This Week in Calvinism - January 27, 2012

• Pastor Daniel Ausbun writes, "Calvinism has an appeal because it tends to have an answer for everything -- you can explain everything by saying God predestined it." In his next column, he plans to "have a biblical critique of this trendy theology."
  
  
• Can the roots of animosity toward Calvinism among Southern Baptists be traced back to the Civil War War of Northern Aggression?
  
  
• Paul thinks New Calvinism teaches a false gospel of works-based salvation.
  
  
• "Calvinism is a 'brilliant' counterfeit belief system that is introduced as a 'system' of belief. It mostly attracts people who believe their intellectually superior to others." Apparently this person doesn't... Wait. "Their"?
  
  
• Part 2 of a discussion on Calvinism between Roger Olson and Michael Horton.
  
  
• Eight ways to approach scripture from J. C. Ryle.

A Brief Message to Pro-Choice Women

Pro-lifers are not telling you what you can or can't do with your body.

This Week in Calvinism - January 20, 2012

• Michael Horton and Roger Olson discuss Calvinism.
  
  
• Dan Phillips reviews (and recommends) Thomas R. Schreiner's book 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law.
  
  
• John Piper on Psalm 135 and the pleasure of God in all he does.
  
  
• One reason for the rise of Calvinism, according to The Seeking Disciple, may be the fact that there are so many impressive web sites available. Online resources for Arminians are lacking, but there may be a good reason for that: "It has been said that Arminianism is a moving faith in that Arminians are too busy seeking to evangelize the world to sit down and promote their thoughts in books or on the Internet."

This Week in Calvinism - January 13, 2012

• Jonathan Parnell on Greg Forster's forthcoming book, The Joy of Calvinism.
  
  
• Do you like bad analogies that attempt to illustrate the difference between Calvinists and non-Calvinists? If you do, then you'll like this one from Peter Lumpkins.
  
  
• James White responds to Roger Olson.
  
  
• Calvinism is not enough.
  
  
• What's the problem with Calvinism? All you need to know is that it "contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture." Oh, you were looking for a more in-depth explanation?
  
  
• The Holy Spirit is not a failed Ed McMahon.

Love Jesus, Hate (False) Religion

An Ironic Complaint from an Atheist About Tim Tebow

David Silverman, president of American Atheists, has a problem with Tim Tebow:

Silverman states that Tebow's repeated references to God into his post-game comments after a win is "bad for football."

"(Religion) injects the divisive force into football," Silverman says. "Why in the world are we talking about religion when we are talking about football?"

Good question, Mr. Silverman. Why in the world are we talking about religion when we are talking about football?

You Never Marry the Right Person

Timothy Keller writes:

Any two people who enter into marriage are spiritually broken by sin, which among other things means to be self-centered—living life incurvatus in se. As author Denis de Rougemont said, "Why should neurotic, selfish, immature people suddenly become angels when they fall in love ... ?" That is why a good marriage is more painfully hard to achieve than athletic or artistic prowess. Raw, natural talent does not enable you to play baseball as a pro or write great literature without enduring discipline and enormous work. Why would it be easy to live lovingly and well with another human being in light of what is profoundly wrong within our human nature? Indeed, many people who have mastered athletics and art have failed miserably at marriage. So the biblical doctrine of sin explains why marriage—more than anything else that is good and important in this fallen world—is so painful and hard.

The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the Gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once. The Gospel is—we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, and at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.

The hard times of marriage drive us to experience more of this transforming love of God. But a good marriage will also be a place where we experience more of this kind of transforming love at a human level.

A Tip for Those Criticizing a Theology

When criticizing a theology, always be prepared before you write or speak. For example, if you consider Calvinism to be a false teaching , you might want to keep your thoughts to yourself until those thoughts can be formulated so that they make some sense. Otherwise, you might end up with something like this:

This Week in Calvinism - January 6, 2012

• John Piper on Christian Hedonist Calvinism.
  
  
• Piper asks, "[H]ow then can Calvinism awaken such joy in me, and such hate in Chesterton?" He answers, "Because they aren't the same Calvinism."
  
  
• Randal Rauser says he isn't antagonistic toward Calvinism. That must be why he attacks it so often.
  
  
• Phil Johnson on what it means to be salt of the earth.
  
  
• Tim Challies with this month's lesson from John Owen.

This Week in Calvinism - December 30, 2011

• Calvinism is on the rise, but so is Buddhism. It seems Americas "cross religious lines much more easily than political ones." And the author thinks that's a good thing.
  
  
• The five conundrums of Calvinism, according to Roger Olson. I would agree. If one insists on holding God to human standards, then, yes, these are conundrums.
  
  
• Thomas Schreiner on Calvinism and the warning passages in Hebrews.
  
  
• Don Bryant accuses John Piper of being "on the wrong side of cruel."
  
  
• One blogger writes, "If election has predetermined every man's fate, nothing anybody can do will change anything, so why try? This is the point of Calvinism, spiritual inactivity." I guess the writer assumes that sinful and rebellious men want to please God.
  
  
• Justin Taylor presents many different ways of reading through the Bible in 2012.

This Week in Calvinism - December 23, 2011

• Justin Taylor on the persecution of Christians in Kim Jong-Il's North Korea.
  
  
• The Society of Evangelical Arminians takes issue with Justin's post:

  It is simply baffling that Calvinists can decry the diabolical, heinous actions of Kim Jong-Il (and others like him), and yet they hold that God first conceived in his own divine heart every one of the man's wicked actions, thought them up without any influence outside of himself, and unconditionally and irresistibly decreed them without any influence outside of himself, resulting in the man doing them all without any chance, power, or ability to do anything else. It's madness I tell you! Madness!!

  What's madness is believing in the alternative: God creating a world in which people suffer the effects of evil without any meaning or purpose.
  
  
• Shocker. An Arminian considers Roger Olson's latest book, Against Calvinism, to be "an accurate assessment and successful critique" of Calvinism.
  
  
• Jeremy Walker explores New Calvinism's caveats and characteristics, notes its commendations, discusses some cautions and concerns, and offers his conclusions and counsels.

This Week in Calvinism - December 16, 2011

• Preacher-teacher Joel Taylor recommends the book The Truth About New Calvinism as a way of combating the false teaching of men like John Piper, Al Mohler, and R. C. Sproul.
  
  
• Arminian Roger Olson recommends the book Predestination: The American Career of a Contentious Doctrine as an informative look at the debate over the controversial doctrine. He agrees with the author, saying, "[T]he debate over God's sovereignty in salvation cannot be settled merely or simply by collection of biblical evidence."
  
  
• Atheist John Loftus, ever the eloquent wordsmith, calls Calvinism "bull----."
  
  
• Pastor Andrew Davis describes the reform of his Baptist church.
  
  
• John Piper on the origin of Calvinism.
  
  
• Evidences of God's grace in the church today.

This Week in Calvinism - December 9, 2011

• Peter Berger predicts, "If Calvinism is to make further inroads among Southern Baptists or among any other segments of American Evangelicals, it will be in its Arminian form." Huh?
  
  
• How does one strike a balance between Calvinism and Arminianism? Bob Hadley, Pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, suggests a new TULIP acrostic: Total Lostness, Unconditional Love, Limiting Atonement, Irrefutable Gospel, Perseverance of the Savior.
  
  
• Beware of self-righteous Calvinism.
  
  
• Charles Spurgeon on evolution.
  
  
• Some book gift ideas from Desiring God.

This Week in Calvinism - December 2, 2011

• Are you recovering from Calvinism? There's help.
  
  
• A list of readings on the subject of divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
  
  
• Brenda Nickel warns of Rick Warren's move toward that "powerful deception" known as Calvinism.
  
  
• England was engulfed in civil war in the 1600s. Was the rise of Puritanism to blame, or could it have been the Arminian plot to overthrow Calvinism?
  
  
• Is Luke 10:13 more problematic for Calvinists or Molinists? Seeing as how God ordains the end and the means, I don't know of any Calvinists who have a problem with it, so I guess it would have to be Molinists.

This Week in Calvinism - November 25, 2011

• If you want to know the significance of Christianity in American history, study the Great Awakening.
  
  
• Joel Taylor recommends an audio series that exposes the false teachings of Mark Driscoll, John Piper, John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, R. C. Sproul, and others.
  
  
• Dan Corner refutes the "Calvinistic doctrine of infant damnation for the non-elect." Funny, I don't even remember being taught that.
  
  
• A "negative" review of God's Wisdom in Proverbs, a book by Pyromaniac Dan Phillips.
  
  
• Tim Challies has some great Black Friday deals for the discerning reader.