Category: Calvinism

  • Internal Consistency and Truth

    It is possible for a system to be internally consistent and yet false. For instance a system might assert five truths, call them A, B, C, D and E. Suppose that someone who holds this ABCDE system is asked to prove the A. Suppose then that person says, B proves A. Suppose the proof is…

  • Free Will Defense

    Here is a good article on free will and determinism which deals with some of the common objections to the Free Will Defense; Overcoming Objections to Self-determinism (Free-will).

  • Broken Syllogisms and the Equivocation Fallacy

    A syllogism is sometimes posed in order to prove that regeneration precedes justification: 1 – It is pleasing to God for someone to repent 2 – Those who are in the flesh cannot please God 3 – Therefore those who are in the flesh cannot repent The desired conclusion of this syllogism is that a…

  • Dead Men Can’t Respond

    It is often said that “dead men can’t respond” or “dead means unable to respond“. This is used in relation to the passages which speak of our condition before we came to Christ. It is said that since we were dead, and dead men can’t respond, then we were unable to respond to God. The…

  • Whence Cometh Faith?

    Where Does Faith Come From? The New Testament has a lot of verses on faith but not too many passages clearly identify where faith comes from. There are several Scriptural possibilities for where our faith comes from. One is that faith is from God, and the other is that faith comes from somewhere inside a…

  • N. T. Wright on the Gospel and Justification

    Anglican Bishop, N. T. Wright, writes: By “the gospel” Paul does not mean “justification by faith.” He means the announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. To believe this message is to give believing allegiance to Jesus as Messiah and Lord” is to be justified in the present by faith (whether or not…

  • Greek Text of Eph 2:8

    Ephesians 2:8 is often quoted as evidence that faith is a gift. The Greek text makes this interpretation a difficult one, however. It may be the case that faith is a gift from God but this verse is inconclusive as proof. Greek has a concept known as gender agreement. Nouns, pronouns and adjectives share the…

  • Calvinist or Arminian?

    For some, this question is like asking “Reformed or Pelagian?” They view things in particular categories that were historically formed hundreds of years ago or more than fifteen hundred years ago in the battle between Augustine and Pelagius. Today, for many, calling someone “Arminian” is a curse. Who was Arminius? Jacob Arminius was a Dutch…

  • Esau Have I Hated

    Romans 9:13 is frequently by double predestinarian advocates as Biblical evidence of individual election. The passage has: Romans 9:13 – Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” At first glance it appears that this passage is referring to the historical individuals, Jacob and Esau. The story is so familiar that…

  • Eternally Secure

    I’ve been thinking quite a bit about eternal security and thought I’d lay out my own thoughts. Take them for what they are worth. There are a lot of different ways of approaching this subject and mine is not unique by any means. I need to start with a confession of humility of what I…

  • Wrestling with the TULIP

    Today I am looking at the baptism of John and the TULIP of the Calvinists. These verses seem problematic to the Calvinistic position with respect to the I in the TULIP: Luke 7:29-30 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees…

  • Tim Enloe vs the Reformed Baptists

    There are a number of people out “there” who call themselves Reformed Baptists. They are Calvinists, hence the part of the title, Reformed. They also hold to adult baptism only, hence they are Baptists. Where they run into trouble is when they try to show that the two systems are compatible. Historically, the Reformed rejected…