This Week in Calvinism - September 27, 2013

• It came as news to me "that the controversy of Calvinism versus Arminianism is a brand-new theological discussion in the Hispanic culture."
  
  
• Matt writes:

  Calvinism's perennial problem is that what God's moral nature predestines and decrees is by nature so closely aligned to what God condones that a Calvinist must step outside his theology to condemn it and redress it.

  Never mind the fact that God himself ordains sin and yet condemns it. The alternative is to believe that sin was not ordained as a part of God's plan, and therefore serves no purpose whatsoever, and that God is powerless to control it.
  
  
• Jerry Walls wishes Arminians were more like Calvinists:

  Calvinists are indeed far more confident, and less tolerant, and make a bigger deal of their theology than Wesleyans do. And I believe these factors are very closely related. Calvinists are intolerant because they are confident that their theology is true, that it is nothing more or less than the gospel, and they are passionate about preaching it and contending for it. ... I wish more Arminians were confident, not in themselves, but in the truth of their theology, and had the courage and conviction to teach and preach it more passionately, even aggressively, in the best sense of that word.

  
  
• You can attend the Desiring God 2013 National Conference for free Friday, Saturday, and Sunday via the live-stream.

Those Who Pride Themselves on Evidence Tend to Ignore It

Many scientists believe that the element molybdenum was crucial to the origin of life on Earth. However, current evolutionary thought suggests that particular element wasn't around billions of years ago when life first began. So...how exactly did we get here?

SkyNews reports that some scientists believe life on our planet originated on Mars. At least that's what Professor Steven Benner of The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology theorizes:

"This form of molybdenum couldn't have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did.

"It's yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet."

He added: "Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently showed that there was boron on Mars; we now believe that the oxidised form of molybdenum was there too."

Another reason why life would have struggled to start on early Earth was that it was likely to have been covered by water, said Prof. Benner.

Rather than toy with the idea that the origin of life might be a little more easily explained than they care to believe, these educated men and women instead dream up even more complex and preposterous explanations. Evidence is only evidence when it supports a presumed conclusion.

Scientists (atheist/agnostic scientists in particular) pride themselves on being open-minded and willing to alter their theories based on new evidence. We Christians (presuppositionalist Christians in particular) realize that is nonsense, because no evidence in the world (or even out of this world) is strong enough to convince someone who is in willful rebellion against God. Why do you think so many people plotted to kill Jesus after witnessing his miracles with their own eyes? So it is today.

This Week in Calvinism - September 20, 2013

• Bruce Bauer thinks he has the perfect analogy to describe Calvinism:

  In many ways, Calvinism is very much like a rigged carnival game. For the Calvinist, some are prechosen to win and others are prechosen to lose. The individual has no say in his own destiny, no opportunity to trust in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone for salvation...

  I'm surprised he didn't relegate us to the Freak Show tent.
  
  
• Bruce Gerencser, an atheist who claims to have once been a Christian, recently had a Twitter discussion with a Calvinist. Yeah, it went pretty much how you'd expect.
  
  
• Roger Olson is concerned about Calvinists popping up in unexpected and inappropriate places, namely, denominations that are historically antithetical to Calvinism. To those Reformed troublemakers he would like to say, "Come out from among them and be separate!"
  
  
• I have not yet watched this conversation on Calvinism between Dr. Matthew McKellar and Dr. Malcolm Yarnell. If it helps, Peter Lumpkins found it "truly edifying".

Isaiah 40:31a

Trailer for N. D. Wilson's Latest Book, 'Death by Living'

This Week in Calvinism - September 13, 2013

• "I think the whole TULIP thing is blasphemous, ugly, and gross." Well, there you have it. It's hard to argue with that kind of logic.
  
  
• My guess is the person who made the statement above isn't even familiar with the caricature of Calvinism, much less the actual teachings of Calvinism.
  
  
• The very university founded by John Calvin is offering an online course next month on Calvin's historical and theological influence. Regarding his theology, the course aims to "show both his lasting contribution (especially his understanding of a God in whom one may trust) as well as the limitations of his thought (for instance his doctrine of predestination)."
  
  
• Shane Kastler wraps up his sermon series entitled "Misconceptions About Calvinism."
  
  
• Mathew Gilbert begins his own series of blog posts on TULIP.

Drafted: Why Chris Norman Said No to the NFL

Here is the latest video from Desiring God:

This Week in Calvinism - September 6, 2013

• The latest controversy within the SBC: Are infants who die before reaching the so-called "age of accountability" destined for hell?
  
  
• Calvinism is to blame, of course, especially since so many Calvinists remain silent on the issue like Pelagius did. According to the keenly insightful Peter Lumpkins, Calvinists are "just as cowardly as others in stating what they really believe concerning infant salvation."
  
  
• James White isn't your regular, run-of-the-mill Calvinist. He's an arch Calvinist.
  
  
• Can Calvinists really be in favor of mercy ministry? Yes.
  
  
• Does a premillennial view destroy the Calvinist interpretation of Romans 9? Not necessarily. Still, abandoning the premillennialial view couldn't hurt.
  
  
• Pastor Billy Stevens talks about what he likes and dislikes about Calvinism. (SPOILER ALERT: The dislikes won out, which is why he left.) One thing he doesn't like about Calvinists is how they approach evangelism: "The Calvinist cannot tell any random person that God loves them." Because, as everyone knows, that's how all the apostles evangelized.

This Week in Calvinism - August 30, 2013

• What about Calvinists and Southern Baptists? Daniel Akin offers six ideas for navigating this issue.
  
  
• "Calvinism and the First Sin" is the title of James N. Anderson's contribution to the forthcoming book, Calvinism and the Problem of Evil, edited by David E. Alexander and Daniel M. Johnson. Anderson has made available a preprint version of the paper. Here's a brief glimpse of what to expect:

  Calvinists can affirm that the first sin considered in itself was a supremely evil act while at the same time affirming that God decreed Adam's sin for his good and wise purposes—ultimately, for his own glory manifested in his mercy and his justice—as part of the overall storyline of the history of creation.

  
  
• While Paul Imbrone shares his final thoughts on the Calvinism/Arminianism debate, my guess is the debate is far from over.
  
  
• Now this is a new one. Someone on a theology forum wants to know why people end up in Hell according to Calvinism. As this person sees it, Calvinism provides an excuse for those in Hell because Christ did not die for their sins. I'm sorry, but it isn't all that difficult. People who end up in Hell are there because they are receiving the due penalty for their sins, pretty much how scripture explains it.
  
  
• What does David L. Bahnsen think of John Piper and John MacArthur?:

  They are both Calvinists only in their soteriology which is the least important piece of Calvinism to me. In other words, they are Reformed baptists. ... Piper and MacArthur sometimes can be very tribalistic (M more than P). I also am very covenantal in my Calvinism. I baptized my children within two weeks of birth. I believe God deals covenantally with families and societies. M and P loathe this. I appreciate much of their work, but am far less Romeaphobic than they both are, and happen to be less rah rah for the predestination piece (as Biblical as it is) than they are.

Christians Have a Choice to Make: God or Country?

We Christians have a choice to make: will we follow our God or our country? Douglas Wilson addresses this issue, especially as it pertains to so-called "gay marriage":

Those believers who have had an ordinary love of country, coupled with a naive (and very unbiblical) belief that America could never become an idolatrous adversary to the kingdom of God, are the kind of people who would be quick to acknowledge on paper that if we had to choose between God and country, we should always and everywhere choose God. But having ticked that box, they murmur to themselves that they are very glad that they could never be called upon to make that choice. Sorry, but here it is. Right on top of us.

Our nation is a nation just like all the others, and we can spiral into spiritual apostasy just like all the others. We are now more than halfway down the line of statues in the royal hall of Charn, where the look of our earlier nobility has vanished and we are just three elections away from the coldest forms of despair. Just think — all over the world, drone strikes making the world safe for sodomy.

As a nation like all others, we do have the option of repentance as well. But the first sin requiring the deepest repentance will have to be that damn-fool notion of American exceptionalism.

This is why pastors have a particular and pressing duty here. If this despotic modern state is the idol of our age — and it is — then pastors have a pressing duty to prepare their parishioners to resist it. We have a duty to prepare our people to refuse to bow down when they hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer (Dan. 3:5). Those instruments seem odd to us today, and so does Nebuchadnezzar's statue, but you may depend upon it — at the time, bowing down to that statue to that music at that time was about as mainstream as you could possibly get, and the only people left standing were the extremists and weirdos.

John warns Christians as little children, telling them to keep themselves from idols (1 John 5:21). This will be a pressing danger when the idolatry is mainstream, when paying your mortgage depends on conforming, when all the networks are asking what the big deal is, when we can't buy or sell without offering that pinch of incense to the emperor, and the music has been playing for a good minute and a half now. People are starting to look. You see an official in the back writing down your name.

Be sure to read the entire post.

This Week in Calvinism - August 23, 2013

• Few things are more Reformed than eating sausages.
  
  
• Merge Calvinism and universalism and you are getting to a theology Lana Hope can live with.
  
  
• What is the root of all evil in the American church? Why, Calvinism, of course.
  
  
• Chris Gordon discusses two-kingdom theology and neo-Calvinism.
  
  
• One blogger observes, "Calvinists have a corner on theologically-themed conferences. Arminians have apologetically-themed conferences. Leadership conferences don't do theology."
  
  
• I'll admit that I've never heard an Arminian say, "I saved myself," if you'll admit that you've never heard a Calvinist say, "I'm a puppet."
  
  
• Not to be outdone by Calvinists, Roger Olson lays out an Arminian ordo salutis. He concludes, "There is urgency to the call to conversion. It is something we do, enabled by God, in response to God's call, and not something that just happens to us. It is freely entering into a new relationship, not just having a new condition imposed." Wait...conversion "is something we do"?

John Piper on Perseverance

Will you be a believer tomorrow morning? John Piper writes:

The biblical answer is: God will see to it.

Are you okay with that? Does this make you uneasy, admitting it depends decisively on God? I hope it is your joy and song. It really does have huge implications to believe this. Let God’s word shape your mind on it. ...

... Because God will see to it, we will — not just must — endure to the end. If we have been justified by faith, we will be glorified. It is as good as done.

"Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified" (Romans 8:30).

Read the full post here.

This Week in Calvinism - August 16, 2013

• Poll: Does Calvinism get a bad rap? Vote here.
  
  
• Carl Trueman reviews D. G. Hart's book Calvinism: A History.
  
  
• Jeff Peterson confesses, "We are saved by an act of free will."
  
  
• And THEOparadox confesses to being a 10-point Calvinist.
  
  
• Daniel Chew writes, "The danger of the New Evangelical Calvinism is that it sucks people in who think that is the real deal."
  
  
• Really? An atheist who doesn't understand the concept of a sovereign God exercising control over his own creation? Go figure.

This Week in Calvinism - August 9, 2013

• 12 myths about Calvinism.
  
  
• Doctrine Matters is a new free eBook from Desiring God.
  
  
• I think it's safe to say that when it comes to 60-year-old white pastors, no one has had more of an influence on Reformed Christian hip hop than John Piper.

Watch 'Evolution vs. God' Online

The documentary Evolution vs. God is now available online. Enjoy!