that it was a very important influence that needs to be taken more seriously if we are to appreciate the political theory and actions of many of America's founders."
  
  
• According to Greg Horton of the Kansas City Star, "One aspect of Calvinism that makes traditional Baptists deeply uncomfortable is the doctrine of 'predestination,' the idea that Jesus died on the cross only for humans whom God had elected to save, not for everyone."
  
  
• "That idea," writes the Associated Press, "does not sit well with many non-Calvinist Baptists, who believe Jesus died for the whole world."
  
  
• By the way, the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting in Houston on June 11 and 12.
  
  
• Thomas Hill shares some of the highlights from the convention.
  
  
• Wade Burleson, in a post entitled "How to Kiss Calvinism Goodbye: The Gracious Way to Depart from the Doctrine of God's Distinguishing Love," writes, "To rightly believe in God's sovereignty and God's unconditional love you must either be a Calvinist or a universalist."
  
  
• Roger Olson takes issue with the implication "that universal salvation is the only alternative to Calvinism."
  
  
• An inspiring free will poster from Eddie Eddings.

Dealing with Spiritual Sluggishness

Jon Bloom of Desiring God discusses a problem I believe most of us suffer from more often than we like to admit:

Spiritual sluggishness is not to be tolerated; it's to be fought. It's potentially a faith-race abortifacient (Hebrews 3:19). It's a weight that needs to be laid aside (Hebrews 12:2). So how do you do that?

1. Identify the doubt. Sluggishness has a cause. What is sapping your faith?
   
   
2. Repent. Unbelief is a sin. Seek to actively turn from it.
   
   
3. Target that unbelief with biblical truth. Stop whatever else you may be doing for devotional reading and focus on and pray through texts that deal directly with this issue. Lay aside your other book reading and read things that address this doubt.
   
   
4. Don't go it alone. Humble yourself and share your struggle with trusted counselors God has given you. Our great Coach often speaks through assistant coaches (Hebrews 3:13).

Spiritual sluggishness is common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13). We all experience it. In the slog of our long faith-race and the adversity we encounter from the world, our flesh, and the devil (Ephesians 2:2–3), there are times the reward gets obscured by confusion and discouragements.

Though we may not want them, these are when we most need our Coach's exhortations. They may sting, they may humble us, but they are laced with mercy because they help clear our muddled minds, shake off the lethargy, and run again with endurance.

Read the full article here.

This Week in Calvinism - June 7, 2013

• Adam Harwood lists five reasons why he's thankful for the SBC Calvinism committee's report.
  
  
• It seems the report is receiving pretty good reviews all-around.
  
  
• Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard believes the root of all conflict at the school is Calvinism.
  
  
• There are Calvinist Baptists, so why are there no Lutheran Baptists?
  
  
• No, really, why not?
  
  
• Calvinism aside, fewer Americans believe that religion is influential on daily American lives.
  
  
• Roger Olson has some ideas for a children's book after hearing of the recent publication of Help, Mom! There are Arminians Under My Bed!

Gary North Discusses the Ron Paul Homeschool Curriculum

The curriculum officially launches on September 2 of this year. Read more about this revolutionary educational endeavor at RonPaulCurriculum.com.

Onward Christian Guerrilla Soldiers!

Looking for a more sneaky way to reach people with the gospel? Here are a few ideas...

(via 22 Words)

Things Christians (Including Some Calvinists) Say

This Week in Calvinism - May 31, 2013

• An old straw man presented as a "new argument" against Calvinism.
  
  
• Battle lines are being drawn in the Sovereign Grace Ministries controversy.
  
  
• Remember the Calvinism Advisory Committee set up by the SBC? It has finally released its statement on the issue, entitled "Truth, Trust, and Testimony in a Time of Tension." So I guess that means the issue is settled once and for all.
  
  
• Denny Burk writes, "This is a good statement, one that I hope that Southern Baptists will unify around." Also endorsing the statement are notable Calvinists like Mark Dever, Tom Ascol, and Al Mohler.
  
  
• Peter Lumpkins, in a rare display of disciplined restraint, says, "I do not want to comment on the report itself before carefully reading it first." I'm sure we're all waiting with bated breath for his well-reasoned response.

Unpublished Journals from Spurgeon's Early Years

Desiring God's Tony Reinke recently interviewed Spurgeon scholar Tom Nettles, the Professor of Historical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Nettles is the author of the forthcoming book Living by Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Also interviewed was theologian and author Christian George, the Jewell and Joe L. Huitt Assistant Professor of Religious Education at Oklahoma Baptist University. It was while he was studying in London a few years ago that George discovered 11 journals kept by the Prince of Preachers during the early years of his ministry. The journals contain unpublished sermons and various drawings of birds, showing Spurgeon's artistic side:

Professor George is currently transcribing Spurgeon's journals for publication.